By Prarthana Mitra
Emoji’s have quickly become an all-pervasive aspect of our lives. There appears to be an emoji for everything these days. You can choose from a wide range of options to correctly express an emotion, and communicate with visual references on a large number of topics including weather, food, state of mind, and your plans for the day. A few years ago, yet another another ground-breaking update saw skin tones and racial identities added to the emoji roster, thus adding an inclusive element to the available array of emojis.
However, for Apple, the current crop of 2,666 emojis is still lacking, especially when it comes to proper representation of their physically challenged users. The only one in the emoji dictionary that currently represents disability is the wheelchair symbol, ♿ which was added in 2005, and it falls short of representing the diversity in the disabled community.
However, to change the current status quo, Apple submitted a proposal to the Unicode Consortium a week ago, requesting the addition of emoticons that better represent individuals with disabilities.
The new suite of emojis will include a hearing aid, people using sign language, canes, wheelchairs, a service guide dog, and prosthetic limbs. 13 new emojis have been suggested in total, however, they would actually amount to 45, if you count skin tone options.
RETWEET TO GET THEM APPROVED!!! pic.twitter.com/SeQ2Yx8KDG
Nyle DiMarco (@NyleDiMarco) March 23, 2018
A move towards inclusion
Apples team acknowledged the move as a starting point toward furthering their initiative to improve accessibility and inclusion. However, the proposed emojis are not meant to be a comprehensive list, as certain disabilities, especially ones with psychological and internal manifestations, cannot be portrayed visually.
Apple collaborated with the Cerebral Palsy Foundation, as well as the American Council of the Blind, and the National Association of the Deaf, to develop the emojis, to ensure they were politically correct representations devoid of common stereotypes. For example, the emoji for the blind showcases a man with a cane, rather than the commonly mistaken representation of a man wearing dar or black glasses.
Carrie Wade, who has cerebral palsy, and works at the American Association of People with Disabilities told the Verge, [ ]this is one of those instances of small-scale media representation that is there now and wasnt there before. That kind of progress is always a good thing. Its like a second language on our phones and I think to not see yourself represented there, it says a lot.”
Emojis are now increasingly being viewed as part of an emerging language, and its widespread use, especially among younger generations, likely indicates that they are here to stay. A progressive move towards furthering inclusion in such formats, is both inevitable and necessary. Once approved by the Consortium committee, these emojis are expected be rolled out globally in the second half of 2019.