2019 could be the year of new Whatsapp emojis that represent disabilities. Apple has presented new emojis – representing hearing aids, guides, and people with disabilities – in a submission to the Unicode Consortium. Apple's submission states that “Apple is requesting the addition of emoji's 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 emoji's will include people with walking sticks, canes, wheelchairs, guide dogs and even prosthetic limbs. The Unicode Technical Committee meeting will take place next month in which emojis will be discussed and added to the shortlist for approval as an option for Emoji 12.0 for 2019. Although this is not an exhaustive list of all the disabilities, it serves as a starting point for further developments. Apple said that it worked with the American Council of the Blind, the Cerebral Palsy Foundation and the National Association of the Deaf to develop the 13 proposed additions to create a more inclusive user experience.
157 new emojis have been included for 2018 that include female superheroes, diverse skin tones and red-haired people, which will be released in August.
What emoji would you like to see added? Let us know below.
