Accessibility Matters. The Game Awards to feature an Audio Descriptive mode for the Visually Impaired for the first time.
Great news for all the Visual Impaired gamers out there!! After the International Day of Persons with Disabilities on December 3rd, Geoff Keighley, Founder of The Game Awards, tweeted about the addition of an audio descriptive mode for the visually impaired in this year’s The Game Awards Livestream, closing his tweet with “Accessibility Matters”. This is the first time that The Game Awards has included an Audio Disability Mode in their event. The Game Awards will be held on December 10th at 12 am GMT, with the Former President and COO of Nintendo of America Reggie Fils presenting the show.
An Audio Descriptive Mode allows people with blindness or low vision to understand the scene by listening to the narrator describe the scene without interrupting the spoken dialogue or gameplay. This comes as a boon to the visually impaired gamers who missed out on essential details and announcements previously.
In addition to that The Game Awards will also feature a new category of Innovation in accessibility which is a great initiative to bring forth the Developers who have taken proper care of the people with disabilities because no one should miss out on any little pleasures of life. Nominated on this category is “The Last of Us Part 2” which added in some amazing features to enhance the accessibility of the game.
This gets us all one step closer to having the games even more accessible for people with disabilities. Being Game Developers we need to make it our mission to provide amazing experiences to everyone without anyone missing out. With more and more developers and companies coming forward to make a difference in making the lives of people with disabilities easier, the gaming community is sure to reach higher peaks.
Here’s a resource on how to make your games more accessible – Making Accessible Games – Games for all, All for Games
With Love From VOiD1 Gaming
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