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Games industry & GAAD2024

Global Accessibility Awareness Day is event that takes place on the third Thursday of every May, with the goal of raising awareness about digital accessibility. For many years now the games industry has been embracing it.

GAAD - global accessibility awareness day

In 2024 this has continued again. Some of the efforts are not public knowledge, companies holding private internal initiatives, individuals sending emails around their teams, and so on. But many are public knowledge.

If you’d like to get involved but haven’t planned anything, it’s not too late! Even just sharing your favourite talk or article with your followers or colleagues makes a difference. Here are two great links to share:

Playlist of GAconf talks by disabled people talking about their lived experience

Free game accessibility training, an online course developed by Microsoft

As the day goes on I’ll be updating this page and trying to keep track of as much as I can, but there will be some that I have missed. Drop me a line on twitter if you know of anything that isn’t on here yet!


Antonio Martinez

National radio show interview about Playstation’s Access Controller, on behalf of Game Accessibility Nexus
https://twitter.com/Black1976/status/1790685798297129074

Apple

Interview with Wren Brier about the accessibility of Unpacking
https://apps.apple.com/story/id1743255567

“We love these accessible games” curated app store collection
https://apps.apple.com/us/story/id1619544766

Wide range of new iOS accessibility features announced, including eye tracking, vocal shortcuts, and virtual trackpad
https://twitter.com/BrandonButch/status/1790747757243777448

Arevya & SightlessKombat

Co-streaming Gears 5, SK playing without sight, Arevya playing with feet
https://twitter.com/arevya/status/1791069945914179747

Barrie Ellis

Showcase of c1ix single switch hardware and game suite from Alejandro Silva of Mexico
https://switchgaming.blogspot.com/2024/05/c1icmx-one-switch-suite-of-fun.html

Blizzard

Video on how the Diablo development team is working closely with the accessibility community and finding new ways to expand access to gaming for everyone
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vCuywYFjcJs

ByoWave

Proteus modular XBox & PC controller now available for pre-order
https://www.byowave.com/product/proteus-controller-kit-vip

Can I Play That

Awards season – editors choices, Barrier Breakers, and the AbilityPoints Diamond Award 2023
https://caniplaythat.com/category/editors-choices-and-awards/

Dom Parker

Post on enhancing accessibility in gaming
https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/gaad-games-enhancing-accessibility-gaming-dom-parker-yebif/

Talk at a11ybytes
https://twitter.com/thatproductchic/status/1791033353350889814

EA

Presentation by Steve Saylor to 14 EA studios
https://twitter.com/momoxmia/status/1790839667073630612

Easterseals

GAAD stream with Brendan and Erin
https://twitter.com/esgaminghq/status/1790745233321312598

EasySurf & Games Accessibility Hub

Sharing a highlights video and full report from a recent accessibility audit
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bKvTAUi2Bhg
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1UTwv1uQyQqZtXEHKJlxirNES07m8YP7Y

ESRB

Guest article by Josh Straub on helping kids with disabilities enjoy video games
https://www.esrb.org/blog/gaming-enabled-helping-kids-with-disabilities-enjoy-video-games/

GAconf

The full set of all quotes that were shown on the break screens during the last event
https://twitter.com/GA_Conf/status/1791085804581748876

Google

Project Gameface open-sourced and launched for Android
https://developers.googleblog.com/en/project-gameface-launches-on-android/

Guide Dogs

GAAD stream with Cari Watterton and TheWobblyGamer
https://twitter.com/guidedogs/status/1791043236363968544

Helpshift

Podcast with Games Accessibility Hub
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dMV9vYp3uE0

Hyper Luminal Games

Dev diary on the accessibility of Pine Hearts
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gfI0-DJO6cw

Ian Hamilton

The annual GAAD trivia quiz
https://forms.gle/8XzmD919XU5J1wtAA

IllegallySighted

Video on the future accessibility possibilities of AI
https://twitter.com/BGFH79/status/1791076217849876762

Keywords

Week long series of talks and panels
https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:7196879431871746048/

King

Launch of several new accessibility settings and features to iOS Candy Crush Soda
https://community.king.com/en/candy-crush-soda-saga/discussion/445124/

Klemens Strasser

Added better Voice Control support to StudySnacks, to make it easier to use for people with motor impairments.
https://twitter.com/klemensstrasser/status/1790691509018271955

Laura Kate Dale & Arevya

GAAD episode of the Ctrl, Alt Access video podcast
https://twitter.com/LaurakBuzz/status/1791103805041316215

Meta Quest

Curated collections of Quest games spread across color customisation, mobility & movement, subtitles, and visual accessibility
https://www.meta.com/en-gb/experiences/section/816954250350260/

Ninja Theory

Deep dive on representation of psychosis in Hellblade 2
https://news.xbox.com/en-us/2024/05/15/hellblade-2-senua-most-human-character-in-gaming/

Outright Games

Showcase of accessibility features in PJ Masks Power Heroes: Mighty Alliance
https://twitter.com/Outright_Games/status/1791111360551522763

Patelesaur

Hades playthrough using the Overjoyed Accessibility Controller software
https://twitter.com/patelasaur/status/1790878237741957336

Rebellion

Collection of accessibility feature usage data across Sniper Elite 5, Zombie Army 4, and Evil Genius 2
https://twitter.com/Rebellion/status/1791089804546851031

Internal expo with RNIB, SpecialEffect and Abertay University
https://twitter.com/Rebellion/status/1790732431273742578

Accessibility test brief for students & aspiring specialists
https://careers.rebellion.com/education/

Ross Minor

Announcement of the Accessible Gaming Wiki
https://twitter.com/ross_minor/status/1790799242266821054

SeraTen04

Announcement of accessibility upgrades to all games in the Folklore visual novel series
https://twitter.com/seraten04/status/1790810270597521523

Sony

“Hands on with BSL” session
https://x.com/TheOakenForest/status/1791127493212094700

Retrospective of 2024’s progress and strategy
https://sonyinteractive.com/en/news/blog/global-accessibility-awareness-day-2024/

Accessibility of PS5, Access Controller and games all featured in GAAD post by Sony’s CEO
https://www.sony.com/en/SonyInfo/blog/2024/05/16/

Square Enix

Showcase of SpecialEffect’s visit to talk about accessibility and their work, with hands on of gaming AT
https://www.square-enix-games.com/en_US/news/square-enix-special-effect

Stark

Observations on recent developments
https://www.getstark.co/blog/how-creators-can-make-games-more-accessible-for-all/

Xbox

Announcement of Xbox Ambassador Accessibility Ally badge
https://news.xbox.com/en-us/2024/05/15/xbox-global-accessibility-awareness-day-2024/

New Xbox Support articles, categorized by disability
https://support.xbox.com/en-GB/help/accessible-gaming

XAC firmware update, with each USB port now supporting 12 buttons (instead of 8), a second stick, and a hat switch
https://twitter.com/KaitlynJones_/status/1790801817644974554

Game Accessibility Workshop Toolkit, instructions and visual assets to help game developers conduct Game Accessibility Workshops on their own
https://developer.microsoft.com/en-us/games/articles/2024/05/game-accessibility-workshop-toolkit/

 


And a couple of quotes to finish on –

The games industry needs to be better.

Accessibility needs to be in from concept.
Accessibility check ins with every sprint.
Accessibility reviews in pre & post production.

Otherwise you end up with people like me who can’t play your game, & honestly that feeling sucks.

Charlotte Callister

To the devs working their ass off to push accessibility across your teams, keep it going!

To the players: We hear you, we see you, and we’re doing it for you. ????

Kevin McAllister

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