It’s that time of the quarter (That’s an expression right?) where we update all you fine folks on the things happening in the wonderful world of games accessibility!

 

So let's jump right into it!

Our first bit of news comes from Espoo Finland! Those Nordic mavericks developed an extremely comprehensive guide detailing principles of making Esports events accessible to all. Too often we at PlayAbility have seen accessibility and competitive play in tension with one another so it is wonderful to see friendly competition being considered through an accessible lens.

 

Moreover, if you’re looking to stoke the flames of competition you should check out this Accessible Fortnite Tournament hosted by Inclusion Arcade & AbleGamers.

Following that up we wanted to share some cool tech that is embracing accessibility. Audio Radar is a set of LED lights that mount around your monitor that provide visual feedback for sounds in a game.

 

This cool little piece of immersive tech is particularly helpful to folks that may be hard of hearing or d/Deaf allowing them to see a visual representation of sounds they may be unable to hear in a game.Audio Radar recently released a 2.0 version that you should check out whether it be for the accessibility or just a more immersive gaming experience.

Next up we’re spotlighting some fantastic reporting from the great people at Can I Play That. They took the time to highlight Electronic Arts’s implementation of the Accessible Games Initiative accessibility tags on EA’s website storefront. The AGI tags aim to make it easier to find games that have accessibility baked into their experiences. It’s great to see the AGI tags being more widely implemented and we hope to see them pop up in more places over time!

Finally, to end on a bit more of a serious note, it has undoubtedly been tough in recent months across the games industry. Widespread layoffs have affected all corners of the industry and that includes accessibility. Grant Stoner once again has done a stellar job reporting on how recent layoffs have impacted the accessibility efforts at XBOX. Our heart goes out to the people affected and we wish everyone the best finding positions hopefully making games more accessible in greener pastures.

 

That's all for this edition of the PlayAbility newsletter.

Until next time go play some wonderful accessible games!