Games tend to be quite visual—a fact most sighted people take for granted.
But not Mattel, which has joined the likes of Monopoly, Scrabble, and Bananagrams with its first official UNO deck featuring braille.
UNO Braille, though unimaginatively named, aims to make gameplay widely accessible for the 7 million-plus blind and low-vision folks in the US.
Designed in partnership with the National Federation of the Blind, the adapted deck features braille on the corner of each card to indicate its color and number or action.
“We’re making a real impact on a community that has been underserved by providing a game that both blind and sighted people can play together,” Ray Adler, global head of games at Mattel, said in a statement.
Even the classic red packaging—now a crisp white—has been modified to include tactile writing on the front and back for clear identification.
The box also directs players to UNOBraille.com, where they can download rules as braille-readable files. Or access voice-enabled instructions through Amazon Alexa and Google Home.
“We are proud to have UNO Braille on shelves and to be making UNO more accessible and inclusive to even more families,” Adler added.
The game is available via Target—in stores and online—for $9.99.
“UNO Braille is doing more than making this beloved game more accessible,” according to Mark Riccobono, president of the National Federation of the Blind. “It’s also helping promote the importance and normalcy of braille by putting it in places people might not expect, and integrating it into the play of blind children.
“The fact that a blind person is now able to play a classic game of UNO straight out of the box with both blind and sighted friends or family members is a truly meaningful moment for our community,” he continued. “I look forward to enjoying UNO Braille with my own family and I know that blind people across the nation will embrace this important and exciting step toward more inclusion and accessibility.”
Mattel is no stranger to inclusivity: In 2017, it introduced UNO ColorADD—the first accessible card game for those with color blindness.
UNO—Italian and Spanish for “one”—was originally developed in 1971 by Merle Robbins of Reading, Ohio.
When the game took off among family and friends, Robbins spent $8,000 to make 5,000 copies, sold first from his barbershop, then via local businesses. Robbins later sold the rights to Robert Tezak, who formed International Games, Inc., which joined the Mattel family in 1992.
The concept is simple: Be the first to score 500 points by playing all of your own cards, collecting points for those still held by others, and not cheating.
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- Mattel Launches Gender-Inclusive Doll Line
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