An open framework for auditing digital products for equity gaps.
A practical methodology, not a manifesto. Built from three years of teaching DS291 (Exploring DEI in Technology) at Boston University's BU Spark!, refined against real product audits in fintech and education.
| Component | What it does |
|---|---|
| /framework | The audit methodology, in markdown |
| /checklists | Domain-specific audit checklists (fintech, edtech, social, ecommerce) |
| /templates | Findings reports, executive summaries, remediation plans |
| /case-studies | Anonymized walkthroughs of real audits |
| /curriculum | Slides and lesson plans from DS291 at BU Spark! |
Most product equity audits ask the wrong question first. They ask: is this product biased? That question is too late and too vague.
The right question is: whose problem is this product solving, and whose problem does it create?
The audit walks a product team through five lenses:
- Access (who can use this product? who literally cannot?)
- Voice (whose feedback shaped this product? whose was sought and dismissed?)
- Default (what does the product assume about its user, in code and copy?)
- Recourse (when the product is wrong, who gets to challenge it, and how?)
- Externality (who pays the cost of this product's success?)
Each lens has a worksheet, a set of artifacts to gather, and a maturity rubric.
DEI as a label has become a target. The work hasn't changed. Renaming the toolkit, not the practice.
Pending. README is the spec; framework content in progress.
Public. Free to use, fork, adapt. No license required for educational use; MIT license applies to code.
Junia Janvier · Co-creator, DS291 (BU Spark!) · juniajanvier.com