Kakao Delivers Braille Calendars to Special Schools for the Visually Impaired Nationwide

Principal Jo Yang-sook of Seoul National School for the Blind (from the left) and Kim Hye-il, Kakao's Head of Digital Accessibility, are posing for a commemorative photo at the '2025 Kakao Braille Calendar' presentation ceremony held on the 4th. Photo by Kakao

Kakao announced on the 4th that it held a '2025 Kakao Braille Calendar' delivery ceremony at the National Seoul School for the Blind in celebration of Korean Braille Day.

This Braille calendar is one of the win-win activities promoted under the group’s integrated win-win business slogan, "Closer, Kakao," announced last September. It was created to enhance the convenience of visually impaired students' daily lives. A total of 3,000 copies will be sequentially delivered to 14 special schools for the visually impaired nationwide and to visually impaired students.

Kakao stated that the Braille calendar faithfully fulfills the calendar’s original function while also incorporating the joy brought by Kakao Friends characters. It is designed so that visually impaired students can directly feel and understand the characters with their fingertips. Textures are expressed differently with tactile lines on characters such as Ryan and Apeach to highlight their features, and Braille descriptions explain the characters’ settings and expressions.

In addition, various functions such as holiday summaries, monthly indexes, notation of anniversaries and lunar calendar dates, and area dividing lines were added to improve the convenience of information search. A distinctive feature of the Kakao Braille calendar is the provision of separate tactile stickers that allow users to directly record their own schedules, such as birthdays or appointments.

Before planning, Kakao listened to the needs and opinions of visually impaired people regarding the Braille calendar. After production, usability evaluations were conducted. Low-vision users praised the calendar for its excellent readability, noting that the large font size and high brightness contrast made it easy to see clearly.

Jo Yangsuk, principal of the National Seoul School for the Blind, said, "Beyond using the calendar, it will become an experience for our students, who are very interested in characters, to encounter a new culture."

Kim Hyeil, Kakao’s Digital Accessibility Officer (DAO), said, "This Braille calendar signifies taking the experience of digital services to a new level," adding, "Kakao will continue to take the lead in making daily life richer and without limitations for people with disabilities."

Meanwhile, Kakao continues its efforts to strengthen accessibility for people with disabilities in line with the group’s win-win business slogan, "Closer, Kakao." It constantly monitors the accessibility of Kakao services and strives to provide services that everyone can enjoy. On Disability Day last April, Kakao launched the 'Kakao Accessibility Supporters,' a group of about 30 people with disabilities, and on World Accessibility Awareness Day in May, it released the 'Easier KakaoTalk Guide' to help digitally marginalized groups use KakaoTalk.