‘Your name is not a mistake’: MS Word plugin creators aim to make program more inclusive
Posted November 10, 2022 1:44 pm.
Last Updated November 10, 2022 1:50 pm.
If you have a non-English name, you’ve likely seen a red squiggly line under it in Microsoft Word, highlighting it and many others as a typo or mistake. Instead of right-clicking to add numerous names to the program’s dictionary one at a time, a Vancouver-based organization has come up with a more permanent solution.
It is a simple concept – a plugin called “Reclaim Your Name” that is a .dic file — a dictionary that can be added to MS Word.
“All the names that we’ve uploaded into there will automatically be recognized as correct,” explains Audrey Wong, Executive Director of Elimin8Hate — the advocacy arm of the Vancouver Asian Film Festival.
It may seem like an insignificant red line to some, but Wong says there’s more to it.
“What does it mean as a Canadian to see your name being redlined by your processor? It’s hard to quantify. I think it hits people differently,” she says. “There’s some of us who see it, don’t think very much about it and move on. There’s some of us who see it, subconsciously ingrain it and it impacts the way we interact with others. And then there’s some of us who see it and actually feel anger, sadness.”
“It can very much impact your sense of belonging and your self-esteem.”
Wong adds that seeing that red line under one’s name can feel like a daily microaggression that contributes to a feeling of otherness and exclusion.
“By creating a dictionary which allows people’s names to be recognized, it increases a sense of belonging and a feeling of actually being a part of a community that is Canadian.”
The plugin already includes thousands of names, but Wong says there are many more they would like to add. Users are being asked to fill out a web form on their website to have their name included.
“We’re collecting new names if your name isn’t recognized after downloading this plugin, because there is a vast amount of non-anglicized names that could be included, and we will be updating those in subsequent versions,” she says.
Along with individuals, Elimin8Hate is hoping to work with employers and larger corporations to encourage them to include the plugin in their equity and diversity initiatives.
“Individual change is important, but until we get to the institutional level, it is very hard to make systemic changes,” says Wong. “It’s so important to get to an institutional level where there’s just a greater opportunity to not just hit a larger group of people, but also start changing the systemic processes that create inequity.”
To that end, the group is also hoping to launch educational programming in 2023 to provide institutions with curriculum that will help make their processes and business structures more equitable.
“One of the reasons we chose to launch programming about MS Word is because of how topical it was and the ability for a large group of the population to relate to it or immediately absorb that information,” she says. “And that ultimately for us is the intention — of generating enough support, enough funding so that next year we can launch that educational programming.”
They’ve also reached out to Microsoft and Wong says the tech giant is aware of the project and supportive of it.
“It’d be great if we can facilitate some dialogue and see how this can be implemented,” she says. “We also recognize that it’s no easy feat given how many non-anglicized names there are out there. So it would be great to be able to work with them and determine what the next steps would be.”
Meanwhile, the feedback from people who have used the plugin has been very encouraging. The page has racked up over 100 million views and the plugin has been downloaded about 500 times since its launch in July.
“The uptake has been large and positive. People can really relate to this because it absolutely happens to so many of us,” says Wong.
To detractors who may question the need for such a plugin, Wong says she takes those comments as “genuine openings of interest.”
“I don’t look at it as a point of malice … and if this person’s coming at it with a genuine question, I would encourage them to get informed, read about microaggressions, read about the impact on the sense of belonging and esteem when people are on a daily basis experiencing these tiny little swaths of inequity. It’s not on the community ourselves and as an individual to constantly have the emotional burden and the labour of explaining this,” she says.
“It’s certainly a small deal to someone who’s not impacted, but talk to someone with those lived experiences and come with an open mind and actually listen to what they’re saying. Respect and be open.”
