Excerpting Meagan VanBurkleo’s phenomenal article for gameinformer.com, titled Accessibility: Creating Games For A Diverse Audience:
The practice of escapism intuitively becomes more important to an individual who is disabled by society or their surroundings. Whether the individual has a physical, auditory or cognitive impairment, the video-game experience in theory should act as a great equalizer. As we said, [in] the world of video games anything is possible, if the capacity to engage in these experiences is not denied to us. What if a physical limitation leaves a gamer unable to use a standard console controller? What if the lack of subtitles prohibits the entire Deaf community from experiencing a blockbuster title? The bottom line is that the majority of video-game hardware, software and peripherals are unnecessarily inaccessible to many gamers with disabilities. Through simple lack of awareness or an intentional marginalization of their demographic, disabled gamers routinely take the backseat in the game-development process. There is no denying that the vast range and degrees of disabilities makes the situation complicated, however, there are simple steps developers can take to improve the accessibility of their titles. By studying the basics of accessibility and usability, fostering an awareness of common disabilities and how they affect gameplay, and giving disabled gamers a voice through participation in game testing—the current situation can be vastly improved.
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“Well, it’s a fact that your gaming abilities do not remain the same throughout your life, linked to your physical and mental health. There’s a line of thought that all non-disabled people are ‘TABs’—Temporarily Able Bodied. Everyone’s abilities will lessen with time, either due to accident, illness or age.”
— Barrie Ellis, creator of OneSwitch.org and member of the International Game Developers Association’s Game Accessibility Special Interest Group
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According to an article written by Heather Claybrook:
