{"id":4579,"date":"2012-01-05T09:05:01","date_gmt":"2012-01-04T22:05:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/michaelwyres.com\/?p=4579"},"modified":"2012-01-05T09:05:01","modified_gmt":"2012-01-04T22:05:01","slug":"optus-rewards-website-sexist-much","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/michaelwyres.com.au\/mwdc\/2012\/01\/optus-rewards-website-sexist-much\/","title":{"rendered":"Optus Rewards Website Sexist Much?"},"content":{"rendered":"

I got a whiff of a really bad piece of work from Optus on Twitter this morning, in regards to the registration page for their Optus Rewards website (click image for larger view):<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Really?<\/p>\n

“Please select a title and the title should match with the gender.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

So a woman can’t be a doctor, according to Optus? Try and register on it for yourself and see.<\/p>\n

Seriously, that’s worse than bad. That’s a dreadful look Optus.<\/p>\n

Fail.<\/p>\n

(UPDATE – 12:53pm): Optus have advised that they are looking into the problem, and have raised the issue with support<\/a>:<\/p>\n

“Thanks to everyone who let us know about the fault with our Optus Rewards form – we’ve logged this with Support & will keep you posted!”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Well and good.<\/p>\n

However, I am still concerned that a form such as this was released into production in this condition. What happened to their User Acceptance Testing<\/a> (UAT)? Why does ANYONE think you need to check the title against gender to go to the bother of programming such a check into the code?<\/p>\n

Yes, fix it Optus – but improve your internal quality processes too.<\/p>\n

(UPDATE – 8:15pm): Apparently it is fixed now.<\/p>\n

While this is mostly likely a coding problem, rather than intentional or even unintentional sexism, as a programmer from way back, it seems strange to me that:<\/p>\n