I don't know if you're taking requests or suggestions for the Anki decks, but I figured I'd throw this out there...
I noticed that the Genki Lesson 1 deck only uses pictures, voice clips, and English text - but no ひらがな or カタカナ. I feel like it might help me to memorize some of these terms, as well as learn how to spell them correctly, if they were included in the decks. If this isn't something you want to put into the decks, is there any way I can add them to mine?
Hi, Leah! The lack of ひらがな and カタカナ on the cards is intentional, as a way to try to get everyone used to understanding the words by only hearing them (aural comprehension), and by saying them instead of just thinking a word (oral production—you should be speaking the words after hearing them, and when trying to remember them when going in the E->J direction). One reason I'm doing this is based on a conversation that I had a couple of years ago with a student from UGA, who said that when he went on an exchange program he noticed a definite difference in ability with spoken Japanese between UGAのがくせい and students from some other universities. My hunch is that the difference it due to too much reading, and not enough oral production/aural recognition.
You learn what you do, and if all you ever do is use Japanese in textual forms, then that's all you'll learn. If you never speak & listen to Japanese, you won't learn oral/aural skills. I'm not worried about your being able to comprehend the vocabulary in written form, because you'll be seeing those words in your book & homework assignments pretty constantly. Also, Japanese "spelling" is pretty much a non-issue, since there are so few sounds. Pretty soon, you'll be able to hear any Japanese word, and instantly know how to write it (in ひらがな／カタカナ, at least).
The かんじ decks will of course have textual forms, since the point of those is to teach textual forms. But as far as the vocabulary decks go, why don't you give the current ones a go for a few more lessons, and see what you think then? If you absolutely hate them this way, though, you can of course edit your own decks. There are ビデオ tutorials on the Anki ウェブサイト that show you how. （＾＾）
Ah, I see what you mean, and that does make sense. I was just a little worried because I was having a hard time memorizing some of the words, and I guess I'm kind of a visual learner. But speaking and hearing are definitely important too, so I'll keep trying.