[il-talk] Apple's Accessability Emoji

[Kelly Pierce]

Thanks Patti. I will follow up directly with Mark.


Kelly

On 3/25/18, Patti Chang via IL-Talk <il-talk at nfbnet.org> wrote:
> Dear Kelly,
>
> I suggest you reach out to OUR national office to speak with our President
> about this issue. Since you are a member of the National Federation of the
> Blind I stress OUR national office. Our president is very approachable. His
> extension is 2368. Thank you for sharing this information. I agree that it
> is unfortunate that Apple did not look a little further and is perpetuating
> many notions we do not benefit from with these new images.
>
>
>
> Patti Chang Esq.
> Treasurer
> National Federation of the Blind of Illinois
> (773) 307-6440
> www.nfbofillinois.org
>
> Find us on twitter: “NFBI”
> Search for “National Federation of the Blind of Illinois” on facebook.
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: IL-Talk [mailto:il-talk-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Kelly Pierce
> via IL-Talk
> Sent: Saturday, March 24, 2018 9:16 PM
> To: NFB of Illinois Mailing List <il-talk at nfbnet.org>
> Cc: Kelly Pierce <kellytalk at gmail.com>
> Subject: [il-talk] Apple's Accessability Emoji
>
> In the last few days, Apple proposed new emoji to the worldwide standards
> body of images that reflect accessibility. Two of these images show a male
> and a female figure with white canes. I became suspicious when I noticed
> that the only blindness organization consulted by Apple in press reports was
> the American Council of the Blind. A sighted friend examined the emoji’s and
> found the canes appear to only extend to the elbows of the blind people, who
> appear to be age 12. This cane length is below the sternum, which is the
> minimum cane length advocated by the Association for Education and
> Rehabilitation of the Blind and Visually Impaired. ACB regularly affiliates
> with AER.  The National Federation of the Blind recommends that white canes
> extend past the chin.  It is sad Apple has brazenly picked a political side
> in the white canes and travel debate rather than develop an image
> representative of independent blind travel. The blind people in the emoji’s
> are holding really short white canes with red tips and a black golf grip
> with the nylon cord around their wrists, which can often be a safety hazard.
> If blind people have their canes caught in the doors of rapid transit or
> light rail trains, they could be dragged to their deaths when the train
> rapidly accelerates rather than having the cane just knocked out of their
> hand if a strap is not wrapped around their wrist. It sets a poor example of
> cane use to the public and blind people everywhere. I will ask Apple to
> withdraw its submission and create new emoji that actually demonstrates safe
> independent travel.  I hope the national office will examine the emoji and
> follow up with Apple about this imagery.
>
> Kelly
>
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