Kathryn Bennett June 28 th, 2014 Cultural Awareness in Software Development

What’s the problem? Top-down vs. bottom-up approaches “Negative” mappings “Positive” mappings What have we learned?

The Issue Software is built to be used, so developers have to consider the use cases before they can build. Games that deal with this kind of content are uncommon. Focus is usually placed on the behavior, which sometimes means that a conscious effort must be made to get all possible (mis)interpretations.

Section 508, which came into law in 1998, “requires that Federal agencies’ electronic and information technology is accessible to people with disabilities”. (Section508.gov) “An individual with a disability is a person who has a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activities, has a record of such an impairment, or is regarded as having such an impairment”. (EEOC) Attempts at Equality in Technology

Mapping – The scale of the possible implementations of a certain behavior Discrete vs. continuous Cultural universality – Having only one interpretation across all cultures or languages Concepts

Vocabulary “Primitive” has the connotation of lesser. In development, the word “primitive” is used to describe basic types. The context we’re using makes all the difference – the use of the word could be offensive.

This is a discrete mapping – “primitives” could be replaced by a number of other words. This mapping is culturally universal – building something complicated from something simple. This problem is easy to solve – just use another word.

Vertical Ordering

This is a continuous mapping – there are an infinite number of configurations. This mapping is culturally universal – the closer to the top you are, the more evolved you are (Lakoff and Johnson). This problem is easy to solve – eliminate the vertical variation.

Horizontal Mapping This is also a continuous mapping – there are an infinite number of configurations here as well. This mapping is NOT culturally universal – the idea of left or right as “first” is culture-/language-dependent (English vs. Arabic). This is hard to solve The screen is 2-dimensional Things to consider Avoid the gradients Random ordering

The first section of gameplay has the user “dismantle” the ladder and build Darwin’s Tree of Life. A Positive Example

The theories presented are the same sort of mapping encountered with the word “primitives” – discrete and culturally universal. Because this isn’t a problem, we need not consider a solution. This could even be interpreted as a benefit – breaking one concept to build another highlights the difference and reinforces what is being presented.

“Primitives”Vertical Ordering Horizontal Ordering Dismantling the ladder MappingDiscreteContinuous Discrete Cultural Universality Universal Not universalUniversal DifficultyEasyEase comes at the cost of difficulty with horizontal ordering Hard

When handling issues like race, misinterpretations arise that would not ordinarily be a problem (in our case, those of location and ordering). These misinterpretations did not make themselves obvious until after the code had been written. It is difficult to avoid these problems unless you start with them in mind. User interaction is sometimes as important in delivering a message as the vocabulary. The desire to convey a message must be balanced with the capabilities of the technologies being used. What We’re Learning

"Facts About the Americans with Disabilities Act." Facts About the Americans with Disabilities Act. U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Web. 10 June Lakoff, George, and Mark Johnson. “Metaphors we live by.” Chicago: University of Chicago Press, Print. "Section 508 Of The Rehabilitation Act.” Web. 10 June Thank you to Dr. Eglash and Mrs. Cooke for permission to use their images. Works Cited