Outhouse › Dark Patterns › Choice

Pre-ticked boxes

Boxes for marketing, partners or extras that are ticked before the visitor arrives.

Why it matters

Most visitors do not read the boxes at the bottom of a form. A box that starts ticked turns that inattention into agreement, without asking anyone to agree to anything.

It is also the most efficient way to add travel insurance to a ticket.

How Outhouse measures it

Outhouse counts checkboxes that start ticked and sit beside wording about newsletters, marketing, offers, partners, updates or insurance. One scores in full.

This audit counts towards Dark Patterns, with a weight of 3. A category is 75% its two highest-scoring audits and 25% all of its audits, weighted, so a site is judged mostly on what it does most and partly on how many things it does.

How to improve your score

Install Cart Assist. Available on selected plans. See all products.

Related audits

• No reject button: A consent banner with Accept and nothing like Reject beside it.
• Trick questions: Options worded so that ticking the box means the opposite of what it appears to.