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Making Games Accessible
An immersive player experience for all
By Belén Agulló García and Carme Mangiron
W
e will not start this article by sharing data on how many people with disabilities there are around the world. Too many articles related to accessibility start with that. Accessibility is not (or should not be) about making an additional effort to cater to the needs of some. That approach is exclusive by default and contributes to the “necessary evil” narrative that is not doing any good for accessibility advocacy (or language access advocacy, for that matter). Accessibility needs to be thought of as an intrinsic part of designing an excellent user experience (UX).
That is what universal design is all about: designing and creating environments and products that can be used and accessed by as many people as possible, regardless of age, size, ability, disability, or background. This is the essence of good design and UX, which is especially important for games (and any other entertainment product), as they are an essential part of our lives. Sharing hobbies and passions with friends is vital for feeling included and contributes to our mental health.
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All players can benefit from universal design in games, as accessibility features add value to the overall UX. For example, many people would play more games if they were not so challenging. Not all players have the natural ability to master games or the time to spend playing to become proficient in a specific game, but they would still love to enjoy the narrative and the aesthetics.
An example of inclusive design would be to add difficulty levels. The creators of Bayonetta took a stance on this back in 2009 and added the automatic mode for players who wanted to enjoy the game without having previous experience. The game creators said that they “wanted to broaden the audience, letting less-experienced players enjoy the complete package without necessarily having to invest the time.” And isn’t Bayonetta one of the most iconic games of the early 2000s? Just saying…
Implementing game accessibility best practices when designing a video game does more than make the product accessible for people with disabilities (although, needless to say, this is a strong enough reason to do it). It expands the reach of games to potential players who might be off the radar and contributes to brand loyalty and player retention. Sometimes, the equation is not as easy as saying: “If I invest X in accessibility, I will get X in return.” This is not just about revenue. This is about offering an excellent UX that will make a brand stand out among its competitors. And it shouldn’t be that difficult if accessibility is properly planned during the design phase. Let’s dive deeper into what we mean when we talk about game accessibility.
What Is Game Accessibility?
Game accessibility aims to remove barriers from a game so that everyone can access it. Think about it as if we were talking about physical accessibility. Someone in a wheelchair cannot enter a building without a ramp or an elevator. But the same thing happens when someone tries to access the same building with a stroller or a shopping cart and when someone tries to deliver a sofa to somebody’s apartment. Something similar happens in video games. For example, if you don’t provide a screen reader option that is activated by default from the initial screen, someone with low vision or who is blind won’t be able to access your game at all. It is easier for someone who can see to deactivate an option than the other way around, so one might think that it is much better to make accessibility the default — like the ramp. Someone who doesn’t need it can just take the stairs. Or maybe they will use the ramp anyway because it makes their experience better, too. Similarly, a screen reader can be useful if the font is too small or a player is far away from the screen.
According to the team behind Game Accessibility Guidelines, players most commonly report on the following four topics when it comes to game accessibility: the ability to remap controls, options to adjust text size, colorblindness-friendly interfaces, and subtitle placement. These potential obstacles are not so complex to solve from a design perspective if they are planned from the beginning, and they can make a big difference to all types of players. Let’s have a closer look at game accessibility guidelines and what goes into an inclusive and accessible game design.
Game Accessibility Guidelines
Many refer to the accessibility “Persona Spectrum” defined by Microsoft in its Inclusive Microsoft Design guidebook to show how accessibility can benefit a wide spectrum of users (see Figure 1). Here, different types of disabilities are categorized based on duration (permanent, temporary, or situational). For example, a user can have a hearing disability because they are deaf (permanent) or because they are in a noisy environment (situational). Both users would greatly benefit from auditory access features, such as captions and sound cues. This categorization helps us see how accessible design becomes part of an excellent UX design, which affects a wide spectrum of users under different circumstances and contributes to a satisfying experience interacting with any given product or service.
Two of the most reputable accessibility guidelines accepted industry-wide are the Game Accessibility Guidelines and the Xbox Accessibility Guidelines.
The Game Accessibility Guidelines were created by a group of studios, specialists, and academics, who started this project in 2012. In their guidelines, they organize accessibility features into three levels: basic, intermediate, and advanced. The levels are defined based on three main criteria:
- reach — number of people who benefit,
- impact — the difference made to those people, and
- value — cost to implement.
Each guideline has subcategories related to skill and impairment types. Below, we explore the categories and provide examples of some of the corresponding guidelines.
- Motor: related to the controls — how to interact with the game — and users’ mobility.
- Guideline example: Allow users to remap or reconfigure the controls, which means that a player can change which buttons do what so that it’s easier or more comfortable for them to interact with the game.
- Best practice example: Street Fighter IV (see Figure 2).
- Cognitive: related to thought, memory, and information processing.
- Guideline example: Reinforce any essential information with images and sound, not just text. This can be useful for people who struggle with reading (for example, someone with dyslexia).
- Best practice example: Aporkalypse (see Figure 3).
- Visual: related to vision and how visual information is presented in alternative ways.
- Guideline example: Provide high contrast between the text on screen and the background. This can be useful for any user with low vision, as well as for users who have a small screen or sit far away from the screen.
- Best practice example: Happy Wars (see Figure 4).
- Hearing: related to hearing and how sound information is presented in alternative ways.
- Guideline example: Include a visual indication of who is speaking, as well as any relevant background noises.
- Best practice example: Portal 2 (see Figure 5).
- Speech: related to users’ speech as a way to interact with the game.
- Guideline example: Ensure that speech input is not required and is included only as a supplementary input method. Voice commands can be triggering for players with speech disabilities and also for players with nonstandard accents.
- Best practice example: The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim (see Figure 6).
- General feedback: related to best practices that apply to all users who need accessibility features.
- Guideline example: Offer levels of difficulty. This could benefit a wide range of players willing to take on a new challenge at their own pace.
- Best practice example: StarCraft II (see Figure 7).
The Game Accessibility Guidelines include a summary on how to plan for an inclusive game design, which makes an important point:
Guidelines are a good start, but to get the best results, you also need to test your prototypes with disabled players, and research and seek advice when needed. Just including some disabled players in existing play-testing sessions makes a huge difference, and you’re likely to have some people with impairments in your studio too… Use them, they’re a great asset.
In all user-centric design, users need to be involved to ensure that what is being developed is indeed useful and suitable for their needs; therefore, partnering with players with disabilities, especially for advanced accessibility features, is a great way to promote inclusion and create excellent UX.
Microsoft and Xbox are committed to accessibility. The Xbox teams have been accessibility champions for years, and their very detailed and technical accessibility guidelines address 23 points that tackle different aspects of the user interface (UI) and overall UX, including text display, audio accessibility, UI navigation, photosensitivity, and even mental health-related topics. These guidelines also include examples of good implementations.
The guidelines are complemented by Accessibility Feature Tags, which explain in detail how the access features should be implemented to pass the validation test to include the accessibility tag. In addition, Xbox launched the Adaptive Controller in 2018, which aims to make games accessible for players with mobility disabilities and created a free e-learning course titled “Gaming Accessibility Fundamentals” on how to get started with game accessibility. The course has five modules and a total duration of 3 hours and 49 minutes. Encouraging developers (or anyone interested) to take this course and similar ones can help raise awareness about the importance of game accessibility across the industry.
The Importance of Awareness and Visibility
Developers and publishers sometimes overlook accessibility awareness and visibility. Once the accessibility features are included in a game, the next step is to make sure they are visible and discoverable by potential players. It can be very frustrating to buy a game and find out that you cannot play it or that a UX issue prevents full immersion in the story and mechanics. Oversights like these can even result in negative reviews on marketplaces and in app stores, impacting brand reputation.
Luckily, there have been initiatives to include accessibility labels in some of the main video game marketplaces. As mentioned before, Microsoft was one of the pioneers in creating the Xbox Accessibility Feature Tags, which allow developers to identify accessibility features in their games by using the Accessibility feature in their Gaming Metadata module. Players can then filter game catalogs to find the games that include the accessibility features they need. To support the inclusion of accessibility tags, Microsoft established a validation process for developers. Each request is reviewed by the Microsoft team to ensure that the proposed feature is genuinely beneficial for users.
More recently, the Entertainment Software Association launched the Accessible Games Initiative, which aims to improve players’ gameplay experiences by providing clear information about the accessibility features available in video games. Electronic Arts, Google, Microsoft, Nintendo, Sony Interactive Entertainment, and Ubisoft partnered to develop a list of accessibility tags to be used across the industry in a standardized way (see Figure 8). Steam also contributed to this effort by creating its own set of accessibility tags available to developers to add their games’ metadata, to help players discover accessibility features, similar to Microsoft’s initiative.
Tapping Into Player Needs: Research-Driven Approaches
Accessibility plays a key role in fostering inclusion and providing immersive experiences to all, regardless of their abilities. Therefore, it is imperative to adopt a user-centric perspective. Research on game accessibility can offer developers valuable insights into players’ needs and preferences. That’s where academia can fill the gap by providing highly valuable insights and data points so the video game industry can make informed decisions.
Projects such as RAD (Researching Audiodescription: Translation, Delivery, and New Scenarios) and WEL (From written to oral texts in Easy Language: easy audios in cultural visits and video games) offer data on the accessibility solutions required by different types of users to ensure a satisfying gameplay experience.
The RAD project was conducted at Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona from 2019 to 2021. One of its main objectives was to gather information about blind and low-vision players’ accessibility needs and their opinions about the potential inclusion of audio description (AD) — an accessibility solution that converts images into words — in video games, which had not yet been implemented. In 2020, an online survey was sent to blind and low-vision individuals residing in Spain. A total of 106 valid responses were obtained, both from people who played video games regularly and those who did not. Participants felt that video games are still not fully accessible and stated that they would play more if accessibility improved. The most requested accessibility features were screen readers and AD. Most participants affirmed that they would use AD in video games if it was available. Respondents also pointed out several areas for improvement, such as screen reader compatibility, in-game audio and sound design, and the integration of dynamic AD during gameplay, not just in cutscenes.
In 2021, follow-up semistructured interviews were conducted with 15 participants. The three main themes addressed were the lack of game accessibility, the potential of AD, and the steps that should be taken to improve the current situation. The features they needed most were screen readers, additional audio cues, and contrast options. Participants also highlighted the need for games and their accessibility features to be localized. Finally, they suggested that online stores and gaming platforms should also be accessible so that blind and low-vision users could use them independently.
Since then, AD has been implemented in several games, such as The Last of Us (TLOU) Part I (2022), which includes AD in the cinematics in English and all localized versions. However, other games, such as Mortal Kombat 1 (2023) and Forza Motorsport (2023), include AD in English only, thus making the game less accessible to players who do not speak that language. Linguistic accessibility requires localization of all game content, including the accessibility features.
The WEL project — carried out at Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona since 2023 — focuses on cognitive accessibility in video games and the potential application of easy-to-understand language to video games to improve their accessibility. Again, the idea is that players who want to use simplified language can do so, while others can play with standard language. Players with dyslexia were used in a case study, as they struggle with reading, and easy-to-understand language could improve their gaming experience. However, as is always the case with accessibility, the use of easy-to-understand language in games could also benefit a wider audience who may prefer simplified tutorials, instructions, and dialogues, such as children, older adults, and novice players.
As part of the project, in 2024, researchers held two focus groups — with five and four participants, including players and nonplayers — to find out about their needs and preferences and to elicit their opinions about the potential use of easy-to-understand language in video games. Participants stated that, when playing video games, they struggled with long texts, difficult-to-memorize controls, too much stimuli, unclear objectives, and a very fast pace. The main challenge that participants identified was reading. For this reason, they preferred action games and games based on motor skills, such as racing games, and puzzle and simulation games. The accessibility feature they desired most was the ability to remap the controllers, followed by the option to have all written text in audio format, which text-to-speech technology could solve. Participants stated that they would also like games to include such features as the ability to revisit tutorials at any time, to receive hints and clues during gameplay, and to customize text size, background, and contrast.
In relation to the potential application of easy-to-understand language to video games, participants were presented with four excerpts of a video game: one in standard written language, one in easy-to-understand written language, one with standard audio, and one with easy audio. Participants preferred the simplified written text and the standard audio, which was to be expected, as dyslexia is a learning difficulty related to letter identification and reading.
The next phase of the project has involved developing a short video game and conducting user tests to compare the comprehension and gameplay experience of players with and without dyslexia. Participants were divided into three groups: Group 1 played with standard text, Group 2 played with easy-to-understand text, and Group 3 had the option to switch between standard and easy-to-understand written text, as well as between standard and easy-to-understand audio. Testing is still ongoing, but the results are expected to offer valuable insights into the potential of easy-to-understand language as an accessibility feature in video games.
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Successful Case Studies
Games like TLOU Part 2 by Naughty Dog and Diablo IV by Blizzard have received highly positive reviews for their advanced accessibility features. In TLOU Part 2, developers provided over 60 fully customizable options for vision-impaired, motor-impaired, and hearing-impaired players. The access features for blind players went viral when the YouTuber Steve Saylor reviewed the game on his channel and broke down in tears while talking about the game’s accessibility options, such as audio description, sound cues, high contrast, and auto-aim.
Blizzard developers also poured all their hearts into the most recent accessibility features for Diablo IV, as can be seen in the video that they posted for Global Accessibility Awareness Day 2025. In the video, they explained how developers, engineers, quality assurance (QA) teams, and sound designers collaborated to create a seamless experience to support players with low vision and motor impairments. One of the highlights was the Audio Navigation Assistance feature, which provides audio cues to help players navigate the map of Sanctuary.
Sound Design for Street Fighter 6
For this article, we were lucky to have access to the Capcom audio design team, which was involved in the accessibility strategy for Street Fighter 6. We spoke with Kakunoshin Atsumi, audio director for Street Fighter 6, who was responsible for overseeing the overall direction of the sound and balancing the audio elements, and Yoshinori Koike, who worked as the game’s audio producer.
They had not planned to include advanced accessibility features from the beginning, but a letter sent by a blind user motivated them to dig deeper and understand how they could provide a better experience for blind and low-vision users. The blind player wrote, “The sound effects are well done, so I enjoy playing Street Fighter V. However, for example, the sound when a character jumps forward and backward is the same, making it difficult for me to grasp their position.” Other users also reported that it was hard to grasp positional relationships and the distance to the opponent.
This feedback motivated Capcom’s team to create a sound strategy that could account for the needs of blind users. They started by creating a prototype to express a sense of distance through sound based on the feedback that they received and their own intuition on how this feature could work. However, they soon realized their own limitations in coming up with a solution, as they were mainly relying on visual cues. They decided to reach out to ePARA, an organization involved in barrier-free esports, and began a co-creative collaboration.
The co-creation with experts and users exceeded the team’s expectations, and the access feature expanded beyond their initial prototype. Then, the team implemented an iterative process of building features, getting feedback from users, and making improvements to design a seamless UX. This helped the team understand the importance of collaborating with accessibility experts and users to avoid any blind spots in the design of access services.
The Capcom team has since received positive feedback from players around the world — as well as further ideas to keep improving the game — which highlights the importance of accessibility and confirms that it does not go unnoticed. This is a perfect example of how user-centric design is crucial to developing meaningful, accessible experiences for all. Kudos to Capcom for listening to their players and caring about creating a more inclusive industry!
Future Outlook for Game Accessibility
Game accessibility is burgeoning and hopefully will continue to do so, as more developers follow suit and start to include accessibility features in their games. Accessible game design, which incorporates accessibility from the design stage, should be promoted to seamlessly integrate adaptable interfaces, inclusive design, and adaptive hardware or software from the outset. This requires embedding accessibility across departments like design, marketing, and QA while gathering feedback from diverse player communities. In addition, accessibility solutions should be supported and localized into different languages, and not be only available in the English versions of games, as is often the case.
Generative artificial intelligence (AI) can contribute to increased accessibility, as it can enable real-time adaptation of gameplay to users’ needs. AI can analyze a player’s preferences, abilities, and needs and adjust the interface, content, and features of games to enhance accessibility and usability for players with disabilities. This can benefit younger, older, novice, and differently abled players and provide them with an engaging and immersive game experience that matches their needs and preferences.
Also, AI can help create descriptions of in-game images and scenes in real time and deliver them through speech synthesis, providing dynamic audio descriptions that would improve visual game accessibility. Or it can be used to develop advanced chatbots that can answer real-time queries from users, taking into account their progress and helping them overcome difficult challenges.
It is also important to have a diverse workforce in games to create more inclusive experiences. Think about Netflix and content creators, how they have been updating their stories to cater to the tastes of a more diverse fan base, but at a mainstream level — not just niche, indie movies and shows. Games should do the same. There should be more people from diverse backgrounds working in the gaming industry as consultants, developers, or accessibility testers to ensure that no gamer is left behind.
Finally, legislation could play a key role in promoting game accessibility in the future. For example, the American 21st Century Communications and Video Accessibility Act and the European Accessibility Act state that all communication technologies and digital services should be accessible, so games that include communication features should be made accessible. We hope that, with time, legislation can contribute to setting minimum accessibility standards, like adding subtitles, AD, remapping controls, and more, as has happened for other media, such as television, cinema, and streaming platforms. Additionally, governments can provide grants, tax breaks, or funding programs to support research and innovation in accessible game design.
We look forward to a future in which game accessibility continues to thrive, no barrier stands between players and play, and games are truly for everyone.
Belén Agulló García is a localization strategist with over 15 years of experience, specializing in gaming, media, and language technology. She focuses on matching innovation with purpose, building communities, and democratizing knowledge related to AI in localization.
Carme Mangiron is a professor, member of the research group TransMedia Catalonia at the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, and member of the knowledge transfer network AccessCat. She has extensive experience as a translator, specializing in software and game localization. Her main research areas are game localization, game accessibility, audiovisual translation, and accessibility to the media.
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