Ethical Web Design

Serving More of Your Users

What Is Ethics?

Ethics Is Not Feelings

Ethics Is Not Religious Morals

Ethics Is Not What is Legal

Ethics is not Cultural Norms

Ethics is Not Science

Ethical Standards

Greater Good / Utilitarianism

Rights / Libertarianism

Justice / Fairness

Common Good

Virtues / Values

Examples

Self Driving Cars

Social Credit Systems

Developer Blind Spots

 

Net Neutrality

Deep Fakes

User Expectations

We are committed to an internet that includes all the peoples of the earth — where a person’s demographic characteristics do not determine their online access, opportunities, or quality of experience.

- The Mozilla Manifesto Addendum
   Pledge for a Healthy Internet

Trust in Software

Areas of Focus

Areas of Focus

  • Usability
  • Accessibility
  • Privacy
  • User Involvement
  • Persuation
  • Focus
  • Sustainability

Areas of Focus (cont.)

  • Security
  • Censorship
  • Information Overload
  • Digital Divide
  • Intellectual Property
  • Open Access

What Can We Do?

Recognize Issues

  • Is this about legality or rights?
  • What are the tradeoffs to this choice?
  • Can stakeholders be identified?
  • Have relevant options been weighed?

Determine a Framework

  • What will do most good/least harm (Utilitarian)
  • Which decision respects individuals (Rights)
  • Which option treats people equally (Justice)
  • What best serves the community (Common Good)
  • Which choice serves my aspirational need (Virtue)

Handle Responsibility

Be Jeff Goldblum

Don't made decisions around what you can do, make them about what you should do.

@DavidWolfpaw 

Ethical Web Design: Serving More of Your Visitors

By david wolfpaw

Ethical Web Design: Serving More of Your Visitors

Building websites well is hard. There are time and budget constraints, requests from various departments, and legal requirements that need to be balanced. On top of all of that there's a whole business behind the site to manage! It's no wonder that the needs of the actual users of the site can often come last, yet they're the exact people who should be first in line when it comes to how you build your website. In this talk we'll briefly discuss some of the ethical implications of building and running a website and how you can balance the wants of your clients with the needs of site users and visitors.

  • 1,763