'It's about inclusion': Emojis representing people with disabilities eagerly anticipated on P.E.I.

An Island group that represents people with disabilities is eagerly awaiting the release of the latest set of emojis. This year for the first time, symbols that represent everything from partial deafness to emotional support dogs will become part of the emoji language.

Marcia Carroll, executive director of the P.E.I. Council for People with Disabilities, says it's a big step forward for inclusion.

"When we talk about inclusion it's really about normalization," Carroll said.

"It's about showing people with disabilities, or all levels of ability, living their lives as everyday people do."

'There is some excitement'

The new emojis are among 230 new ones set to be released sometime this year. They include symbols for people who are partly blind or deaf, individuals using both electric and mechanical wheelchairs and prosthetic limbs.

Carroll said with the growing use of emojis, it's important for technology and language to adapt and to make sure everyone can be part of the conversation.

"It's not only for people with disabilities, it's for people who support people with disabilities and love people with disabilities," Carroll said.

"So they can use that as a way to show solidarity, so there is some excitement about it actually." 

Carroll said she's impressed with the level of consultation Apple, the company that pitched the idea, put into the development of the emojis. She's also pleased they were approved by the Unicode Consortium, an international group that decides which symbols get to be emojis.

"This becomes part of our common language, it becomes how we communicate with each other, and how we represent people with disabilities in a language that's becoming so popular," said Carroll.

The new set of emojis could be released anytime in 2019.

Carroll said a further step toward inclusion would be emojis that represent intellectual disabilities and mental-health struggles.

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