Anyone can play video games, right?
Popular talking points include how video game audiencesare increasingly large and diverse.
These control schemes are more intuitive, and far less reliant on players accumulating controller literacy.
It’s free, every week, in your inbox.
The video game industry needs to improve in this area.
And that depends on changing the assumptions made at a design level about who plays video games.
Butrecentmedia reportssuggest that peopleliving with a disability face barriers to entry formed by inaccessible technologies.
All video games from those played on a PlayStation 4 to an Oculus Rift are technologies of the body.
Pokemon Lets GO features motion-based controls for capturing Pokemon.
For example, itsevaluation of the Nintendo Switchpoints out some usability issues for disabled players.
It also addresses an inability to change screen font sizes, a potential issue for players with visual impairments.
These issues underline how the Switchs design is based on normative assumptions about the bodies that will use it.
AbleGamers has published anopen access manualfor more inclusive game design.
Aside from the hardware, there can also be usability issues within games themselves.
A number of games released in 2018 exemplify a lack of accessibility.
For example, the recent Spyro Reignited Trilogy for current generation consolesdid not feature subtitles.
Subtitles are a necessity for deaf players, and an option in many contemporary games.
How is this being redressed?
There have been some recent advances by game developers which seek to increase accessibility.
The Xbox adaptive controller provides more options for players.
For example, onedevice usedby a quadriplegic Dota 2 streamer costs $449.
This creates potential economic barriers for players with disabilities.
As researchers David Wasterfors and Kristofer Hansson point out, players with disabilities are alsocreating their ownspecialized controllers.
But shouldnt the onus be on game developers to make gaming accessible?
Game engines the tools used for the creation of video games are already encouraging accessibility.
Epic Gamess Unreal Engine 4 is a good case in point.
We need to see more of this in the industry.
In 2018, video games are culturally significant, and central to the lives of many.
The stakes of being excluded will only increase, as video games become more central in our everyday lives.
