Xbox doubles down on accessibility in gaming, pledging to support game developers
Helping make gaming more accessible to everyone.
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What you need to know
Gaming is a wonderful activity that has entertained and delighted for decades now, and is a fantastic way for people of all walks of life to spend their time. Over the years, accessibility has become increasingly important in game development to help bring games to as many people as possible. Xbox, especially, has been a massive advocate for better accessibility in gaming. Today, Microsoft and their Gaming Accessibility teamannounced updates to their gaming accessibility efforts, with a new program for game developers.
In 2018, Xbox launched the excellentXbox Adaptive Controller. The XAC allows players who might have difficulty using a standard controller to build customized setups that suit their needs. In 2020, Xbox launched the Xbox Accessibility Guidelines, a comprehensive series of “best practices” to drive accessibility in gaming forward and help game devs make their projects as accessible as possible.
Today, Xbox announced that they’re updating their XAGs with a ton of improvements to make them easier to use, easier to understand, and even more thorough for game devs. Improvements include clearer language, improved overviews, scoping questions and focus areas, educational background information, and guideline examples.
However, beyond these crucial improvements to the XAGs, Microsoft is also launching an industry-first: a platform-provided program that can test Xbox and PC games against the XAGs, and provide game devs with feedback on how to improve their games. This includes screenshots, examples, reproduction steps, and information about why certain aspects of a title may not be accessible to gamers. Xbox’s new program will also provide information and relevant links to accessibility, inclusivity, and technical documentation, industry experts, and non-profit accessibility organizations.
Finally, gamers with disabilities are included in the testing program, so that every game tested against the XAGs is also played by members of the Gaming & Disability Community. These vital testers will also provide their own feedback and insight into what can be improved in games.
It’s always great to see accessibility take another step forward in gaming, and hopefully, lots of developers will take advantage of Xbox’s guidelines and testing program. Xbox is continuing to collect feedback from developers and the community to further improve the XAGs, and gaming will only become more accessible as time goes on.
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Zachary Boddy (They / Them) is a Staff Writer for Windows Central, primarily focused on covering the latest news in tech and gaming, the best Xbox and PC games, and the most interesting Windows and Xbox hardware. They have been gaming and writing for most of their life starting with the original Xbox, and started out as a freelancer for Windows Central and its sister sites in 2019. Now a full-fledged Staff Writer, Zachary has expanded from only writing about all things Minecraft to covering practically everything on which Windows Central is an expert, especially when it comes to Microsoft. You can find Zachary on Twitter@BoddyZachary.
