Divvys Blog

Apple is planning to launch new emojis to represent people with disabilities.

As revealed by Emojipedia, the company has submitted a proposal to the Unicode Consortium presenting 13 emojis (45 when skin tones are taken into account) that include a guide dog, a man and a woman walking with a cane, and a man and a woman signing.

Among the other proposed emojis are an ear with a hearing aid, a man and a woman in both mechanical and manual wheelchairs, a service dog and a prosthetic arm.

"Apple is requesting the addition of emoji to better represent individuals with disabilities," the submission begins, going on to assert 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."

It later argues: "Adding emoji emblematic to users' life experiences helps foster a diverse culture that is inclusive of disability."

Apple, which has worked on this project with the American Council of the Blind, the Cerebral Palsy Foundation and the National Association of the Deaf, also clarifies: "This is not meant to be a comprehensive list of all possible depictions of disabilities, but to provide an initial starting point for greater representation for diversity within the emoji universe."

You can see the full submission here.

Apple's previous contributions to emoji expansion have included last year's diverse range of new images that took in everything from a coconut to a zebra to a woman with a headscarf.

Emojipedia also released its own bumper batch of emojis last month, covering redheads, curly-haired people, bald people and much more.