Gifts for Blind People and the Visually Impaired

The best gifts for blind people and people with low vision are often ordinary gifts that work by touch or sound: a braille or tactile version of a game they already like, a talking or braille watch, a talking kitchen scale, a deck of braille playing cards, a slate for writing braille. Before you buy anything with braille on it, find out whether they read braille: not every blind person does, and someone with low vision may prefer large print. At US specialty stores, a braille deck of cards costs $6.95 to $9.95, a pocket braille slate $12.60, and the tactile and braille board games we checked $25.95 to $64.95.

Below: gift ideas by budget, who each one suits, free gifts worth passing on, what to skip, how to make the card and the wrapping accessible, and where to buy in the US, the UK, Canada and Australia. Prices and product pages were checked on October 28, 2026.

Key points

• Ask first, or ask someone close to them. "Visually impaired" covers a wide range: some people read braille, some read large print, some use speech, and many mix them. A braille gift for someone who doesn't read braille is decoration.
• Under $25 you can give braille playing cards, UNO cards with braille reference cards, tactile dice, dominoes with raised dots or a pocket braille slate.
• From $25 to $75: tactile chess, braille Scrabble, braille and talking watches, a talking kitchen scale.
• From $75: the LEGO Braille Bricks set for a child learning braille, premium braille watches, a Spanish-speaking talking kitchen scale.
• Some of the best gifts are free: the Library of Congress lends braille and audio books by mail, and Seedlings gives children with vision loss in the US and Canada five free braille books a year.
• Talking gifts need hearing. For someone who is deafblind or hard of hearing, choose touch or vibration.

Gifts for blind people at a glance

First, find out how they read

The most useful thing you can do before buying is to learn how this person reads and does things day to day:

• Braille, print or speech? Not every blind person reads braille, and nobody has a reliable count of how many do: the figure people often quote goes back to a one-page estimate from 1996 (we traced it in Is braille dying?). Some people read large print, some listen, and many use a mix.
• Contracted or uncontracted braille? Most adult English braille readers read contracted braille (grade 2), where common words are shortened. If you're writing them a message in braille and you're not sure which they use, ask.
• Can they hear it? If they are deafblind or hard of hearing, talking gadgets are out. Look for gifts that work by touch or vibration.
• New to sight loss, or lifelong? Someone who lost their sight recently may still be finding their way around the kitchen and the house, and may welcome practical help. Someone who has been blind for years likely has the tools they need, so a fun gift may land better than a practical one.
• What do they already love? A tactile version of their favorite game usually beats a gadget made "for blind people".

If you can't ask them without spoiling the surprise, ask a partner, a parent, a teacher or a friend.

Under $25: small gifts and stocking stuffers

• Braille playing cards. Braille decks have the value and the suit in braille in the corner. In the US they cost $6.95 to $9.95: $7.00 at the NFB Independence Market, $6.95 for a regular deck or $9.95 for a plastic large-print-and-braille deck at the Braille Superstore, $7.95 at Independent Living Aids and $8.69 at MaxiAids. A deck with big print and braille works at a table where some players read print. Our guide to braille playing cards explains how decks differ.
• UNO with braille. The NFB Independence Market sells UNO cards for $13.00 with four print-and-braille quick-play reference cards. For another family card game, MaxiAids sells Phase 10 with braille for $21.95.
• Tactile dice and dominoes. At MaxiAids, a pair of tactile dice costs $2.99, giant tactile dice $6.95 a pair, and a double-six set of dominoes with raised dots $14.95. They don't require braille, so they fit almost anyone who likes board games.
• A pocket braille slate. APH's pocket slate writes 4 lines of 28 cells and comes with a large-handle stylus, for $12.60. It suits a braille reader who jots notes or labels, or someone learning braille. More in our guide to the slate and stylus.
• Bump dots. A pack of 20 clear self-adhesive bump dots is $2.75 at MaxiAids. APH's labeling guide suggests raised dots like these for marking appliances, computers and keyboards, but not directly on clothes. Small and practical, especially for someone new to sight loss; pair them with something more fun.
• A talking watch. The cheapest talking watch we found was $10.95 at Independent Living Aids.

$25 to $75: games, watches and kitchen helpers

Tactile and braille board games

MaxiAids had all of these in stock on October 28, 2026:

• Chess: a Large Table Top Chess Set for the Blind or Those With Low Vision, or a travel set, $28.95 each.
• 4 in a Row Game (tactile): $25.95.
• Tactile checkers: $33.92.
• Tactile backgammon: $59.95.
• Ludo for the blind: $64.95.

For word-game fans who read braille:

• Braille Scrabble: MaxiAids' Deluxe Scrabble Game, Braille Version costs $57.95, plus $10.00 shipping. The tiles have braille and raised letters, a grid overlay keeps them from sliding, and the board turns on its base so everyone can reach it. The listing says the instructions are in print only, so plan to read them aloud.
• Bananagrams with braille tiles: $39.95.
• Rummy with braille: $40.95.
• Skip-Bo with braille: $29.95 at the Braille Superstore.

Games are a good gift for a family because sighted and blind players share the same board. If the person has low vision rather than no vision, MaxiAids also sells large-print Scrabble tile overlays for $23.95.

A watch

Watches for blind people come in four kinds: talking, braille, tactile and smartwatches. A braille watch has a crystal that flips open so you can feel the hands and the raised dots at each hour. The dots aren't braille letters, so the person doesn't need to know braille. Braille watches cost $39.95 to $55.00 at Independent Living Aids and the NFB Independence Market. They aren't water resistant, because the lid opens. A talking watch says the time when you press a button; the talking watches we found cost $10.95 to $77.83, and they need hearing.

Independent Living Aids offers to set a watch for you for $4.95. Our guide to watches for the blind compares every type.

A talking scale

For someone who cooks or bakes, a talking scale reads out the weight. MaxiAids sells the Vox-2 Talking Kitchen Scale for $46.95, and a Talking Bathroom Scale for $59.95 ($69.95 for one that speaks English and Spanish). Like any talking gadget, these need hearing.

$75 and up: bigger gifts

• LEGO Braille Bricks: Play with Braille. The studs on each brick form a braille cell, with the printed character below, so blind and sighted children can play and learn together. The set (number 40656) has 287 bricks, is for ages 6 and up, and cost $89.99 at its 2023 launch. We couldn't confirm today's price, so search LEGO.com for set 40656. It suits a child learning braille, and their siblings. More in LEGO Braille Bricks.
• A premium braille watch. At MaxiAids, braille watches go up to $259.95; a Reizen is $99.95 and a Seiko is $199.95. Independent Living Aids sells a magnetic tactile watch for $115.95.
• Other talking kitchen scales. MaxiAids also lists a Talking Kitchen Scale for $109.95 and a Spanish-speaking one for $119.95.
• A smartwatch they've asked for. An Apple Watch can tap the time on the wrist with Taptic Time, and Samsung's Galaxy Watch and Google's Pixel Watch have a Vibration Watch setting. Both work without sound, which matters for someone who is deafblind. A smartwatch is a personal choice, though: buy one only if they've said which one they want.

Free gifts worth passing on

Some of the most useful things cost nothing. Telling someone about them, or helping them sign up, can be a gift in itself.

• NLS, the Library of Congress. The National Library Service for the Blind and Print Disabled calls itself "a free audiobook and braille library service". Books come by mail free of charge or by download, and the playback equipment is lent for free. It serves people with low vision, blindness, or a physical, perceptual or reading disability (NLS); check eligibility and your state's network library on its site. More in braille books.
• Seedlings Book Angel Program. Children with vision loss, from birth to 21, in the US and Canada can get one order of five free braille books every calendar year (Seedlings).
• A tactile map of a place that matters. Touch Mapper is a free website that makes a tactile map from OpenStreetMap for any address: their street, a new school, a neighborhood they're moving to. You can download the model for a 3D printer or order a printed map, which the site says starts at 29 euros or US dollars. More in tactile graphics.

Ask before you buy these

• Braillers and braille displays. A braillewriter or a refreshable braille display is a big purchase, and models differ in ways that matter to the person using it. Ask first, or offer to chip in toward the one they choose. Our guides to the Perkins Brailler and refreshable braille displays explain the options.
• Anything that replaces gear they already use. A cane, a screen reader, a phone setup: these are personal choices people make carefully, and a surprise rarely beats their own pick.

Gifts to skip

These aren't rules, just the gifts most likely to miss:

• Braille for someone who doesn't read braille. It ends up as a souvenir. If you're not sure, choose something that works by touch or sound without braille, like tactile dice, a talking scale or a braille watch.
• Large print for a braille reader, or braille for a large-print reader. They're made for different people.
• Talking gadgets for someone who is deafblind or hard of hearing. Go for touch or vibration.
• Gadgets that only work by looking. A touchscreen with no speech, an app that needs sight to set up, a manual in print only. Check the listing for speech, buttons you can feel and an accessible manual.
• Jokes about blindness. A gift is about the person, not their eyesight.

Make the gift itself accessible

The card

• Ready-made braille cards come mostly from charities: holiday cards in print and braille from National Braille Press in the US, Hallmark cards with braille in RNIB's shop in the UK, and 12 braille cards from Hallmark with Guide Dogs Australia at A$8.00 each.
• To make your own, braille the message on a separate insert or a sticker and attach it inside. A slate pushes the dots out on the far side of the paper, so brailling straight onto a folded card puts the dots on the wrong panel.
• Add print too, so sighted people in the house can read it.
• Send it in a stiff envelope, or hand it over, so the dots arrive raised.

Our guide to braille greeting cards has the common messages in braille, and the braille translator helps you check yours.

The wrapping and the setup

• Wrap it so they can open it alone: a gift bag or paper that tears easily works better than layers of tape.
• Mark the tag. In a pile of family presents, a bump dot or a short braille label on the tag tells them which gift is theirs.
• Set it up first. Put the batteries in a talking watch or scale, set the time and the language, and check that it speaks before you wrap it.
• Send the manual and the gift receipt by email, so they can read them with their own device instead of waiting for someone to read print aloud.

Where to buy gifts for blind people

Outside the US:

• UK: RNIB sells braille playing cards (£7.20), a small tactile watch (£36, on sale from £48) and talking watches from £19.20 to £72, all including VAT, and lists Hallmark cards with braille. The LEGO set launched at £79.99.
• Canada: CNIB SmartLife sells braille playing cards (CA$24.95) and talking watches from CA$45.95 to CA$94.95. Seedlings' free books also reach children in Canada. The LEGO set launched at C$119.99.
• Australia: Vision Australia sells braille and large-print playing cards (A$22.00, on back order that day), the Swiss Braille Watch (A$380 to A$391), the Eone Bradley (A$275) and talking watches (A$145). Hallmark sells braille cards made with Guide Dogs Australia at A$8.00. The LEGO set launched at A$149.99.

Prices change; check the store before you order.

If you want to learn some braille yourself

A braille note in a card, a labeled game box, a tag on a present: small touches like these are easier if you know a little braille. If you're a sighted friend or family member, start with the braille alphabet and our guide to learning braille as a sighted person. If the gift is for someone just starting out, our guide to learning braille as an adult may help them too.

Braillito, our app, teaches the braille cells in lessons with exercises you play, with lives, levels and a daily streak: 59 lessons in 8 worlds in English. It also has a translator, a dictionary and a cell builder. Braillito is a subscription with no free version; depending on the plan, it starts with a free trial or a discounted first period, if it's your first subscription (is Braillito free?). Get Braillito.

Frequently asked questions

What is a good gift for a blind person?

Something they'd enjoy anyway, made to work by touch or sound: a braille or tactile version of a game they like, braille playing cards, a talking or braille watch, or a talking kitchen scale for someone who cooks. Ask first whether they read braille and whether they can hear a talking device.

What is a good gift for someone with low vision?

It depends on how much they see and how they prefer to read. Some people with low vision prefer large print, so large-print playing cards or large-print Scrabble tile overlays ($23.95 at MaxiAids) can work better than braille. If you're not sure, ask.

What gifts should you avoid for a blind person?

Braille items for someone who doesn't read braille, talking gadgets for someone who is deafblind, gadgets that only work by looking, and surprise replacements for gear they already rely on, like a cane or a braille display. When in doubt, ask, or offer to chip in toward something they choose.

Do all blind people read braille?

No. Some read braille, some read large print, some rely on speech, and many use a mix. Nobody has a reliable count of how many blind people read braille; the figure often quoted traces back to a 1996 estimate.

Are there free gifts for blind children?

Yes. Seedlings' Book Angel Program gives children with vision loss, from birth to 21, in the US and Canada, one order of five free braille books a year. In the US, the Library of Congress's NLS lends braille and audio books by mail for free.

Where can I buy gifts for blind people?

In the US: the NFB Independence Market, MaxiAids, Independent Living Aids, APH and the Braille Superstore. In the UK, RNIB; in Canada, CNIB SmartLife; in Australia, Vision Australia.