In early 2018, Apple announced that it proposed emojis that featured people with disabilities. Although disability is all around us, the disabled community seems to be underrepresented in a multitude of things, including emojis used on iPhones and other mobile devices. In fact, according to an article on the Huffington Post, "people with disabilities make up the largest minority population". What is clearly long overdue, I think this is a great step in representing the disabled community more in our everyday lives.
In 2012, the newest Apple emojis featured a gay and lesbian couple, which was not featured when the emojis were first launched. This was a huge step for the LGBTQ+ community and was able to show extreme inclusivity when it can to emojis.
In 2015, Apple was able to increase the racial diversity within emojis by users being able to hold down a certain emoji and then choosing a specific skin tone that they wanted. This, of course, was a major step to represent inclusivity among society and those who used emojis in their everyday lives.
In 2018, Apple proposed new emojis that would better represent the disabled community. According to multiple sources, Apple is looking to add 13 additions that can represent the disabled community. The proposal includes a person in a wheelchair, an ear with a hearing aid, a service dog, a person with a cane, and a prosthetic leg and many more.
When CNN asked Apple about their proposed emojis, Apple exclaimed that it chose options that are "most inclusive towards people in these four main categories: blind and low vision, dear and hard or hearing, physical (motor) disabilities, and hidden disabilities".
I think this is an amazing thing, as all minorities are finally starting to get represented in our society. People with disabilities are all around us, and it is important that everyone starts to see how common disability is among society, and how steps like this can be used as a way to show inclusivity. Although these emojis should have already been made, this is a major step for society as a whole as we are able to become more aware of people around us.
