How-To Geek: How to Check for Inclusive Language in Microsoft Word

Do you know those infamous red and green squiggly lines that infiltrate your Word documents? Back in March of 2020, Microsoft updated Word to include an editor to check for inclusive language. If you follow the instructions in this article from How-To Geek, you can turn on this optional feature to assist in avoiding word or phrase choices that show bias or have a prejudiced linguistic history. For example, you would see a purple line under "postman" or "mankind" with recommendations to switch out for the words "postal worker" or "humanity" or to use a phrase like "allowed list" and "expert" instead of "whitelist" and "master." Much like many of Word's squiggly line suggestions, they may not apply in every situation but this can be a great tool to reinforce more inclusive language when drafting documents. 

P.S. I could not find the "settings" button in the Editor tab of my version of Word like is shown in the article, but was able to reach the correct menu by searching for "proofing" in the search bar (Alt + Q) at the top of the window.

This article was submitted by Alex Van Gorp, Indiana State Health Department. If you would like to submit content or write an article for the Professionalism Committee, please email Kara Sikorski at ksikorski@indybar.org.

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