Written by Vivek Philendra

@vivekphilwrites_

Thumbnail Photo by Evolve

We’re creating a guide to make gaming feel like the most approachable thing on Earth, even to the most technophobic folks out there. This is the fourth instalment of a simple yet comprehensible guide that will explain everything you need to know about video games before you get your feet wet. Don’t worry, we’re going to cover everything from camera perspectives to payment models. In case you missed the previous instalment in this series, where we took a look at the basic and most prominent genres of gaming, we highly suggest that you check that out first.

The disabled members of our society face numerous difficulties in their day-to-day lives, but perhaps the gravest of them is the heightened risk of social isolation. People with disabilities may have restrictions that hinder their ability to participate in social events with their peers, such as limitations in motor skills. Fortunately, there have been numerous reports of video games being a positive influence on those with disabilities, helping them make friends and genuine connections. Today we’re going to take a look at the most popular accessibility practices in gaming including accessibility features, support of varied input methods, and diverse difficulty settings.

Accessibility Features

Accessibility features have come a long way even compared to just a couple of years ago. Whether it’s due to altruism or maximizing profits by expanding the player base, I think we can all agree that it is a positive shift.

These features include everything from specific colour-blind modes to complete subtitle customization. Sometimes this means other indicators, such as shapes, can be attached to elements in the game so that colour-blind players will be able to solve puzzles.

Certain games such as indie RPG title Loop Hero even feature dyslexia-friendly fonts. Games like Ubisoft’s Watch Dogs: Legion managed to transcribe all the audible cues on the screen to the HUD (Heads-Up Display), ensuring a smooth experience for the hearing impaired. Perhaps the most commendable effort toward greater accessibility in gaming was made by Naughty Dog with their highly-anticipated blockbuster The Last of Us Part II, for which it deservedly won the ‘Innovations in Accessibility’ award at The Game Awards last year. In fact, a sightless gamer was able to beat the game entirely on their own, which is quite a feat! The man himself said, "For the first time in my entire life, I was able to sit back on the couch and play the game without any barriers getting in the way...I was able to sit comfortably and play a game just like if my friends were in the room playing with me. And that, to me, was extremely opening. It was emotional." The game features over sixty accessibility-specific settings, and full control-customization with even single-handed control schemes enabled just by default!

Varied Input Methods

The regular controllers that are shipped with consoles only cater to a majority audience of able-bodied players. Nevertheless, there are a lot of NGOs and third-party manufacturers who cater to diverse audiences by developing specialized controllers for disabled players so they are able to play and enjoy games. However, these do rely heavily on the support of both the game developers and console manufacturers.

Although there are many companies that develop controllers for disabled gamers, it can become quite expensive since each disability is very unique. This is where Xbox’s Adaptive Controller becomes a saving grace – it allows you to connect a wide range of input devices to use as a game controller, and it is only slightly more expensive than the regular Xbox controller. The adaptive controller allows the player to remap buttons and create multiple custom controller profiles using the intuitive Xbox Accessories App on Xbox One or Windows 10. It is necessary to give credit where credit is due, and Xbox’s decision to allow players to use their old controllers on the latest Series X console means that players can still use their specialized controllers from their Xbox Ones. By contrast, Sony’s approach to adaptive controllers is less player-friendly and has forced disabled players to wait until new controllers are developed to work with the PlayStation 5.

Along with the recognition of diverse inputs, certain features like being able to turn the haptic feedback off, control mapping support, and being able to change in-game commands such as button combinations are essential to ensuring an inclusive gaming experience. Insomniac’s Marvel’s Miles Morales is a perfect example of a game where this is implemented right.

Diverse Difficulty Settings

At this point most games have a range of difficulty options, especially hugely commercial titles that are marketed towards a mainstream audience. There may be some modes drastically reduced in challenge that are specifically targeted at those who are only looking to enjoy the plot or who simply want an easier gaming experience. These modes may be extremely helpful to someone who’s new to gaming, for older gamers, for those with slow reaction times, or just for a player who doesn’t have a lot of time on their hands.

An example of games that do not feature this kind of accessibility are rogue-like games that are designed to be brutal by nature. Developers fear that if there are easier difficulty settings for these games, more players will be able to beat them, thus discrediting their punishing reputation. Hence, they take a gamble by making it inaccessible to the majority of consumers. Whether this is a good practice or not is still up for debate in my opinion.

While the gaming industry has made strides in accessibility, with accessibility considerations now being considered absolutely indispensable by major developers, there is still a lot to be done. For instance, games made in Japan have a particularly bad reputation for overlooking many of these accessibility features. This results in a large demographic never being able to experience these works. Hence, I sincerely hope that game developers throughout the world become informed of the need for accessible gaming and adopt basic accessibility standards that would be considered the bare minimum for all games. I am optimistic of a future where each and every one of us will be able to share the joy of experiencing video games without the barriers of disability, and the gaming world is definitely on the right track!

A Beginner’s Guide to Video Games: Accessibility

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