With more than three billion estimated players around the world today, the video game industry has grown far beyond its kid-focused, arcade origins. Yet while more people pick up and play, the limitations of the games still leave some behind. It used to be rare to have settings to adjust anything beyond volume control. Options for subtitles and the ability to completely remap the controller or change the game’s brightness were scarce.
Now, mainstream developers are leveling up – increasingly considering accessibility when designing their games, whether to accommodate a visual impairment, a motor control issue, or an anxiety disorder. The US$184 billion game industry’s massive growth over the last couple of decades includes an expanding number of people with disabilities interested in playing, according to Alec Frey, a senior producer at Obsidian Entertainment. The first thing you see is a question about what language you want to use, and whether you need a screen reader to read the menu text. After that, you are asked to adjust the brightness and contrast of the screen, before you get several options to change the size and colour of subtitles. Lastly, you are directed to a menu where you can turn on presets for vision, hearing, and motor accessibility. All of this happens before reaching the main menu where you start the game. It is Xbox policy that creators consider accessibility from the very start of the development cycle. That makes integration much easier compared to previous decades when features and accommodations were often slapped on at the end of a game’s creation, she added. Disability advocates have pushed for these options for years – and whose voices are starting to be heard in the broader industry – with helping make this change happen. When testing these games, he explained, older projects didn’t have the budget or inclination to invite people outside of the target demographic – teenage boys who do not have disabilities. People often overlook such communities or assume they don’t want to participate in certain entertainment genres. In the last few years, however, companies have made an effort to include greater diversity in testing. Many of these changes have roots in the “indie” gaming space, where smaller teams of developers had the breathing room to experiment, said Adam Brennecke, a game director at Obsidian Entertainment and Frey’s colleague. When making games more accessible, a ton of creativity must go into addressing the gamut of wildly different needs. Modern games that reach new heights of graphic fidelity have allowed players to see detailed environments and characters like never before. But for people with impaired sight, more complex visuals can be overwhelming or just appear like a mess. For people with serious difficulty using conventional controllers, both PlayStation and Xbox have also adopted unique controllers designed for heavy customization to suit the needs of individuals with disabilities. The Xbox Adaptive Controller, for instance, has two large, circular buttons that are easy to press and connection points where players can attach arcade-style joysticks and other unique hardware. Video games are an especially immersive medium, offering both challenges and opportunities for mental health concerns. A Disability advocate believes this push for accessibility will ultimately benefit everyone who picks up a controller. She explained that when engineers design with disabilities in mind, it often leads to benefits for everyone. Adding curb cuts at a crosswalk, for instance, makes it easier for wheelchair access, but also for parents pushing strollers and workers moving items on a hand truck.
Source: Public Broadcasting Corporation (PBS)