In the latest episode of Ubisoft’s Game Makers podcast, Cherry Thompson, Accessibility Project Manager at Ubisoft Montreal, tells us more about their career path in videogame accessibility, what videogame developers can do to make their games more accessible, and what Cherry considers to be some industry benchmarks in this area.
Videogames are for everyone, but many players face steep barriers to playing certain games. Sometimes the controls aren’t adapted to their motor skills, or they can’t differentiate between enemy and friendly colors. A deaf person might not be able to hear auditory cues, while a player with visual disabilities might have difficulty seeing certain warnings if they’re not bold or high-contrast enough, or not accompanied by clear sounds and rumbles. Some videogames cram a lot of information on the screen at the same time, making it overwhelming for players with cognitive disabilities to see everything that’s going on.
From a lack of subtitles to overly complicated controls, there are countless examples of ways in which videogames inadvertently set up barriers, but also countless ways to refine and improve those features, to ensure a positive playing experience for everyone.
You can listen to Game Makers wherever you get your podcasts, including Stitcher, Apple Podcasts, SoundCloud, and Google Podcasts. Download the full transcript via the link below.
