Emoji Accessibility

Design & Typography

Making emoji usable for people with disabilities, including screen reader descriptions, accessible designs, and representation emoji.

Emoji accessibility encompasses several aspects:

**Screen readers**: When a screen reader encounters an emoji, it reads the Unicode name (e.g., "grinning face with smiling eyes" for 😄). Overusing emoji can make content tedious for screen reader users.

**Representation**: Emoji 12.0 (2019) added accessibility-themed emoji including wheelchair users, prosthetic limbs, hearing aids, guide dogs, and a person with a white cane.

**Design**: Emoji should be visually distinguishable for users with color vision deficiencies. Skin tone modifiers also serve an accessibility function by enabling representation.

Best practices include using emoji to complement (not replace) text, avoiding emoji-only messages, and testing with screen readers.

Related Terms

CLDR (CLDR) CLDR (CLDR)
The Common Locale Data Repository, a Unicode project providing locale-specific data including emoji names and search keywords in 100+ languages. Emoji Annotation Emoji Annotation
Short keywords and descriptions associated with each emoji for search, text-to-speech, and accessibility purposes. Skin Tone Modifier Skin Tone Modifier
Five Unicode modifier characters based on the Fitzpatrick scale that change the skin color of human emoji (U+1F3FB to U+1F3FF).

Related Tools

🔀 Platform Compare Platform Compare
Compare how emojis render across Apple, Google, Samsung, Microsoft, and more. See visual differences side by side. ⌨️ Emoji Keyboard Emoji Keyboard
Browse and copy any of 3,953 emojis organized by category. Works in any browser, no install needed.

Related Stories

Emoji Accessibility Guide: Screen Readers, Alt Text, and ARIA
Make emoji accessible to screen reader users with proper alt text, ARIA labels, Unicode descriptions, and best practices for inclusive emoji usage.