13 New Accessibility Emojis Proposed by Apple
Emoji lovers with disabilities may soon receive some long overdue representation, reports Emojipedia.
Last month, Apple submitted ideas for 13 “accessibility emojis” in a proposal to the Unicode Consortium, the group that oversees the creation of new emojis. The American Council of the Blind, the Cerebral Palsy Foundation, and the National Association of the Deaf worked with Apple to develop the proposed additions.
The new emojis include people in both manual and mechanized wheelchairs, an ear with a hearing aid, and a service dog. Many offer male and female gender options as well as different skin tone variations, bringing the total tally to 45 when counting these possible variations.
Inclusive communication
In the proposal, Apple said that current emojis do a poor job representing people with disabilities, a group that comprises approximately 14% of the world’s population.
According to the company, it aims to make communication technology more accessible by offering the new set:
“Adding emoji emblematic to users’ life experiences helps foster a diverse culture that is inclusive of disability. Emoji are a universal language and a powerful tool for communication, as well as a form of self-expression, and can be used not only to represent one’s own personal experience, but also to show support for a loved one.”
Apple acknowledges its proposed emojis won’t represent everyone, but are meant to provide a greater set of choices “to represent basic categories for people with disabilities.”
“This is not meant to be a comprehensive list of all possible depictions of disabilities, but to provide an initial starting point for greater representation for diversity within the emoji universe,” the company added.
Want to check them all out? Below we share the 13 accessibility emojis proposed by Apple. Note that while some feature gender variations, only the standard yellow skin tone option was provided for emojis with people.
Guide dog with harness
This guide dog wearing a harness is meant to represent people who are blind or have low vision.
Person with white cane
The two gender variants below showing people walking with white canes are also intended to depict the blind community, including people with low vision. Skin tone variations are also proposed.
Deaf sign
Already emojis showing “I love you” and “victory” hand signs are available. Apple is also proposing two gender variants for the deaf sign to represent people with hearing loss that would come in various skin tone options.
Ear with hearing aid
The ear with hearing aid emoji would come in various skin tone options.
Person in manual wheelchair
These emojis are meant to represent people who can self-propel in wheelchairs. It would come in two gender options and have skin tone variations.
Person in a mechanized wheelchair
These emojis are for people who require electric wheelchairs. It would come in two gender options and have skin tone variations.
Mechanical or prosthetic arm and leg
Apple expects these emojis could have a variety of uses. While the company didn’t go into detail, they could be used to represent not only people with bionic body parts or prosthetics but also robotics development.
Service dog with vest and leash
This service dog is meant to represent a range of hidden disabilities.
“For those who are deaf or have hidden disabilities such as Autism, seizures, anxiety, PTSD, etc., service dogs not only perform tasks to help their partners live independent lives, but may represent a lifeline in moments of crisis,” Apple said in the proposal.
Future release?
According to Emojipedia, if the Unicode Technical Committee approves the proposed accessibility emojis, they will make the shortlist for Emoji 12.0. This updated emoji list is expected to for release in the first half of 2019.
Originally published at TechAble World.
