An enriched emoji picker to improve accessibility in mobile communications

We present an emoji picker designed to enrich emojis selection on mobile devices using audio cues. The aim is to make emojis selection more intuitive by better identify their meanings. Unlike the typical emoji input components currently in use (known as "pickers"), in our component each emotion-related item is represented by both an emoji and a non-verbal vocal cue, and it is displayed according to a two-dimensional model suggesting the pleasantness and intensity of the emotion itself. The component was embedded in an Android app in order to exploit touchscreen interaction together with audio cues to ease the selection process by using more than one channel (visual and auditory). Since the component adds non-visual information that drives the emoji selection, it may be particularly useful for users with visual impairments. In order to investigate the feasibility of the approach and the acceptability/usability of the emoji picker component, a preliminary remote evaluation test involving both sighted and visually impaired users was performed. Analysis of the data collected through the evaluation test shows that all the participants, whether sighted or visually impaired, rated the usability of our picker as good, and also evaluated positively the model adopted to add semantic value to emojis.