[il-talk] Apple's Accessability Emoji

[Leslie Hamric]

for a company that supposed to have our backs concerning accessibility, I am surprised that they did look into this a little further. On the bright side, however, at least they consulted with one blind this organization. They could’ve not consulted with any of us at all. I do agree that these images need to be refined.Leslie

Sent from my iPhone

> On Mar 25, 2018, at 9:04 AM, Kelly Pierce via IL-Talk <il-talk at nfbnet.org> wrote:
> 
> 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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>> 
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