Toy company Mattel will be presented with the prestigious Helen Keller Achievement Award later this month, in recognition of the global impact of Blind Barbie.

Blind Barbie was released last year as part the Barbie Fashionista line, which offers dolls in a variety of skin tones, eye and hair colours, body types, disabilities, and fashions.

The American Foundation for the Blind (AFB) said Mattel’s commitment to inclusion went above and beyond the physical design of the doll, to ensure that packaging and digital marketing content were completely accessible to blind and low-vision consumers.

AFB President and CEO, Eric Bridges said the Fashionista line of Barbie dolls nurture positive perceptions of people with disabilities, but also empower “millions of children across the globe who now carry a sense of pride into their classroom and on the playground”.

Mattel’s Senior Vice President of Barbie and Global Head of Dolls, Krista Berger said the award was an honour that recognised Mattel’s “continued effort to foster global belonging and inclusivity in the toy aisle and beyond”.

“We know that Barbie is so much more than a doll and that when a child picks up Barbie, it becomes a catalyst for acceptance and the opportunity to imagine their limitless possibilities.”

The Barbie Fashionista series also includes a Barbie doll with hearing aids, vitiligo, dolls in wheelchairs, a doll without hair, and a Barbie with a prosthetic limb.