Apple has asked for new emojis to be created to stand for people with disabilities. Apple, the company that makes the iPhone and the iPad, says that there are no emojis that represent people who are blind, deaf, or cannot walk. They want to solve that problem.
(Source: © Apple/Unicode, via Emojipedia.)
Apple wants new emojis for four main kinds of disabilities that people might have: problems seeing, problems hearing, problems moving, and hidden problems. The company worked with groups which represent people who are blind, deaf, or have trouble walking to come up with the emojis. Apple says its new emojis are not the only ideas. They called their ideas a “starting point”.
(Source: © Apple/Unicode, via Emojipedia.)
Apple’s emojis include two pictures of dogs that help people. There are pictures of blind people walking with a white cane and of deaf people using sign language. The emojis include people in two different kinds of wheelchairs. There are also emojis of an artificial leg and arm. The people in the emojis can be shown as a man or a woman. The skin color can also be changed.
(Source: © Apple/Unicode, via Emojipedia.)
Emojis are a special part of “Unicode” – a system that computers and phones use to show symbols from all the languages in the world. Before new emojis can be created, the group that controls Unicode must first agree that the emojis are important enough to add. If the Unicode group agrees, the new emojis might come to computers and phones in 2019.