Robin Camille Davis
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How to ask about race on a web form

October 08, 2023

My passion is improving web forms. My identity is a half-Asian, half-white woman. So I am especially passionate about improving the way we ask about race on web forms.

I’ve come across plenty of bad examples and couple of good ones. I’ll share some here.

How to ask about race on a web form

Okay, first, I have to emphasize that you probably don’t need to ask about race. Are you just curious about the racial makeup of your users? Too bad, you’ll have to find another way to figure that out. Tacking a race question onto a contact form, for example, is a no-go. If you really do need to ask about — for example, if it affects funding or medical services or is otherwise actionable — then do it like this:

Make the field an open-ended text input. Explain why you’re asking.

That way, you’re asking users to describe themselves using their own identity terms. Make this field optional if you can.

How would you describe your race? We’re asking this because we are looking to put together a diverse group of participants. Open text box

Or use checkboxes so that you can select multiple.

Oh, do you have to use the government’s definitions of race/ethnicity for a good reason? Then do it like this:

Your race. We’re asking this because we are looking to put together a diverse group of participants. We are required to use race categories from the Office of Management and Budget (OMB). Checkboxes: American Indian or Alaska Native, Asian, Black or African American, Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander, White. Your ethnicity. Radio buttons: Hispanic or Latino. Not Hispanic or Latino.

Test your form to make sure you can actually select multiple and that that data comes through properly into your system. I once came across a web form that appeared to use checkboxes, but the user could only select one at a time.

How not to ask about race on a web form

Do not use radio buttons or a dropdown (select)

If a user can only select one (1) race, that is bad. Multiracial people are out here, y’all.

Help the CDC. The CDC collects race and ethnicity data for the purpose of improving public health. Dropdown menu with Select race, merican Indian or Alaska Native, Asian, Black or African American, Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander, White, Decline to answer

Shame on you, Walgreens. I’m just trying to sign up for my covid booster, not have an identity crisis.

They do a good job of explaining why they ask, though.

If you’re asking about specific ethnicities, don’t forget any!

Someone who is Puerto Rican shared this with me, rightfully offended. (The list does not include Puerto Rico.)

Are you of Hispanic, Latino, or Spanish origin? Long list of radio buttons with options including Yes, Cuban. Yes, Argentina. Yes, another country.

Also, they listed “another country” twice. That is going to mess up their data, too.

Do not forget to tell the user why you’re asking about their race and how the data is used.

Will this affect the user’s submission in any way? Tell them! Otherwise, users may wonder if this data will be used to unfairly discriminate. (And it won’t be used that way. Right?)

I love collecting bad examples of web forms. If you come across one in the wild, please email it to me! Help build my collection of the good, the bad, and the identity crises.