Re: Updated emoji working draft

> This is really off topic. If you want to start up a thread about this, please use a different subject.

Well, perhaps I may explain why I consider the post to be on topic.

The document

http://unicode.org/draft/reports/tr51/tr51.html

at present includes the following.

quote

There is one further kind of label, called a "read-out", for text-to-speech. For accessibility when reading text, it is useful to have a semi-unique name for an emoji character. The Unicode character name can often serve as a basis for this, but its requirements for uniqueness often ends up with names that are overly long, such as black right-pointing double triangle with vertical bar for ⏯.

Note that the labels need to be in each user’s language to useful. They cannot simply be a translation of an English label, since different words, or even different categorizations, may be what is expected in different languages. The terms given in the data files here have been collected from different sources. They are only initial suggestions, not expected to be complete, and only in English.

end quote

If the UTC (Unicode Technical Committee) accepts the introduction of read-out labels, each read-out label both linked to a pictograph character and also linked to a language-localization text string, then that will be a far-reaching enhancement to Unicode which may have enormous implications for facilitating communication through the language barrier.

Although suggested in the draft as for use in text-to-speech, a read-out label could also be displayed as text, either in addition to the pictograph or instead of the pictograph.

The linked picture in my post contains two examples, each of which may, in the present context be regarded as a pictograph and a read-out label text string displayed together.

Imagine please if museum and art gallery websites each were to have an international webpage in its on-line shop.

If there were on the webpage emoji for Surname, Forename, Delivery address, Card number, Card expiry date and so on and the end-user could display text in his or her own language by displaying the appropriate read-out label next to the pictograph of the emoji, then that could be very helpful.

William Overington

15 April 2014

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Received on Tue Apr 15 2014 - 06:16:49 CDT