The integration of emojis into everyday writing has profoundly transformed digital communication, enabling emotions, ideas, and concepts to be expressed visually and concisely. However, for people with visual disabilities who rely on Braille, this evolution presents a highly complex challenge. Braille, a tactile reading and writing system, is a vital resource for accessing information, yet representing emojis in this system is not without difficulties. Emojis, unlike letters or numbers, are complex symbols that, due to their visual and polysemic nature, require a different approach to be effectively translated into Braille.

WHAT ARE EMOJIS

Emojis, small pictographic icons displayed on the screens of our devices, have become the universal language of emotions and ideas in the digital age. They originated in the late 1990s from the Japanese telecom operator J-Phone[1] to enrich communication with symbols that evoke feelings and concepts without using words. Today, from simple hearts and smiley faces, they have evolved into an extensive repertoire of images embracing cultures, identities, and everyday objects. 😺

Thanks to the Unicode system, an international standard that assigns a unique code to every character and symbol, emojis are recognized and usable on any device, regardless of the manufacturer or operating system. Currently, there are over 3,600 emojis[2] (with new ones introduced annually), a constantly expanding digital pantheon capturing the variety of human experience, from smiles to sunsets, pizza to the inclusivity flag, adding a touch of color and emotion to every message. 😍

Braille AND EMOJIS

Braille, the tactile reading and writing system devised by Louis Braille, represents letters, numbers, and symbols through combinations of six raised dots arranged within a cell. Thanks to the standardized Unicode encoding, Braille can also be displayed in digital contexts, ensuring consistent representation across devices and applications. ⠿

The representation of emojis in Braille presents several complexities. Emojis are not simple alphabetical characters but symbols that convey emotions, concepts, and often intricate cultural references, with meanings that can vary depending on the context.

The alphabet is a writing system based on a set of distinct characters, where each letter—though originating from graphic and symbolic representation in Ancient writing systems—gains meaning only when placed within a broader context, such as a word or sentence. In this system, the central element is the alphabet itself, not the visual or tactile perception of individual characters. Therefore, the translation of a visual character into a tactile one can occur relatively easily without loss or distortion of the original information.

The situation changes dramatically in the case of emojis, as the core of this system is not a simple alphanumeric symbol but a visual image. Emojis are pictograms representing objects, emotions, and visual concepts whose understanding is closely tied to their visual dimension. As a result, translating an emoji into a tactile format is not a "simple" conversion, as its comprehension relies on the immediate and visual interpretation of the image—an aspect that cannot easily be replicated in Braille without some degree of information loss or alteration.

Today, screen readers interpret emojis using textual labels, converting emoji pictograms into words. While vocal synthesis may find it relatively straightforward to describe an emoji, transforming pictograms into text descriptions and delivering them through speech, representing emojis in Braille proves to be even more complex.

One challenge lies in translating these visual images into tactile combinations. A Braille cell, with its six available positions, offers limited encoding space compared to the rich visual and semantic content of many emojis. Furthermore, many emojis include color variations, expressive details, or combinations of symbols, which further amplify the complexity of representation. The variety of over 3,600 emojis currently available also poses a challenge to users' cognitive memory, as they must quickly distinguish and recognize each symbol.

DIFFERENCES BETWEEN SIGHT, HEARING, AND TOUCH

Sight, hearing, and touch are three senses that, while sharing the goal of perceiving and interpreting the surrounding world, operate in fundamentally different ways. Sight is undoubtedly the most immediate and powerful channel for understanding the meaning of many things, including emojis. When we look at an emoji, particularly those representing emotions or feelings, the meaning reaches us instantly, without the need for complex interpretation.

The vision of an emoji engages various areas of the brain, both consciously and unconsciously, as these images stimulate emotional, cognitive, and visual responses. Although emojis are visual representations, their primary function is to evoke rapid and automatic emotional reactions. This occurs through the connection between the visual symbol and emotional processing, triggering unconscious responses that can influence our mood without requiring complex cognitive processing.

Hearing, while also a direct channel, has its differences. Listening to an emoji's description is not as immediate as seeing it. For example, an emotion expressed through an emoji can be easily recognized visually thanks to facial features or universal symbols, but translating that same emotion into words requires a fair degree of accuracy and interpretation. An oral description may fail to convey the same intensity and clarity as the visual representation, as verbal language cannot recreate the immediate visual symbol with equal efficiency, especially when pronounced by a speech synthesizer.

The transformation of emojis for the sense of touch presents significant challenges. While touch is indispensable in many fields, such as Braille reading, it faces notable difficulties in effectively reproducing content that heavily relies on visual components, like emojis. While tactile reading excels with Braille in conveying textual information, the perception of emotions or concepts conveyed through visual forms does not achieve the same level of immediacy and comprehension provided by sight. Touch is less effective in representing complex visual details, such as facial expressions or the symbolic arrangement of emojis, especially given the limited perception capabilities of fingertips within the tactile space of a cell. Therefore, while remaining a fundamental tool, touch imposes compromises when attempting to convey, through Braille, a quick and precise understanding of an emoji's emotional and symbolic meaning.

A GLOBAL SYSTEM FOR ENCODING EMOJIS

The representation of emojis in Braille is not merely a technical issue but a subject that intertwines cultural, linguistic, and universal accessibility aspects. Emojis, having become an integral part of modern communication, appear in personal messages, on social media, and even in official documents. However, for people with visual impairments, a standardized system for effectively and universally recognized Braille representation of these symbols is still lacking.

Creating such a system involves more than technology; it also requires international coordination to address complex political and organizational challenges. A common language needs to be developed, one that reflects the diversity of cultures and languages while ensuring inclusivity and practicality for everyday use.

To address this issue, several strategies could be considered, each with specific advantages and drawbacks. For example, screen readers attempt to provide representations that, while technically simple, often prove ineffective in practice. Some suggest representing emojis using a nine-dot grid, without considering that a tactile system like Braille must possess a fundamental characteristic: ease of writing and reproduction.

One option would be to use textual descriptions translated into Braille, following a principle similar to that used by speech synthesis. While this is easily achievable with today's technologies, it would significantly extend the length of messages, making reading slower and less immediate.

Another possibility would be to encode the unique numbers assigned to emojis and represent them directly in Braille. Although technically feasible, this approach risks being unintuitive for the reader, imposing a high cognitive load to memorize and associate each code with its corresponding visual meaning.

A third option might involve creating a system of tactile abbreviations or specific symbols for emojis. However, this method would require adopting a universal standard to ensure consistency and recognizability on a global scale. Such a standard would need to be developed through collaboration among experts in assistive technologies, linguists, and representatives from the Braille community of people with visual impairments, ensuring a balance between comprehensibility, efficiency, and inclusivity.

The issue of reproducing emojis in Braille is a complex challenge requiring an analytical and rigorous approach. Addressing it demands an in-depth exploration of the issues and opportunities offered by the intersection of the relevant fields, with the understanding that every solution inevitably involves compromises. Only through a clear and detailed understanding of the inherent difficulties and technical possibilities can an effective and accessible method be proposed to integrate emojis into the Braille system.

A PROPOSAL

Emojis, due to their visual and polysemous nature, require a structured approach to be represented in Braille in a clear and functional manner. To develop a robust and effective solution, it is essential to begin with an in-depth analysis of the problem, considering the following points:

• There are over 3,600 emojis, with new ones added every year—a constantly growing number that complicates standardization.
• Emojis can be organized into thematic families, each representing different aspects of reality or emotions.
• Despite their wide variety, more than 82% of people regularly use only about a hundred emojis, focusing on a limited set of symbols.
• Braille, with its 6- or 8-dot systems in both traditional and digital forms, allows for a multi-cell structure that can extend writing to represent complex symbols like emojis.
• Braille already uses modifiers, additional symbols that alter the meaning of existing cells, as seen with uppercase letters or numbers. This principle could be adapted to integrate emoji representation.

The first step to addressing emoji representation in Braille could involve categorizing them, organizing them into the most common and frequently used families to reflect their semantic and symbolic function. This approach would allow the most used emojis to be divided into meaningful groups, simplifying the standardization process. Each category would then be associated with the most popular emojis, identified through a thorough global survey.

Such an initiative would require collaboration among major international stakeholders, such as the Unicode Consortium and leading technology companies like Microsoft, Apple, and Google, to ensure a universally accepted and shared solution.

A Braille STRUCTURE FOR EMOJIS

My proposal is to represent emojis in Braille using only three cells. By employing a three-cell Braille structure, a coded system could be implemented where:

1. The first cell acts as a prefix, signaling that the following two cells identify a specific emoji. This prefix would be designed to be compatible with existing Braille codings, using cells that are currently unused or uniquely interpretable. To respect international linguistic and technical diversity, the choice of the prefix could be customized by local authorities, adapting to the specific needs of their Braille codings. This approach would provide flexibility and consistency within the global system without compromising the universality of the proposal.
2. The second cell would identify the emoji family, carefully assigning points to each category. The coding should follow a clear and systematic rule that communicates not only the family but also additional information, such as the positive or negative nature of the content or the specific theme. It is essential to limit the number of families, ensuring a balance between representativeness and simplicity to avoid overwhelming the reader with excessive cognitive load during system learning and interpretation. This cell, combined with the third, would assume a universal character shared across all Braille codings worldwide. Such an approach mirrors the model adopted by Unicode, which has standardized the digital representation of characters, ensuring consistency and interoperability across languages and systems. Adopting a universal system for these two cells would strengthen the uniformity of Braille on a global scale, promoting accessibility and inclusivity in emoji representation for readers everywhere.
3. Finally, the third cell would identify the specific emoji within a given family. This schema would allow for the representation of up to 63 emojis per category in 6-dot Braille and up to 255 emojis in 8-dot Braille. Considering that the most used emojis currently number around 100, it would be strategic to assign the high points of the cell to the most frequently used emojis, ensuring faster and more intuitive reading. This optimization would enhance both the efficiency of the system and its usability for readers, respecting real usage priorities.

This approach would ensure clarity and consistency, facilitating tactile reading without overburdening the user's memory. For example, a smiling face could be represented with a first cell introducing the emoji concept, a second identifying the "faces and emotions" category, and a third specifying the smiling symbol. Categorization reduces ambiguity and allows for a scalable and systematic coding of a vast number of symbols, promoting accessibility and inclusivity for Braille users.

CONCLUSION

As the author and developer of Biblos, a Software widely used in Italy for Braille printing and to a lesser extent in the rest of the world, I believe I have the opportunity to contribute to the development of a coding system for emojis, also based on the proposal I have put forward. I could gather a committee of industry experts, involving professionals capable of discussing and finding a shared solution. However, my perspective leans towards official recognition, which only competent national and international authorities can grant. Emojis have become a global reality, and while I can contribute constructively and responsibly to the debate and dissemination, the adoption of a "de facto" Braille standard by individual entities would be a long, complex, and potentially disorganized process. On the other hand, a "de jure" Braille standard, officially developed and recognized by national and international authorities, would represent a preferable and much faster solution, capable of ensuring uniformity and accessibility worldwide.

My proposal does not aim to override or replace the decisions of competent authorities but to offer a thoughtful and actionable contribution, with the goal of fostering a constructive and inclusive dialogue. The issue of representing emojis in Braille is of such importance and complexity that it requires institutional involvement. Institutions, with their expertise and strategic vision, are well-positioned to guide the creation of a globally recognized and shared system. In this context, my aim is to make available the skills developed over the years, contributing to the progress of a project that can flourish through collaboration among all parties involved. Such an approach, encouraging dialogue among experts, national and international institutions, is essential for developing a solution that meets the needs of universal accessibility.

The international coordination for creating a standardized Braille coding system for emojis represents a significant political and organizational challenge. Emojis are now an integral part of daily communication, used in personal messages, social media, and even official publications, yet for people with visual disabilities, there is still no effective and universally recognized system for their representation in Braille. This gap highlights a communication disparity that requires concerted intervention by the various international Braille authorities, such as the World Blind Union (WBU) and national organizations. Each country has traditionally developed its own conventions for Braille, often in response to local linguistic needs, making it difficult to achieve global consensus on new standards. Including emojis in a unified Braille code requires a multilateral dialogue involving not only Braille experts but also linguists, assistive technology developers, and representatives from the visually impaired community. The absence of a shared approach risks further fragmenting accessibility, limiting inclusion in an increasingly essential area of digital communication. In this context, the urgency to act is amplified by the rapid evolution of digital language and the growing need to ensure equal communication opportunities in an increasingly interconnected world.

[1] https://it.Wikipedia.org/wiki/Emoji

[2] https://www.infodata.ilsole24ore.com/2021/12/13/le-emoji-misura-di-tutte-le-cose-ecco-quante-sono-e-come-sono-cambiate-nel-2021/

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