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Apple proposes 13 new emoji for people with disabilities - including guide dogs and prosthetics
Apple has proposed a range of new emoji including guide dogs and prosthetics to better represent individuals with disabilities.
The Cupertino-based company has submitted 13 accessibility pictograms, with different skin tones bringing the total number of variations to 45, to the Unicode Consortium, the arbiter of new emoji.
They include a prosthetic arm, a service dog, a hearing aid and a wheelchair user and could be available on smartphones next year if ratified by the emoji panel.
Apple say they would provide “an initial starting point for greater representation for diversity within the emoji universe” in a 16-page document sent to the Consortium.
The tech giant selected four main categories - Blind and Low Vision, Deaf and Hard of Hearing, Physical Motor, and Hidden Disabilities - it believes are most inclusive to a large number of people.
“The current selection of emoji provides a wide array of representations of people, activities, and objects meaningful to the general public, but very few speak to the life experiences of those with disabilities,” Apple argues in its proposal.
“This new set of emoji that we are proposing aims to provide a wider array of options to represent basic categories for people with disabilities.”
Apple said it is not meant to be a comprehensive list, conceding it “would be impossible to cover every possible use case”.
Ciara Lawrence, who has a learning disability and works for the learning disability charity Mencap, said it was “really pleasing” to see that Apple are trying to be more inclusive.
“As someone with a learning disability I know how little understanding the public often have around disabilities,” she told The Telegraph.
Apple consulted with leading organisations supporting people with disabilities - such as the American Council of the Blind, Cerebral Palsy Foundation, and National Association for the Deaf - in putting together the proposal.
“There are emojis for almost everything, and there’s no reason why people with a disability should be excluded. Sadly people often feel too awkward around disability and find it easier to ignore than to include.
“I hope Apple now really thinks hard about how they can include all forms of disability in their emojis, such as invisible disabilities like a learning disability. I also think it’s great this issue is getting so much attention across the media.
“I also hope Apple will use this moment to consider hiring people with a disability.”
The Unicode Consortium subcommittee meets twice a week to discuss, review and vote on emoji submissions.
Apple’s proposed emoji set could be added to the Emoji 12.0 list, which is due to be released in March 2019, if the submission is successful.
In total there are 2,666 emojis in the Unicode Standard as of June 2017, with five billion emoji used on Facebook Messenger each day.
Earlier this year, 12 new redhead emojis were among 157 new additions announced by the Consortium following a year-long campaign driven by a petition signed by 22,000 people.