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.
In 2025 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 or bluesky if you know of anything that isn’t on here yet!
Accessibility Labs
Guide on CVAA for games
https://accessibility-labs.com/understanding-cvaa-and-accessible-in-game-communications/
Amazon Games
Article by Accessibility Lead Holly Wescott
https://www.linkedin.com/posts/amazongames_today-marks-the-14th-global-accessibility-activity-7328820835048194050-S5hs/
Amicable Animal
Showcasing accessibility features in Upfall
https://bsky.app/profile/amicableanimal.bsky.social/post/3logwxe67rc2a
Apple
App store showcase of accessible games and interview with Klemens Strasser
https://apps.apple.com/fr/story/id1800311573?l=en-GB
Preview of a range of new OS and storefront functionality coming later this year
https://www.apple.com/newsroom/2025/05/apple-unveils-powerful-accessibility-features-coming-later-this-year/
Barrie Ellis
Collection of recent advances, including breath control for XAC and PAC, and one button Space Invaders
https://switchgaming.blogspot.com/2025/05/oneswitch-gaad-posts-2025.html
Call of Duty
GamesBeat feature with Beenox, Raven and Treyarch, looking at the accessibility work on Black Ops 6
https://venturebeat.com/games/call-of-dutys-accessibility-features-are-a-player-developer-collaboration/
Can I Play That
Announcement of the winners of the annual CIPT Diamond and Barrier Breaker awards to Dragon Age: The Veilguard, Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown, and the Silent Hill 2 remake
https://caniplaythat.com/2025/05/15/abilitypoints-diamond-award-2024-dragon-age-the-veilguard/
Easy Surf & Games Accessibility Hub
Free mini-assessments of two games
https://www.linkedin.com/posts/games-accessibility-hub_gaad-activity-7325825777264988161-RKJo
https://www.linkedin.com/posts/games-accessibility-hub_accessibility-discussion-on-wordatro-for-activity-7328750911453917184-AyS8/
Electronic Arts
Internal learning event for 15+ studios & central teams
https://www.linkedin.com/posts/leahybaker_gaad-globalaccessibilityawarenessday-gaad25-activity-7328837376145870848-O6P8/
Everyone Can
Showcasing partnernship to spread awareness of accessible gaming through Google’s Accessible Design Centers.
https://x.com/EveryoneCanUK/status/1923010857115472312
Filament Games
Overview of USA legal landscape for educational games
https://www.filamentgames.com/blog/accessibility-in-educational-games-what-the-law-requires-and-what-comes-next/
GAConf
Tickets put on sale for the September USA event
https://x.com/GA_Conf/status/1923079222311993831
Glowmade
Collection of the team’s favourite features
https://x.com/glowmade/status/1923023130278179183
App store showcase of accessible games
https://play.google.com/store/apps/editorial?id=mc_games_gaad_25_fcp
Harriet Frayling
Top 5 developments of 2025 so far
https://www.linkedin.com/posts/hfrayling_5-cool-things-i-love-in-games-accessibility-activity-7328867510189977600-isPG
Ian Hamilton
The 8th annual GAAD game accessibility trivia quiz
https://forms.gle/Gdp7nH2XMMvC8uQk9
Reminder of UK employers’ legal obligation to allow WFH for disabled staff
https://bsky.app/profile/did:plc:3hc4oxvwwa4wevtfg35icxut/post/3lp6x43j5ks2c
Keywords
Collection of resources
https://x.com/KeywordsStudios/status/1921868358237962486
Game accessibility quiz
https://www.linkedin.com/posts/keywordsstudios_test-your-game-accessibility-knowledge-with-activity-7328686923160428544-gx-S/
Klemens Strasser
Accessibility update for The Art of Fauna, adding configurable typeface and colours
https://x.com/klemensstrasser/status/1922953482169937997
Luke Child
Thread of people who have been his beacons of accessibility
https://bsky.app/profile/citesandsounds.bsky.social/post/3lp77sg3wc22o
Makers Making Change
Launch of Clubs That Care youth leadership micro-grants
https://www.makersmakingchange.com/s/clubs-that-care
Many Cats
Announcement of Impact Day, a digital conference of networking and micro talks from disabled professionals in the games industry
https://bsky.app/profile/manycatsstudios.bsky.social/post/3lp7reafkks2l
Miami University
Accessible gaming day, for students to try adaptive gaming equipment while learning about accessibility in gaming
https://www.facebook.com/miamiuit/posts/pfbid02DGC4bqGPMdestnCAwBFhbHFo2HfovQLiBR9PYmKZo288Pw48FyRrvC3vNuJFtVNEl
Michael Temper
Disabled all images in Ploppy Pairs, to encourage people to try playing using VoiceOver (iOS’ screenreader)
https://x.com/michael_temper/status/1922965549912301894
Pike Road Junior High
Students building adaptive controllers for use with their Scratch games
https://www.facebook.com/PikeRoadJrHigh/posts/pfbid0svPKsGGWz5TAaVJCqoxyogf7NAxWNVhQWAqWfCuUskctmBWJqLo7f2xQULq914LDl
Rawstone Games
Tips for making board games accessible
https://rawstone.net/2025/05/15/accessible-board-games-design-tips-for-inclusion/
Rebellion
Sharing feature usage data from Atomfall
https://x.com/Rebellion/status/1923393568237838574
Safe In Our World
Launch of workplace accessibility toolkit
https://safeinourworld.org/news/safe-in-our-world-releases-workplace-accessibility-toolkit-for-gaad2025/
Seattle Indies
Guest speaker series
https://www.meetup.com/seattleindies/events/307827610/
Sony
History of PS5 & accessibility, from launch to 2025
https://sonyinteractive.com/en/news/blog/accessibility-and-ps5-our-history-of-features-from-launch-to-2025/
SpecialEffect
Announcement of their first mobile game, Open Drive, an eye gaze accessible game for mobile devices
https://www.specialeffect.org.uk/news/open-drive-mobile
Sun & Moon
Week long showcase of eyegaze games
https://www.facebook.com/sunandmoon.animation/
Twitch
Dragon Games PVP D&D showdown
https://x.com/stevesaylor/status/1922012610611876299
Ubisoft
Profile of accessibility champion Joost Peters
https://www.linkedin.com/posts/massiveentertainment_among-those-working-to-make-gaming-more-accessible-activity-7328705785054597122-pt-z/
ESA article about ADHD Representation in Just Dance 2025
https://www.theesa.com/behind-the-scenes/choreographing-inclusion-accessibility-program-director-pierre-escaich-on-adhd-representation-in-just-dance-2025/
Xbox
- Rollout of Accessible Games Initiative tags across the Xbox storefront
- Announcing new accessibility features in Doom: The Dark Ages, Candy Crush Soda Saga and World of Warcraft
- Showcasing other existing work across games, hardware, and user research
https://news.xbox.com/en-us/2025/05/15/global-accessibility-awareness-day-2025-xbox
- Showcase video of the dev work behind Diablo IVs screen reader and navigation innovation
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LRJ_DBKPAyQ
And a couple of quotes to finish on –
“Throw out perfectionism, celebrate the small steps, and remember that gaming is for everyone” – Arevya
“This post is for you—for those who make a better future possible. For Apple. Microsoft. PlayStation. Xbox. For the teachers who go above and beyond to prepare their students. For the game developers who dare to think outside the box. Thank you and Happy #GAAD2025” – Victor Dima
“To all my fellow advocates out there who are fighting the good fight to advance accessibility for the gaming and disability community, keep it up. Progress is never linear and rarely quick. Don’t give up and lean on your fellow accessibilibuddies when you need to.” – Brannon Zahand
