Disabled people get 13 new dedicated emojis to play with in iOS

Apple announced on Friday that it would be introducing 13 new emojis that would represent people who use hearing aids, guide dogs, and other disabilities.

Apple wrote in its proposal, “Apple is requesting the addition of emoji to better represent individuals with disabilities. Currently, emoji provide a wide range of options, but may not represent the experiences of those with disabilities.”

The new array of emojis includes hearing aids, individuals using canes or wheelchairs, guide dogs, and prosthetic limbs. There are 13 new emojis that are proposed in total, in total, they count to 45 if the different skin tones are considered. Apple says that emojis are the beginning, suggesting that they might reveal more features in the near future. 

The Unicode Technical Committee meeting, where members will decide over these emojis, is scheduled for next month. If these emojis are approved, they would be shortlisted as the candidates for Emoji 12.0, due for a release during the first half of 2019. Until then, the emoji list for 2018 has been completed and is due to come to major mobile platforms during the second half of this year.