🎲
Rounding up the emojis…
Rounding up the emojis…
Emoji add personality and emotion to digital communication — but they can also create barriers for people who use screen readers, have cognitive disabilities, or rely on assistive technology. This guide covers how to use emoji in a way that works for everyone.
By ACiDek · Updated February 2025
Every emoji has an official Unicode name. When a screen reader encounters an emoji, it reads that name aloud. So 😂 becomes "face with tears of joy" and 🏠 becomes "house".
This works well for single emoji. The problem starts when you stack multiple emoji together — each one gets announced individually, which can be exhausting to listen to.
Different screen readers may announce emoji slightly differently. Here is how the major ones handle common emoji:
| Emoji | VoiceOver (Apple) | NVDA (Windows) | TalkBack (Android) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 😂 | Face with tears of joy | Face with tears of joy | Face with tears of joy |
| ❤️ | Red heart | Heavy black heart | Red heart |
| 👍 | Thumbs up sign | Thumbs up | Thumbs up |
| 🔥 | Fire | Fire | Fire |
| 👩💻 | Woman technologist | Woman technologist | Woman technologist |
| 🏳️🌈 | Rainbow flag | Rainbow flag | Rainbow flag |
You see: Great job! 🎉🎉🎉🔥🔥💪💪💯
Screen reader says: "Great job! Party popper, party popper, party popper, fire, fire, flexed biceps, flexed biceps, hundred points"
Better version: Great job! 🎉
Screen reader says: "Great job! Party popper"
Stick to 1-3 emoji per message or sentence. Every emoji adds an extra phrase for screen readers to announce, so less is genuinely more here.
Always pair emoji with text. An emoji-only message forces screen reader users to interpret meaning from Unicode names alone, which often does not convey your intent.
When emoji come first, screen readers announce the emoji names before the actual content. Putting emoji at the end lets users hear the message first.
Three fire emoji in a row means a screen reader says "fire, fire, fire." One is enough.
Screen reader users often scan headings to understand page structure. Emoji in headings add noise to this scanning process. Keep headings clean and descriptive with text only.
Image alt text should be plain, descriptive language. Adding emoji to alt text creates unnecessary audio clutter and does not help describe the image.
Government websites, healthcare content, and legal documents should minimize emoji use. Social media and casual communication have more room for emoji expression.
Emoji affect cognitive accessibility in both positive and negative ways. Understanding the balance helps you make better choices about when and how to include them.
Research from the University of Edinburgh (2023) found that autistic people often interpret emoji more literally than neurotypical people. Sarcastic or ironic emoji use — like using 🙂 to express displeasure — can be confusing. When communicating with diverse audiences, pair emoji with clear text so the meaning does not depend on reading between the lines.
The best way to understand emoji accessibility is to test it yourself. Here is how to check your content with the major screen readers:
Built into every Apple device. Free.
Free, open-source screen reader for Windows.
Built into Android devices. Free.
Copy your text and paste it into a plain text editor. Replace each emoji mentally with its name. Read it aloud. Does it still flow well? Does it make sense? If a sequence of emoji names sounds tedious or confusing when spoken, simplify it.
Strings of 10+ emoji in a row are common on social media. For screen reader users, this creates a wall of spoken descriptions that drowns out the actual message.
Example: 🎉🎊🥳🎈🎁✨💫🌟⭐🔥💯
Screen reader: "Party popper, confetti ball, partying face, balloon, wrapped gift, sparkles, dizzy, glowing star, star, fire, hundred points"
"I ❤️ this 🎵" reads as "I red heart this musical note" to a screen reader. The meaning gets lost in translation.
Using emoji instead of actual bullet points or list markers adds an extra spoken phrase before every list item. Use real HTML lists and add emoji sparingly within the text if needed.
✅ Better:
❌ Avoid:
🚀 Fast delivery
🔄 Free returns
📞 24/7 support
A button labeled "🛒" without text is read as "shopping cart" by screen readers, but this relies on users knowing the Unicode name. Always include visible text labels alongside emoji in interactive elements.
The same emoji can look very different across Apple, Google, Samsung, and Microsoft. The 🔫 emoji is a realistic pistol on some platforms and a water gun on others. Never assume your audience sees the same image you do — always provide text context.
When building websites, you can control how assistive technology interprets emoji using ARIA attributes.
Decorative emoji (hide from screen readers):
<span role="img" aria-hidden="true">🎨</span>Meaningful emoji (provide a label):
<span role="img" aria-label="Warning">⚠️</span>Emoji in a button:
<button aria-label="Add to cart">
<span aria-hidden="true">🛒</span> Add to Cart
</button>The Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.2 include several criteria relevant to emoji use: