New Emojis Coming to Phones In 2019 Get Mixed Reactions From People With Disabilities

This week, the Unicode Consortium released a 2019 update to their collection of emojis with some people, but not all, praising designers' efforts to be more inclusive and diverse. The symbols, now ubiquitous in electronic messages, will be available on most platforms in the fall. Of the 230 just-released emojis, Unicode includes more options for people (of varying gender, skin and hair color) who use hearing devices, prosthetics, a white cane, guide dogs, service dogs, and wheelchairs. You can see them all here.

Why Are Emojis More Powerful Than Ever? The time is now to embrace diversity and businesses who ignore the power of expression and representation—even in a tiny text message—do so at their own peril. Why? For decades, despite the passage of laws to even the playing field, people with disabilities have felt ignored, invisible and isolated. So it follows that on a symbolic level, emojis that tell their stories and help them communicate are a win. Whether you like the ones chosen or not, there's no disputing that they are a clear, visible way for people with disabilities to be recognized and included.

What is Your Company Doing To Be Inclusive That Sets You Apart?

The 2019 emoji update is a clear signal to organizations that even the smallest of changes can have an enormous impact. Let me give you an example. In everyday business discussions, people tend to think of once excluded groups as demanding that they have a say in big decisions that affect them. But in reality, what the new emoji discussion illustrates is that how we communicate is vitally important. If a customer or employee can’t represent who they are and what they need in a text, that’s no small deal anymore.  

What Do People In The Disability Community Think Of The 2019 Emoji Updates?

At some levels, the reaction has ignited tempered optimism. President and CEO of the American Association of People with Disabilities (AAPD) Helena Berger wrote that the AAPD is encouraged to see increased representation of the diverse, vibrant community of people with disabilities. But she adds that “to communicate broader inclusion, we should identify the person by their experiences and interactions, representing people immersed in their day to day life." (It’s coming, read more.)

Others like Meena Das, a senior at Mississippi State University and a Diversity: IN NextGen Leader, think the additions are wonderful, adding that bringing diversity to emojis is no trivial matter when it comes to disability inclusion. In this modern world, emojis are being used in almost all text messages and social media posts. “If young people get accustomed to seeing such emojis on a daily basis, it subconsciously increases awareness about diversity in them,” she says. Das also says it will be an amazing feeling for people with disabilities to finally be represented in something that is used so commonly to express emotion.

Both Berger and Das raise an interesting point about emotion: No matter how many wheelchair emojis Unicode designs, it is still just a depiction of a wheelchair user not actually doing anything or expressing emotion. Here’s the (admittedly pricey) fix I alluded to earlier. Apple and Samsung now offer ARthat can transform a consumer into an emojiman, which is short for emojihuman. Samsung describes the problem, their goal, and their solution here. To use it, a consumer would need to have the iPhone X or Samsung S9.

The Next Generation Craves Inclusive Tech

If you stand at the intersection of inclusion and technology, you’ll likely meet someone like Robin Hester, who is also a Disability: IN NextGen Leader and a recent graduate of Rowan University. Robin Hester is blind and acquired a vision disability later on in life. “People with disabilities are technology users,” she says. “I love to communicate with emojis and the more the better. I feel I’m included and that other people realize that people with disabilities are very much engaged with technology." Hester says she can recall a time when one of her friends was surprised when they sent me a text message, not expecting me to reply back. "They were amazed that I could even read their text much less send them a reply message," she says.

As with many disability issues in the news, particularly those that have workplace implications, new technology can only go so far. At every level of U.S. organizations, there is too much misinformation about the 25% of people who have a disability. Want to learn more? The latest statistics may come as a surprise to you. But what the disability community needs you to focus on more than anything is not their strength in numbers but their strengths. The business of the emoji is bigger than a wheelchair or guide dog. Hopefully, this will usher in a new era of visibility for people with disabilities, one in which their talents, skills and great minds are much more visible IRL.