Accessible video gaming for people with disability
Key points:
- Accessibility options in video games are usually located in the settings of a console or in-game, typically available through the pause menu
- Settings — such as, text size, assisted gameplay, difficulty, colour blindness options and skippable portions of narrative progression — can let a broader population enjoy the stories told through gaming
- As a form of entertainment like films or a television series, certain considerations should be made so the content, nor the medium itself, is detrimental to the wellbeing of people with disability
This edition of Disability Support Guide addresses the growing trend of accessibility options included in newly released video games. Although games are often seen as competitive and the Soulsborne series has developed a culture that appreciates the hardship of gameplay as intended by developers, games are ultimately a source of entertainment.
Enjoy customising your gaming experience to suit your needs and, if playing on PC, make sure to check out whether there are any online modification uploads which you can install to make your entertainment more unique.
Controlling controls and controllers
Every immersive gaming journey starts with how the player can control the game they’re playing. However, any seasoned gamer will tell you that they’ve had to tweak the button-mapping or even the controller itself.
Microsoft/Xbox are currently leading the way with the adaptive controller, which was designed and play-tested in collaboration with The AbleGamers Charity, The Cerebral Palsy Foundation, SpecialEffect, Warfighter Engaged and many other community groups. Considering the Game Pass provides such a wide range of titles which are available on both console and PC, along with the adaptive controller which can be used for both, you can multiply the many ways to play. However, Sony/Playstation have announced their own take on adaptive play, Project Leonardo, which is currently in development.
Once a gamer has a mouse or controller they are able to use freely, the next step is button-mapping, which typically happens in-game. Generally, you can find out what each button, toggle, trigger or trackpad does in the pause, main or settings menu. Either search the title of your game online and find out how to access these settings or look for ‘gameplay,’ ‘settings,’ ‘layout,’ and ‘gameplay.’ From there, you’ll have the option to change in-game actions that are difficult or tricky to pull off with the existing control scheme.
How can I find out whether a game is accessible?
Accessibility in video gaming doesn’t always mean ‘easier’ gameplay, just unique approaches to the same story. Thankfully, there are a tonne of outlets online which review specific titles from the perspective of players with disability considerations. Common points of interest are: the audible names and text of character dialogue, adjustable text size, photosensitivity settings, character customisation for players with disability and menu narration.
Outlets, such as Can I Play That?, offer detailed breakdowns on each new game, although be cautious of smaller indie studios which may not have the budget to pull off accessibility patches to old or broken games, in the same way that Bethesda or Activision Blizzard might.
Although games are meticulously play-tested by larger ‘AAA’ game studios, issues with accessibility can often be ignored or overlooked, such as the infamous seizure that one journalist had during a pre-release playthrough of CD Projekt RED’s Cyberpunk 2077. To avoid possible harm or a lackluster experience, it is important to avoid pre-ordering games or picking them up without a little bit of research, because it incentivises developers to push poorly crafted and buggy work out into the world which might not be playable for people with disability.
A note on online connectivity
Online multiplayer games may also be a dice roll for people with disability, especially during competitive play of titles intended for mature audiences. Players may experience verbal abuse for beating others or being beaten in matches, with obscene language commonly associated with first-person shooter [FPS] title lobbies.
Let the team at Talking Disability know your fondest video game memories.
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