“Distinguishing between the colours on an UNO card is an impossible task for the 350 million people who live with the most common form of colourblindness” (Smith, 2017). Uno is loved for its simplicity and inclusivity amongst all age groups across the globe; it is designed to be easy. But how accessible and inclusive is UNO for those who cannot distinguish between colours? Globally, there are approximately 350 million colourblind people (Devanayagam, 2023), and in 2017, “the world saw the first edition of the most famous and best-selling card game of all time, in a version with ColorADD implementation” (Neiva, 2024). Uno ColorADD saw sales increase by 66% after the card game opened an untapped and enthusiastic market for UNO (Devanayagam, 2023). This version of UNO uses different symbols to represent its original colours. This ensures that the nature in which UNO is played remains fast-paced and effortless for all players.
Similarly, in 2019, Mattel released a braille version of UNO. In this edition, the cards follow the universal design of UNO with the primary colours, but they now feature braille writing in the top left/bottom right corner so that the game can be played in unison by all players, with or without visual impairments. Also, UNO’s universal rules make it easy to play for people across the globe regardless of the language in which it is played, because there are no language prompts to guide the game, only numbers and colours.