Posted in: Board Games, Card Games, Games, Mattel, Tabletop | Tagged: mattel

Mattel To Make 80% Of Its Global Titles Colorblind Accessible

Mattel announced their plans to make sure that 80% of the global tabletop games they have on the market will be colorblind accessible.

Mattel announced this morning a new initiative for their tabletop games line, as they will move forward to make them more colorblind accessible. Several well-known franchises such as UNO, Skip-Bo, Phase 10, and more will have new features added to them to help make it so those with vision impairments will be able to play these games without issue. About 80% of their titles will include some kind of new feature, ranging from patterns to symbols to new physical features that will make it easier for games that do rely on colors as part of the gameplay. We have more info from their announcement for you below.

Mattel's Colorblind Accessibility Campaign

Knowing that approximately 300 million people around the world experience some form of colorblindness, Mattel is working to break down barriers to gameplay and help advance awareness of those affected by colorblindness. When creating these recent portfolio-wide changes, Mattel partnered with several experts in the color vision deficiency field, consulted with individuals who experience colorblindness, including Mattel designers who themselves are colorblind, and developed custom solutions for games, such as patterns, tactile clues, and symbols, to ensure color was not the only way to differentiate cards or components. This also follows a revolutionary launch from UNO in 2017 with UNO ColorADD, which was specifically designed for the colorblind community.

This announcement coincides with Mattel's Play It Forward Global Volunteer Week, June 24-28, which enables its iconic brands to give back to communities that need it most. Play It Forward is a designated period each year during which Mattel's global offices host a week of opportunities for employees to share their time and talents to support local nonprofits serving children and their families. This year, Mattel Games will be donating Giant UNO decks and Tumblin' Monkeys to all children in attendance at activations taking place at Mattel's headquarters. Both games will feature the newly updated colorblind accessible features.

In addition, all mobile versions of Mattel's fan-favorite card games, including UNO! Mobile, Phase 10 Mobile, and Skip-Bo Mobile will feature colorblind identification. Led by mobile game developer and publisher Mattel163, Mattel's joint venture with NetEase, the new 'Beyond Colors' mobile decks each display a unique and unified set of symbols, such as squares and triangles, for easy identification and differentiation between the classic card colors. Free to all players, the 'Beyond Colors' update can be enabled in a user's personal account settings via card deck options. The 'Beyond Colors' decks are the latest feature Mattel163 has developed as part of their wider plans to strive for inclusion and accessibility in mobile gaming, which began with their initial launch of UNO! Mobile in 2019.

"At Mattel, we are proud that our portfolio of games continues to bring people together – transcending languages and cultures – and this initiative to offer more colorblind accessible games is another proof point on our inclusivity journey," said Ray Adler, Vice President, Global Head of Games at Mattel. "We're proud to help spread awareness for the colorblind community and make our products accessible for more people, so that all fans can come together and enjoy universal gameplay."

"Mattel is committed to designing products that better reflect the world today and create positive social impact. This includes bringing more representative and inclusive products to market across Mattel brands," said Mason Williams, Global Head of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, Mattel.

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