Games are also becoming more and more suitable for people with disabilities

Can you play video games if you don’t have an arm or are visually impaired? It’s a question that the relatively young gaming industry has hardly addressed until now. But more and more companies are considering players with disabilities. For example, Sony recently announced that its online store will be more open about what accessibility options a game has.

Brabant company Abstraction is also working on better accessibility for non-standard gamers. “We are specifically adding visual accessibility options, e.g. B. for color blindness. In some games the colors contrast in a way that people don’t always see correctly. If we add another palette, the colors will separate better and then they can be people who play the game well,” says developer Elmer Lexmond.

Good news, says Paul van der Made, one of the disabled players. He is paralyzed after suffering a cerebral hemorrhage in his right arm and needs adjustments to play. Through her own foundation, she is also committed to making the game more accessible for people with disabilities.

Paul shows how hard it was for him to play an inaccessible game:

In recent years, more importance is given to accessibility in games, and it is also shown with the adaptations of big games. For example, extra attention was paid to this last year in Dutch developer Guerrilla Games’ Horizon Forbidden West. For example, quick games can be slowed down to better aim at an opponent.

The popular game Hogwarts Legacy also offers some options for non-standard players, such as readability of subtitles. According to the players, Elden Ring has been criticized for not doing enough to help the visually impaired, for example.

more attention

This is also taken into account in international award ceremonies. In addition to categories such as best game and best music, there was also an award for best innovation in accessibility last year. According to abstraction developer Lexmond, this is an emerging trend. “Accessibility in older games was added later. But now it is already considered in the design. We want the games to be there for everyone from the very beginning, rather than adding anything special in the past.”

Van der Made admits that big brands are getting more and more on his radar. But it can always be better. “It is not possible to control a remote with one hand. It would be nice if that could always be considered standard.”

When young players encounter something, they hear it through the foundation. “Adequate regulation is being made for color blindness, but at least young players with low vision or blindness are taken into account. The Last of Us game can be played by a completely visually impaired person by Score Ahead.”

Source: NOS

follow:
\