18F is a group within the U.S. General Services Administration that build digital services for government . Recently , they asked whether their code passed the “ Bechdel test ” for tech . Here ’s what they found .
Kaitlin Devine , 18F ’s Director of Engineering recently comment this tweet :
Does your project pass the Bechdel mental testing ? To pass , a function compose by a woman dev must call a function written by another woman dev .
— Laurie Voss ( @seldo)February 27 , 2015
The coding Bechdel test , as described above , is a variant of the original Bechdel test , which was make by author and vivid novelist Alison Bechdel . The Bechdel test was originally designed to assess work of fiction . A study passed if at least one woman had a conversation with another womanhood about something other than a man .
We decided to see how many 18F projects slip away this modified test . To communicate , a labor had to have at least one function written by a woman dev that called another function write by another woman dev .
Kaitlin posed the question to a group of 18F employee , which prompt a tenacious conversation about our interior time value and culture . The conversation start with us quickly listing the projects that pass away the Bechdel coding test , but then shifted after one of our devs then provoke a effective point : She said some of our projects had lots of female devs , but did not pass the psychometric test as defined . 18f.gsa.gov , for example , employ a framework and words calledSASSto bring forth the styles used on each Thomas Nelson Page . The consuming bulk of our usance SASS was written by a woman , and another woman wrote a significant amount of HTML that relies on that SASS , but because neither language has “ affair ” it go the test .
The conversation also caused us to think about how we holistically assess our inclusivity as a squad . There are also many role on our product teams other than developer that are just as important to the achiever of a product . optic designer , content designers , user experience researcher : all of these role are critical to shipping a merchandise . Is there another fashion of evaluate our teams that takes these roles into consideration ? This test is also limited with respect to other protected family . It only addresses gender : raceway , socio - economic condition , handicap , and others are important considerations when building successful , various teams .
Nevertheless , a “ Bechdel Test for Code ” is worthful because it address that tech as a whole has military issue that it demand to surmount . Gender balance in engineering , therefore , needs to be notice specifically even if this test is n’t the only style we measure inclusivity at 18F. It is a conversation we will remain to have at 18F to make trusted we are building a squad that looks like America and works like America . As our labor become Bechdel compliant , we design to note the variety .
The Results :
BECHDEL WINNERS
Discovery – mart inquiry tool for the OASIS procurance vehicle , which serves contracting specialists throughout the U.S. Federal Government .
OpenFEC – Redesigning how the FEC shares the information they collect and the regulations they impose , both as integrated information and in robust , human - readable formats .
SBIR - EZ – An app to simplify , streamline , and unify the Small Business Innovation Research app process .
USCIS projects – We are helping to re - image and modernize in-migration and visa summons : building tool that improve the applicant process , providing clear and dewy-eyed information to the populace , and creating new tools that make the processing of in-migration forms faster and more effective .
CALC(not yet released ) – CALC is a tool to aid contracting personnel estimate their per - hour labour costs for a contract bridge , base on historic pricing information .
FBOpen – FBOpen helps small businesses explore for opportunities to lick with the U.S. government .
ALMOST-BECHDELS
Data Act – Consulting involution to advise on the federal spending data standard and corresponding pilot light undertaking mandated by the DATA Act . Kaitlin Devine mention , “ There is n’t in reality any codification associate with this powerful now , only static content . We will have some in a few hebdomad which will pass the test . ”
NOT YET
( aid us alter that ! you may fork any of the projects below and avail us out ! )
myRA – Landing page design for Treasury ’s My Retirement Account platform , which will provide a simple , safe , and affordable way for soul to start out save for retreat .
FOIA – A newfangled tool to search for the correct agency or federal agency to make a FOIA request .
MyUSA – A digital services platform for Americans to register , contract in , and manage ongoing transactions with U.S. Federal Government services .
18F.gsa.gov – 18F ’s main website , 18f.gsa.gov
/Developer syllabus – A suite of shaft , imagination , and consulting service to assist agency in the production and direction of government genus Apis . This two - year - old program was adopted by 18F to scale out its impact and to turn the government ’s API portfolio .
PeaceCorps.gov – A redesign of peacecorps.gov , offering a new , user - concentre experience for users .
api.data.gov – A hosted , shared - Robert William Service that ply an API key , analytics , and proxy solvent for administration WWW overhaul . We are currently accepting clients for this spare service : touch us to learn more .
Common Acquisition Platform Tools – A simplified , electronic mail - found buying approval tool for purchase card holders authorized to buy office supply for the political science .
EITI – This site and unresolved data point portal supports the President ’s Open Gov Partnership National Action Plan commitment to the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative .
Midas – A weapons platform that help collaborative employment worldwide . Individuals can produce undertaking , propose play groups , or assemble “ tiger team ” to play on their estimation . Anyone can also station job online and hoi polloi with the requisite skill can respond and dispatch the labor .
18Fis part of the U.S. General Services Administration , builds good , substance abuser - centrical digital services focused on the interaction between authorities and the mass and businesses it serves .
Codesoftware
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