By: Joni Boyd
In a move toward greater inclusion, Guide Dogs Australia and Hallmark Australia have unveiled a new card range designed so people living with low vision or blindness can participate fully in the tradition of giving and receiving greeting cards.
The card range has been designed by people living with low vision or blindness, ensuring those directly impacted are the ones helping shape the outcome.
It features high contrast colours, braille, and clear, easy-to-read fonts—designed to make greetings accessible to more Australians.
“For Australians living with low vision or blindness, being included in this tradition is incredibly powerful,” Lee Kumutat of Guide Dogs Australia said.
For Hallmark, the partnership “reflects our commitment to ensuring all Australians have the opportunity to connect with their family, friends and loved ones,” according to Lyndal Matthews, Hallmark’s Product & Marketing Director.
How the Cards Work
The collection includes twelve distinct card designs—birthdays, thank yous, thinking-of-you messages, and more.
Standout features include high contrast colours, making text and design elements more visible, braille messaging and tactile embossing, allowing those using touch to read them and clear, easy-to-read typefaces to help people with residual vision read comfortably.
The new cards are now available for purchase from all major retailers.
“These small moments of inaccessibility make the world become so small.”
23-year-old Karlee Symonds who lives in Sydney with her Guide Dog Isla said, “Opening a card might seem like a small and unimportant thing to most, but for someone with blindness, it can highlight just how often the world isn’t designed for us.
“I’ve celebrated milestones where I couldn’t read the card in my hands in front of friends with everyone waiting for my reaction, it makes me feel invisible and awkward.
“These small moments of inaccessibility build up and can make the world become so small.
“Accessible greeting cards mean my community can share in life’s simple but special joys just like anyone else, it means we feel included and that our milestones are just as important as everyone else’s.”
Inclusive Design In Australian Products
The approach taken to creating this range reflects a growing movement in Australia toward inclusive product design.
One standout example is Mr Hux, an Australian fragrance brand that introduced braille labels on its packaging, enabling allows people living with vision impairment to read product information themselves rather than relying on memory or external assistance.
Their choice to include braille demonstrates how brands in everyday sectors—like beauty—can extend accessibility to more people.
Why Accessibility Matters
Accessibility is more than compliance—it’s about inclusion. Many people living with low vision or blindness are left out of everyday joys because standard design overlooks their needs.
By involving those with lived experience in the design process, Hallmark and Guide Dogs have modelled what true inclusion looks like.
Features like high contrast, tactile details, and legible fonts are not just “extras”—they are essential components that allow people to belong.
Let’s hope this card range encourages more brands to think inclusively—to ask, “Who is left out?”—and to design products that bring more people in.
Article supplied with thanks to Hope Media.
About the Author: Joni Boyd is a writer, based in the Hawkesbury Region of NSW. She is passionate about the power of stories shared, to transform lives.
Feature image: Supplied
