Consider accessibility impacts of our use of emoji

[RichardTaylor]

We're using emoji in notes (example), and there is a proposal to use them in the help pages.

There are loads of guidelines / recommendations online.

It appears we don't get to add/define alt text for emojis ourselves, they have text descriptors already inherently associated with them, so we should consider if those descriptors suit the situation we're using emoji in.

Should we preferably be using icons with our own alt text rather than emoji?

See also:

• Overhaul the help pages, to make them shorter, prettier and more accessible. #1453 (comment)

[garethrees]

I don't think that we shouldn't use them. As far as their general use goes, I don't see them much different to saying "should we use punctuation?".

Like anything, you can always use them poorly. https://uxdesign.cc/emojis-in-accessibility-how-to-use-them-properly-66b73986b803 looks like good guidance. In many ways I think they can make UI more accessible. Always tradeoffs – an improvement for one is a degradation for another.

Should we preferably be using icons with our own alt text rather than emoji?

I don't think this can be answered. It depends on the context. In interactive elements I'd probably choose an icon, whereas I'd usually use emoji to add richness to text-based content.

[RichardTaylor]

Closely related - are we using emoji which have good cross-platform support? (Noted as it appears we were using one internally that doesn't display on a Mac!).

[garethrees]

One thing that is a little annoying with emoji is using them in URLs, or content (like headings) where URLs may be auto-generated.

An example of this is on MediaWiki where an emoji in the title creates much less readable page anchor in the URL.

[garethrees]

Considered