Whenever I travel to conferences or other events, I make sure to bring a couple of different types of business cards for people with different sight levels. I’ve learned a lot about designing business cards for low vision since starting my blog, and have always prided myself on having easy-to-read business cards in different formats. Here are my tips for designing business cards for low vision audiences or customers.
Choosing what information to include
When designing my large print business cards, I chose to only include a few pieces of information. Since this business card is specifically for my blog, I chose to include:
- My first and last name
- Website URL
- Blog email address
- Twitter username
If relevant, I also recommend including information such as phone numbers, addresses, or other location information.
Related links
Pick an easy-to-read font
My favorite easy-to-read fonts are sans serif, bold typefaces that can easily be read. I’m not a fan of script style fonts or fonts where letters look similar, so I chose to use a bold Bebas Neue font for my business cards. This is also the same font I use for my blog logo, headings, images, and post titles, so it works well with my branding.
Related links
- My Eight Favorite Free Fonts For Print Disabilities
- Tips For Choosing Greeting Cards For Visually Impaired Recipients
Use large print
When designing for low vision, it’s best to use large print sizes to ensure that information can clearly be read. Standard business cards are 3.5 inches by 2 inches, so it’s important to maximize space. On my business card, my full name is printed in 40 point font, and my other information is printed in 24 point font. There are only four lines on my business card, so I can print information in large text without cutting things off.
Related links
- How I Document Accessibility Preferences With Low Vision
- Common Classroom Accommodations For Low Vision
A note on background colors
As much as I love seeing beautiful colors, I find it hard to read brightly colored business cards or cards with poor background contrast. In order to align with the branding on my blog, I used the purple color I use for the background on my website as the background of my card. Then, I added a large white rectangle with 85% transparency in the center with all of the text inside, so that some of the color peeks out on the edge. This makes text easier to read on the lighter background and still lets me use my favorite color as an accent. Printing black text on a plain white background is also a great choice.
Related links
- How To Create High Resolution Images For Users With Low Vision
- Using High Contrast Themes In Windows 10
Adding texture to cards
I’ve seen quite a few business cards for low vision with different textures added such as raised letters, lines, or metallic stripes. While I did not choose to incorporate these details into my business cards for low vision, they are a fun design element that can make business cards more interesting and distinctive.
What about Braille?
Some people also choose to add Braille to their large print business cards, though I chose to order separate Braille business cards that had my name and a shortened version of my website url- I purchased a short domain name that redirects to my website specifically for this. One of my professors at my university ordered Braille business cards for me, and while I don’t know where they ordered from, I do know there are lots of online companies that allow users to create their own Braille cards.
Related links
- How To Create Tactile Images With Everyday Objects
- Ten Fun Facts About Braille for World Braille Day 2019
My business card
Here is my large print business card for my website with all of these design elements included. For alt text users, I chose to describe how the card looks instead of writing out the text that has my contact information.
Reading business cards with assistive technology
When designing business cards for low vision, I recommend testing that the cards can be read with an assistive technology app such as Google Lens, Seeing AI, or similar app. These are my apps of choice for reading short amounts of text, and there are few things more frustrating than having a card that these apps are unable to read. I tested this by printing off a copy of my business card design on computer paper before submitting my order.
Final thoughts
By designing business cards for low vision, companies and professionals can ensure that their cards are accessible to people with visual impairments, as well as people who use reading glasses. I get lots of different compliments on my large print business cards, and am really happy with how they came out. I hope these tips for designing business cards for low vision are helpful!
