STAMMA, the United Kingdom’s national charity for stammering or stuttering, has announced a win for accessibility when it comes to the linkage between words and emojis.
The organization has announced that Apple has removed the link between the ‘Woozy Face’ emoji and the word ‘stammering’ in the latest update to iOS.
WE DID IT!
Our statement on ‘woozy face’ emoji below: @Apple unacceptably prompted this Woozy faceemoji when typing in stammering, in all languages.
We invite @Apple and companies who a working to create an inclusive space to do better.’
Thank you all who helped stop this.
According to STAMMA, the British Stammering Association, the ‘Woozy Face’ emoji was suggested to users whenever the word ‘stammering’ was typed into the iPhone’s keyboard.
We are delighted that Apple has issued an iOS update to remove the link which prompted a ‘woozy face’ emoji when the word stammering was typed.
This happened in every language – affecting millions of people across the globe. It was demeaning and unacceptable.
Apple has not issued an apology, nor responded to our correspondence. Nevertheless we welcome this response.
Apple began suggesting emojis based on keywords a few years back, and the feature has certainly been handy. However, this is obviously not an acceptable use of the feature and it is good that Apple has removed the connection. It’s unclear if Apple purposefully made the link and did not realize the issue at the time or if there was some kind of third party of even artificial intelligence involved as far as choosing which words get linked to what emojis.
