Emojis have become an interesting aspect to how many people communicate via social media messaging platforms and the demand for more diversity in the emoji world is loud and audible. Apple has submitted a proposal to the Unicode consortium— the non-profit organisation that sets the global standard for emojis — advocating for 13 new additions to be represented.
The proposed emojis interestingly include: a guide dog, hearing aid, prosthetic limbs, as well as people using canes and different types of wheelchairs.
In the opening line of the proposal, Apple writes:
“Apple is requesting the addition of emoji to better represent individuals with disabilities. Currently, emoji provide a wide range of options, but may not represent the experiences of those with disabilities
These new emojis have options for both males and females taken into consideration without leaving out skin color tones. A summary of the proposed emojis are represented below:
Guide Dog With Harness
A guide dog shown with a harness, for people who are optically challenged.
Ear With Hearing Aid
The hearing aid may not be visually distinct at emoji sizes. This is proposed for different skin tones for the ear.
Deaf Sign
An index finger pointing to indicate a gesture represents the ‘deaf sign’.
Person in Mechanised Wheelchair
A person in an electric wheelchair which is proposed to support different genders and skin tones.
Mechanical or Prosthetic Arm and Leg
A mechanical or prosthetic Flexed Biceps emoji and new Leg emoji.
Person With a Cane A person shown with a probing cane. Will support different genders and skin tones.
Unicode has approved 157 new emojis that should hit phones sometime in August. They include red-haired individuals, female superheroes and more skin tone options. Apple’s proposal will be reviewed by Unicode Technical Committee in a meeting which is slated for next month where members will deliberate over these emojis. If these emojis are approved, they will appear on all latest IOS and all Apple devices worldwide.
To provide the best experiences, we use technologies like cookies to store and/or access device information. Consenting to these technologies will allow us to process data such as browsing behaviour or unique IDs on this site. Not consenting or withdrawing consent, may adversely affect certain features and functions.
Functional
Always active
The technical storage or access is strictly necessary for the legitimate purpose of enabling the use of a specific service explicitly requested by the subscriber or user, or for the sole purpose of carrying out the transmission of a communication over an electronic communications network.
Preferences
The technical storage or access is necessary for the legitimate purpose of storing preferences that are not requested by the subscriber or user.
Statistics
The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for statistical purposes.The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for anonymous statistical purposes. Without a subpoena, voluntary compliance on the part of your Internet Service Provider, or additional records from a third party, information stored or retrieved for this purpose alone cannot usually be used to identify you.
Marketing
The technical storage or access is required to create user profiles to send advertising, or to track the user on a website or across several websites for similar marketing purposes.
