Closing Thoughts
Though Accessibility is on the rise in the games industry, far more can be done to allow those with many disabilities, not just a complete lack of sight, to enjoy what might be considered as key cultural events in the medium. From the cliffhanger of Halo 2 that was thrown in to allow for a sequel, to the seminal Gears of War bursting onto the scene with the Xbox 360, or even going further back, the ferocity and over the top bloodshed of the original Doom all the way back in 1993.
It’s not just shooters that accessibility is missing out on though: A fully fledged version of Tetris that can rival the original has not yet, to my knowledge, been made accessible and there’s a distinct lack of pinball games compared to offerings even on Steam or Xbox One. Realtime Strategy (RTS) games, similarly, are lacking, with anything even remotely approaching the scope, scale and depth of Halo Wars or its sequel having come nowhere near fruition.
It’s not just about having enough willing advocates either, as there are certainly a fair few other than myself who know mainstream games well enough to feed back on their faults and praise their positive aspects.
The onus is also on developers and publishers to allow those who want to reach out and provide their thoughts for consideration the ability to do so. Being shut out by companies is frustrating and having more ways and means of feeding back on accessibility concerns for any disability would, I hope, move the industry into a greater era of appreciation for disabilities as a whole, not just with specific use cases.
Accessibility is achievable. It can be done. This is the front line. Where do we go from here? The answer… we will see.
As Churchill once said,
“Now this is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end. but it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning.”