There may be a whole new set of emoji headed to your phones, tablets, and computers! Apple has submitted a proposal to the Unicode Consortium for emoji that would "better represent individuals with disabilities."
In it proposal, Apple points out one in seven people has some form of disability and suggests that emoji should better reflect that:
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. … Adding emoji emblematic to users' life experiences helps foster a diverse culture that is inclusive of disability.
Some of the proposed emoji include the sign language gesture for "deaf," a person in a wheelchair, a prosthetic leg, and a service dog. You can check out the full list of proposed emoji — along with a description of each — over on Emojipedia. The site says if they're approved at the Unicode meeting next month, we could see these emoji as soon as the first half of 2019. Also, even though Apple's the one making the proposal, an adoption by Unicode would see these come to Android as well as iOS.
Thoughts?
What do you think of these new emoji? I'm pumped to see Apple pushing for more inclusion and diversity in what's quickly becoming a fun, universal language. The more the better!
