Request for immediate changes to PERSON WITH WHITE CANE (etc) emoji

Thu Jun 6 15:13:17 CDT 2024

> d. other fingers curling around under the bottom

Clarification: the middle through pinky fingers should be curled around
under the bottom.

The index finger may be extended along the top or outside, or curled under.

Sincerely,
Sai
President, Fiat Fiendum, Inc., a 501(c)(3)

Sent from my mobile phone; please excuse the concision, typos, and
autocorrect errors.

On Thu, 6 Jun 2024, 18:45 Sai, <sai at fiatfiendum.org> wrote:

> Dear Unicode Consortium and implementers,
>
>
> # Reference and background
>
> The  emoji 🧑‍🦯 (and the various gender, skin tone & facing variants)
> represent blind people using a long white guide cane. (I'm one, hi.)
>
> My thanks to Ash Holland, CCed, who found the issue below and pointed it
> out to me. The text below is my own.
>
>
> ## Terminology
>
> Per World Blind Union (WBU) norms, I use the term "blind" to include
> anyone with visual disability sufficient to benefit from a cane. This
> includes "visually impaired" (VI), "partially sighted", etc.
>
> Equipment terminology varies by country.
>
> The kind of cane used by blind people for walking at speed in public,
> typically sternum to forehead length and covered in mostly white reflective
> tape, is called a "guide cane", "long cane", and/or "white cane". Some
> manufacturers, notably Ambutech (one of the largest), use "mobility cane".
> I'm going to just use "cane" to refer to this.
>
> In the UK, but not US, "guide cane" refers to a very short (lower than
> sternum, roughly waist to ribs length) cane which can be used for limited
> mobility, as opposed to "long cane" which has the meaning above. (In the US
> these terms are synonymous for the long version, and short canes like this
> aren't really a thing.) "ID cane" or "symbol cane" is a very short cane,
> not long enough to touch the ground, used for signaling purposes (and light
> indoor use), not navigation.
>
> Countries differ in colour usage. Globally, an all white cane always means
> some type of blindness. In the US, all white or white with one red section
> canes are default and interchangeable; two separate red sections indicate
> deaf-blind. In the UK and other countries, one red section may indicate
> deaf-blind. Some South American countries use green, orange, and other
> colours as well, e.g. to indicate visually impaired as opposed to totally
> blind. And, worldwide, other colours are sometimes used just for fun or
> fashion.
>
> The above are all used specifically by blind people. These are distinct
> from a "support cane", like a hiking stick, which is used by both sighted
> and blind people with mobility issues like strength, stamina, or balance.
> (Including me — I walk with both a cane and white-taped hiking stick.)
>
>
> ## Unicode of cane use emoji
>
> The cane emoji solo is
> https://www.unicode.org/emoji/charts/emoji-list.html#1f9af
> 1355 U+1F9AF <https://www.unicode.org/emoji/charts/emoji-list.html#1f9af> [image:
> 🦯] <https://www.unicode.org/emoji/charts/full-emoji-list.html#1f9af> white
> cane accessibility | blind | white cane
>
>
> The person using cane are all ZWJ emoji, not solo codepoints
> https://www.unicode.org/emoji/charts/emoji-list.html#1f9d1_200d_1f9af
> 423 U+1F9D1 U+200D U+1F9AF
> <https://www.unicode.org/emoji/charts/emoji-list.html#1f9d1_200d_1f9af>
> 🧑‍🦯
> person with white cane accessibility | blind | person with white cane
> 424 U+1F9D1 U+200D U+1F9AF U+200D U+27A1 U+FE0F
> <https://www.unicode.org/emoji/charts/emoji-list.html#1f9d1_200d_1f9af_200d_27a1_fe0f>
> 🧑‍🦯‍➡️
> ⊛ person with white cane facing right
> 425 U+1F468 U+200D U+1F9AF
> <https://www.unicode.org/emoji/charts/emoji-list.html#1f468_200d_1f9af>
> 👨‍🦯
> man with white cane accessibility | blind | man | man with white cane
> 426 U+1F468 U+200D U+1F9AF U+200D U+27A1 U+FE0F
> <https://www.unicode.org/emoji/charts/emoji-list.html#1f468_200d_1f9af_200d_27a1_fe0f>
> 👨‍🦯‍➡️
> ⊛ man with white cane facing right
> 427 U+1F469 U+200D U+1F9AF
> <https://www.unicode.org/emoji/charts/emoji-list.html#1f469_200d_1f9af>
> 👩‍🦯
> woman with white cane accessibility | blind | woman | woman with white
> cane
> 428 U+1F469 U+200D U+1F9AF U+200D U+27A1 U+FE0F
> <https://www.unicode.org/emoji/charts/emoji-list.html#1f469_200d_1f9af_200d_27a1_fe0f>
> 👩‍🦯‍➡️
> ⊛ woman with white cane facing right
>
> These also all take skin tone variants, e.g. person with white cane dark
> skin tone 🧑🏿‍🦯.
>
>
>
>
>
> # The problem with current cane emoji
>
> In nearly all implementations listed at
> https://emojis.wiki/person-with-white-cane/ , these are depicted with the
> person having their hand through the cane's bungee loop as if it were a
> wrist strap.
>
> This is both wrong and, as an implicit norm/suggestion, it is dangerous
> misinformation that may cause real world fatalities to cane users.
>
>
> Not all canes have bungee loops — fixed length or telescoping canes with
> screw on tips often don't. For canes that do have one, the bungee loop on
> canes is _not_ a wrist strap, as the current emoji depictions suggest.
>
> The loop is for two primary purposes:
> 1. structure (for both sectional canes and canes with "hook on" type tips,
> which operate by bungee tension along the entire length of the cane between
> the top knot and the tip)
> 2. storage (for sectional canes, to hold them collapsed, by pulling a
> narrow loop around the collapsed bundle).
>
> It can also be incidentally used, when standing and holding it vertically,
> to rest one's hand by hooking a finger in the loop; or for hanging the cane
> on a wall hook or hat/coat rack.
>
> However, one should _never_ have one's hand through the loop, as depicted
> in these emoji. This is because if the tip gets caught on a moving
> jogger/bicycle/vehicle/train/etc, and the hand is through the loop, the
> cane user will get yanked and likely injured, possibly fatally (e.g. if
> dragged into a large vehicle at speed).
>
>
>
> The current emoji are therefore both:
> 1. inaccurate in depicting the loop as if it were a wrist strap, which it
> is not, and
> 2. actually dangerous misinformation liable to cause real world physical
> injuries, because they implicitly normalise the idea of misusing the loop
> as a wrist strap, which a current or future cane user would therefore be
> more likely to do, thus leading to physical injury to that person — up to
> and including death.
>
>
> ## Specific critique of implementations, including non hazardous
> inaccuracies
>
> * Apple
>
>
>
> Dangerous: none.
>
> Inaccurate: lower fingers not wrapped around the grip; grip pinched
> between thumb and index finger.
>
> Rare: hand holding the loop.
>
>
> * Facebook
>
>
>
>
> Dangerous: use of loop as a wrist strap.
>
> Inaccurate: cane body in grey rather than white; loop with thickness of a
> hiking pole strap.
>
> Rare: cane is extremely short, though this is proportionate to comic style.
>
>
> * Google
>
>
>
>
> Dangerous: use of loop as a wrist strap.
>
> Inaccurate: cane body in grey rather than white.
>
> Rare: cane is short.
>
>
> * Microsoft
>
>
>
>
> Dangerous: use of loop as a wrist strap.
>
> Inaccurate: cane body in grey rather than white; cane held like a walking
> stick; cane coming out the pinky end; cane held at the top of the handle;
> cane held without a thumb; cane at different angle than forearm.
>
> Rare: cane is short.
>
>
> * Samsung
>
> [image: image.png]
> Dangerous: use of loop as a wrist strap.
>
> Inaccurate: cane body in grey rather than white; loop with thickness of a
> hiking pole strap.
>
> Rare: none.
>
>
>
> * Twitter
>
>
>
>
>
> Dangerous: use of loop as a wrist strap.
>
> Inaccurate: cane body in grey rather than white; cane handle with a flange
> like a hiking pole; hand resting over the top like a hiking pole; cane at
> different angle than forearm.
>
> Rare: cane is short.
>
>
>
> * WhatsApp
>
>
>
>
>
> Dangerous: use of loop as a wrist strap.
>
> Inaccurate: cane body in grey rather than white; cane held reversed, with
> palm facing away from the user's body; cane at different angle than forearm.
>
> Rare: none.
>
>
>
> ## Further examples in solo white cane emoji
>
> All of the above issues are likewise reflected in the implementations of
> emoji for a white cane alone, see https://emojis.wiki/white-cane/
>
> For instance, Facebook's implementation
> [image: image.png]
>
> incorrectly depicts a hiking stick style wide wrist strap, depicted in an
> open manner suggesting it should be used as a wrist strap.
>
> Google's implementation
> [image: image.png]
> incorrectly depicts a wrist strap that pierces the cane handle for a load
> bearing design, like on a hiking stick. The bungee loop of a cane comes out
> the tip of the handle, since it is a structural element of the hook tip or
> collapsible cane assembly itself (the cane is hollow and the bungee cord
> runs its entire length), not an added component meant to be load bearing
> like on a hiking stick.
>
> Twitter's implementation
> [image: image.png]
> again shows a flange, such as on a hiking stick, which does not exist on
> canes; and shows the loop in an outstretched position suggesting that a
> hand is meant to go through it, rather than it being left alone when in use.
>
>
>
>
> # Requested changes
>
> ## Immediate changes
>
> Because the current implementations pose a risk of causing actual physical
> harm, I request the following changes be made as soon as possible.
>
> 1. Unicode: Change the implementation definition for all variants of
>
> A. the person with white cane emoji:
>
> The loop MUST NOT be around the user's wrist.
>
> The loop MAY, at implementer's discretion,
> a. hang downwards,
> b. be held against the handle by the caning hand palm,
> c. be tied along the cane handle, or
> d. be omitted entirely.
>
> B. the white cane emoji:
>
> The loop, if depicted, MUST NOT be suggestive of a wrist strap in width or
> positioning.
>
>
> 2. All implementers: Please change all cane use emoji accordingly, without
> waiting for a Unicode change.
>
> I suggest just removing the loop entirely.
>
>
> ## Normative change and extension for cane colour semantics
>
> 3. Unicode: Change the implementation definition, and add combining forms,
> for accuracy and to represent semantically different canes:
>
> A. Normative cane grip
>
> When depicted in use (i.e. in extended grip), the cane SHOULD be held:
> a. in golf grip, palm facing body
> b. with the caning hand palm on the outside edge of the handle
> c. thumb curling around over the top
> d. other fingers curling around under the bottom
> e. with cane extending out the thumb side of the hand.
>
> B. Cane colour coding
>
> The cane SHOULD be either:
> a. entirely white, or white with the bottom section red, at implementer's
> discretion (default)
> c. white with two bottom sections red, separated by a white section (if
> combined ZWJ with U+1F9CF 🧏 DEAF PERSON)
> d. entirely a vibrant colour (if combined ZWJ with a colour)
>
> with "white" being as close to vibrant white as feasible given artistic
> style (e.g. presence of drawn outlines, 'reflective' patches, etc) and the
> need to be distinguishable on a white background.
>
> All implementers: Please change depictions accordingly.
>
>
> ## Structural change
>
> In light of this having gotten implemented in a way that indicates Unicode
> and implementers clearly have no experience actually using a cane, and were
> oblivious to the inaccuracy and possible harm of these depictions — and it
> wasn't caught before now — I also request a structural change.
>
>
> 4. For all current and future emoji involving disabled people or their
> equipment, specifically consult the largest umbrella group run by such
> people, and their major national or higher level member organisations, to
> get their feedback on the exact details of both the abstract proposal and
> its implementations.
>
> In the case of blind people, that umbrella group is the World Blind Union
> (WBU). I have therefore CCed the WBU President.
>
> I have also CCed the two largest US blind organisations, American Council
> of the Blind (ACB) and National Federation of the Blind (NFB). I am a
> member of both.
>
>
> Thank you in advance for your time and consideration.
>
> Sincerely,
> Sai
> President, Fiat Fiendum, Inc., a 501(c)(3)
>
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <https://corp.unicode.org/pipermail/unicode/attachments/20240606/2c8c8fa5/attachment-0001.htm>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: 1717666957078.png
Type: image/png
Size: 9595 bytes
Desc: not available
URL: <https://corp.unicode.org/pipermail/unicode/attachments/20240606/2c8c8fa5/attachment-0009.png>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: 1717667014466.jpg
Type: image/jpeg
Size: 8376 bytes
Desc: not available
URL: <https://corp.unicode.org/pipermail/unicode/attachments/20240606/2c8c8fa5/attachment-0002.jpg>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: 1717667131475.png
Type: image/png
Size: 10973 bytes
Desc: not available
URL: <https://corp.unicode.org/pipermail/unicode/attachments/20240606/2c8c8fa5/attachment-0010.png>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: 1717667208523.png
Type: image/png
Size: 4930 bytes
Desc: not available
URL: <https://corp.unicode.org/pipermail/unicode/attachments/20240606/2c8c8fa5/attachment-0011.png>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: 1717667376174.png
Type: image/png
Size: 5982 bytes
Desc: not available
URL: <https://corp.unicode.org/pipermail/unicode/attachments/20240606/2c8c8fa5/attachment-0012.png>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: 1717667446450.jpg
Type: image/jpeg
Size: 9809 bytes
Desc: not available
URL: <https://corp.unicode.org/pipermail/unicode/attachments/20240606/2c8c8fa5/attachment-0003.jpg>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: image.png
Type: image/png
Size: 4397 bytes
Desc: not available
URL: <https://corp.unicode.org/pipermail/unicode/attachments/20240606/2c8c8fa5/attachment-0013.png>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: image.png
Type: image/png
Size: 1179 bytes
Desc: not available
URL: <https://corp.unicode.org/pipermail/unicode/attachments/20240606/2c8c8fa5/attachment-0014.png>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: image.png
Type: image/png
Size: 12353 bytes
Desc: not available
URL: <https://corp.unicode.org/pipermail/unicode/attachments/20240606/2c8c8fa5/attachment-0015.png>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: image.png
Type: image/png
Size: 8842 bytes
Desc: not available
URL: <https://corp.unicode.org/pipermail/unicode/attachments/20240606/2c8c8fa5/attachment-0016.png>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: image.png
Type: image/png
Size: 6912 bytes
Desc: not available
URL: <https://corp.unicode.org/pipermail/unicode/attachments/20240606/2c8c8fa5/attachment-0017.png>