A year ago, I spent $30 on the XBOX Adaptive Joystick for my fiancée (who has since become my wife) to help her enjoy PC exclusives that are otherwise too uncomfortable with a traditional keyboard or lacking precision with only a controller. A connective tissue disorder causes hypermobility and pain in her joints, which means 'WASD' controls quickly feel awkward and difficult.

It started with a desire to join her friends in Blizzard's gigantic World of Warcraft MMORPG, and led to frustration with the limitations of its native controller support. Yes, with a standard XBOX controller (or any equivalent), you can run around the digital world of Azeroth and interact with the majority of its functions, but you'll eventually discover its limits.

The primary downside of joypads relates to losing precision mouse aiming, which is hard to replicate with any gamepad. Even PC-centric options with built-in trackpads, like Valve's modern Steam Controller, can't perfectly replicate the ease of rapid targeting with a mouse. So, it was the somewhat unrecognized efforts of XBOX's accessible hardware that felt like the best fit — but will it last?

It's difficult to discuss XBOX and broader gaming efforts without addressing the elephant in the room: Microsoft's "significant restructure" cuts. Thousands of roles were removed across the business, drastically affecting software teams and internal game development studios, while it seemed like the hardware side of XBOX would be "safe" from the sweeping layoffs.

Among those affected came a sad confirmation on LinkedIn from Kaitlyn Jones, who had served as Microsoft's Gaming Accessibility Lead and oversaw programs that included the XBOX Adaptive Joystick itself. Elsewhere, Aftermath's Grant Stoner reported that the layoffs had apparently gutted Microsoft's Gaming Accessibility Testing Services (MGATS), "and eliminated accessibility testers for games and compliance experts for Xbox sites".

Right now, I don't know exactly how (if at all) this affects Microsoft's plans for more accessible gaming hardware in the future, and those who rely on it are essentially in a "wait and see" period. As it stands, the XBOX Accessible Joystick is still listed for sale for $29.99 in the United States and £24.99 in the United Kingdom. Whether that changes is a mystery, and a nervous one at that, as The Verge previously reported how the range came close to cancellation in the past.

Either way, it's a disappointing development to see cuts applied to accessible gaming, as it's an often-forgotten aspect of the hobby in general. Many are lucky enough never to need adapted hardware, but for those of us who do, I'd normally recommend XBOX's generously priced efforts in a heartbeat. They're easy to use, widely compatible, and frankly, unappreciated — even if there are a few parts that I'd change.

The XBOX Adaptive Joystick isn't wireless, so it depends on its included USB cable — though, to its credit, that cable is 9 feet long and braided in a heavy-duty casing. So, yes, it could be wireless to fit alongside the official joypads, but it's a downside that I'll happily accept if it means keeping the price below $30. Its trigger isn't pressure-sensitive either, so there aren't any options for analog inputs outside of the stick.

Then again, a digital-only trigger isn't generally an issue outside of racing games, and some clever bindings in the XBOX Accessories App (or Steam Input) have repurposed the stick in games where we could assign steering inputs elsewhere. With some patience and experimentation, it works in practically anything. Sure enough, the "Adaptive" part of its name is legitimately authentic, and this unassuming little controller has become quite important in our home.

For now, it feels important to highlight the hardware that's making gaming easier for people who need it. Whether it's connected to our XBOX Series X or my wife's desktop PC, the Adaptive Joystick deserves praise for its low price and fantastic versatility. These controllers don't need to be expensive or complicated, but they do need employees who are willing to fight for them, and I hope those voices are still heard at Microsoft.

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Minecraft is probably the most iconic game in the world. It's the one with all the blocks, where creativity comes alive. For a long time, though, players on Minecraft's Bedrock Edition were missing one of the game's most important accessibility features, despite it having been available in Java Edition for years.

In fact, as a Java player, I had no idea it hadn't already made its way to Bedrock. I'm talking, of course, about the new closed captions.

For those unfamiliar, they're an accessibility feature that provides both text and visual cues for sounds happening around you. Whether it's footsteps, a door opening, or that dreaded creeper sneaking up behind you, closed captions help you better understand your surroundings without relying solely on audio.

To enable closed captions in Minecraft Bedrock Edition:

1. Go to Settings.
2. Open Accessibility.
3. Enable Closed Captions and adjust the settings to your liking.

I'm all for accessibility features like this. They don't negatively affect anyone who chooses not to use them, but they can make a huge difference for players who are deaf or hard of hearing, process audio differently, or simply need a little extra help enjoying the game. Features like these allow more people to experience games without barriers, and that's only ever a good thing.

I haven't actually played Minecraft in a while myself, although the annual two-week Minecraft phase seems to come for all of us eventually. Not too long ago I covered a fan-made Halo modpack for Minecraft, and as a lifelong Halo fan, that definitely caught my attention, so I might jump into that soon.

That said, there are so many great games releasing lately that it's hard to stick with just one, let alone go back to Minecraft. Even so, it's a game I've been playing since the early beta days, long before Microsoft owned the franchise, so I know it's only a matter of time before I end up jumping back in.

Enough about my thoughts, though. I'd love to hear what you think about this feature and whether it'll make a difference to the way you play Minecraft. Let me know in the comments below, and as always, be sure to take part in our poll below:

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ThinkPads are some of the most durable laptops around, and there never seems to be a shortage of enthusiasts who are proud to show off an ancient device that's still in working order.

If you've used a ThinkPad, you know that it comes with some features not regularly found anywhere else. One such piece of hardware is the ThinkPad TrackPoint system, consisting of a red pointing nub placed in the middle of the keyboard and accompanied by a set of physical buttons just above the modern touchpad.

The TrackPoint is a major part of ThinkPad's identity, and although it doesn't get nearly as much attention as it used to when laptop touchpads were not yet in such a great state, it certainly still has its uses.

And I'm not just talking about use as a touch alternative.

I built "FooTrack" – a completely hands-free, foot-operated PC mouse & gamepad using a ThinkPad TrackPoint. Looking for feedback from this community! from r/diyelectronics

This past weekend, I spotted what could be the most impressive second-hand use of a TrackPoint system. Reddit user Gitman_87, who is evidently the engineer behind the CtrlZ YouTube channel, posted a creation that they've dubbed "FooTrack."

As explained in the introductory post, Gitman_87 has been quietly developing FooTrack as an accessibility tool based on the TrackPoint's hardware.

Gitman_87 explains that the project is still in its infancy, and the community outreach on Reddit is mainly to gather feedback from potential users and other ThinkPad aficionados.

How does FooTrack work, and why is a ThinkPad TrackPoint's hardware perfect for the project?

ThinkPads last a long time, and even when they're well past their expiration date in terms of software compatibility, the hardware often lives on. I don't doubt that there are countless TrackPoint systems in working order that get sent to a landfill every year. Not only does that make the hardware cheap, but also rather plentiful.

The TrackPoint pointing nub relies on force input rather than distance, and Gitman_87 recognized that it could "translate into really smooth cursor or joystick control" based on micromovements from your feet.

A Raspberry Pi Zero is used alongside the TrackPoint controller inside the device, and a custom Wi-Fi UDP script allows for 100Hz polling to make it feel plenty smooth.

In a video posted on the CtrlZ YouTube channel, the creator shows off a padded cover installed atop a custom base that's housing the TrackPoint hardware and Raspberry Pi.

The video shows rather smooth navigation in Windows 11 using FooTrack. There's no gaming footage available yet, but the creator has stated that they're putting together a full presentation video for imminent release.

Although the creator originally began working on FooTrack as an accessibility tool for gamers, one response to the original post brings up the possibility of using FooTrack while programming. It's a pain to take your hands off the keyboard, and being able to move a cursor with your feet indeed seems like a no-brainer.

If you have any thoughts or useful feedback, I urge you to jump into the Reddit discussion and let Gitman_87 know what you think.

I truly think the creator is onto something here, especially if it actually works as well as it appears to in these early videos.

Join us on Reddit at r/WindowsCentral to share your insights and discuss our latest news, reviews, and more.

On a few occasions, I'd walk into my living room and see my fiancée playing PC games with an Xbox controller in her left hand and a mouse in her right. Sure, it kind of worked, but gripping half a joypad just for a joystick and D-pad was hardly the best solution for her to play some World of Warcraft.

Some games handled it better than others, and some outright struggled with conflicts of controller inputs alongside a mouse, constantly switching between UI icons for each.

There must be a better way, but it'll probably cost a stack of cash, right? Well, maybe not. We're used to accessible controllers with price tags close to $100, but Microsoft seemed to have the perfect solution for only $30, so I bought it. Here's my review of the Xbox Adaptive Joystick.

The Xbox Adaptive Joystick is sold exclusively through the Microsoft Store for $29.99 in the United States and £24.99 in the United Kingdom. Shipping is free, and Microsoft offers "hassle-free returns" if you have any issues with the order. If you own a 3D printer, you can download free blueprints for adaptive thumbstick toppers, which attach to the analog stick for expanded accessibility.

It works as a standalone device on Xbox consoles and Windows PCs, but you can unlock even more accessible functionality if you pair it with the $99.99 Xbox Adaptive Controller. Alternatively, the Xbox Adaptive Joystick can connect to a standard Xbox wireless controller from Amazon or any other trusted retailer. We didn't necessarily need either, so my experience comes exclusively from my fiancée using it alongside a standard PC mouse.

So, why did I buy it?

My fiancée lives with a connective tissue disorder known as Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome (EDS), specifically a hypermobile type, which affects her joint strength and otherwise causes chronic pain (hEDS).

Because of this condition, most gaming experiences throughout her life were relegated to consoles, including various generations of Xbox, with controllers that proved more comfortable to use than a mouse and keyboard. It's not that she isn't able to use the latter, but pushing down on the W-A-S-D keys for movement tends to overextend her finger joints, so it's hardly worth the pain.

A traditional Xbox controller (Dream Vapor, her favorite color) sufficed for most games that support joypads, and even Valve's Steam Input system helped force compatibility on some that don't. However, it never felt quite as satisfying for PC titles that perform better with a mouse, particularly when she discovered the UI-laden World of Warcraft.

I had considered jury-rigging some similar-looking controllers from other consoles with community-made Windows 11 drivers, allowing her to still use a mouse in her right hand, but frustrations with Bluetooth and other software hiccups soon retired that notion. Now, Xbox claims to have a better option, but how does it fare in real-world testing?

The Xbox Adaptive Controller is as simple as it looks. It's a mix of an analog stick above a collection of four separate face buttons marked x1 to x4 (similar to A, B, X, Y) instead of a merged D-pad that you might expect. Around the back are two digital shoulder buttons marked x5 and x6, essentially giving you two bumpers but no pressure-sensitive analog triggers.

That means no fine control over acceleration or braking in driving games, and you can't assign any other in-game mechanics that work best with a gradual press. On the other hand, you still have the analog stick for fine inputs if you aren't using it for movement, and the whole point of accessible controllers is to have them function in any way that makes the experience easier for the user.

It isn't wireless, but Microsoft includes a braided, 9-foot cable with a USB-C connector alongside a 1/4 - 20” screw thread for various mounts on the Xbox Adaptive Joystick and a full-size USB-A on the other to connect with a PC, laptop, or Xbox console. Naturally, your usage will vary, but it's long enough to reach across our living room with some slack to spare. The rugged sleeving certainly inspires confidence in its longevity, but it's only seen a month of use so far.

Setup is straightforward, too. In fact, you can use it without ever installing the Xbox Accessories App that Microsoft recommends. By default, the Xbox Adaptive Joystick binds the analog stick to traditional right-analog movements, usually handling aiming or camera control, while pushing in the stick replicates a left-analog stick push. Otherwise, the x1 to x4 buttons are detected as A-B-X-Y while the rear x5 and x6 trigger buttons signal as LB and LT, respectively.

Of course, you can change these inputs to anything you would prefer by creating a new button profile in the Xbox Accessories App, and enter a test mode to confirm the Xbox Adaptive Joystick is responding with what you expect. Still, while you can skip the app altogether, I recommend using it to at least update the joystick's firmware before you start playing. Once you're happy, you could essentially close the app and never need to open it again.

The appeal is its versatility. You can set any of the buttons as a "shift" modifier, which changes how other buttons work. For example, if you set the rear x5 button up as a shift modifier, it could change how x1 to x4 work in games. So, while it technically has 7 physically detected buttons, the Xbox Adaptive Joystick can act as far more than that with a little extra effort in its setup.

To make a long story short, my fiancée is able to play a wealth of PC games that used to feel uncomfortable for extended periods when she used a keyboard and mouse.

If we run into issues with conflicting UI icons as games switch from detecting a controller to a mouse, we switch to Steam Input and fully emulate keyboard presses anyway — the game doesn't know any different, but the experience is smoother.

With the Xbox Adaptive Joystick in her left hand, bound to a variety of keys with and without the shift modifier, she has her right hand free for precise aiming with a mouse. This adaptive setup has allowed her to join a massive group of friends in complex World of Warcraft raids without feeling like she's restricted by a limited number of inputs.

Other, more cozy games still feel better with the analog stick over WASD keys, so it's an across-the-board improvement. It really has changed her life more than any of the best Xbox controllers did, and it only cost us $30. Sure, I'd love to see an analog trigger for fine inputs, but it's a small con weighed against a gigantic list of pros that doesn't detract from its score. Kudos to Xbox.

• Back to the top ⤴

Valve's PC gaming client Steam stands tall as the most popular launcher and storefront for PC players around the world with over 132 million monthly active users. In addition to its age — the very first iteration of Steam released all the way back in 2003 22 years ago — Steam's huge array of different features also gives it an edge over competing clients. And thanks to a new update, it's gotten some new ones.

News of the update's release came Thursday morning, with Valve announcing the arrival of support for showing accessibility options within games on the Steam store in a new blog post.

"Steam now surfaces information on games with accessibility features as we aim to make it easier for players to find games with the support they need," wrote the distributor. "This update comes after gathering valuable feedback from developers as well as players with disabilities, and over 5,000 applications have added details about their accessibility support (with more developers updating their games each day)."

This support includes two new features: the addition of filters in the Steam store that let you search for games with specific accessibility options, along with a new field on the right side of game listings where developers can list the accessibility options their game has.

The options you can search for include everything from color alternatives for colorblindness and adjustable text sizes to custom volume controls and special input options that only utilize keyboard, mouse, or touch, among several others. Notably, there are even a few that players may find useful even if they're not affected by a disability, such as a filter for games with adjustable difficulties or the ability to save your progress at any time.

One thing to keep in mind is that developers aren't required to add these new accessibility tags to their game listings, so if you see a title you'd like to play that doesn't have them, it's possible the game does have those options and that the studio that made it either forgot to show them or just hasn't gotten around to it yet. In cases like that, it's best to search around communities like Reddit or the game's own forums on Steam for answers.

All in all, this is an excellent update for gamers in need of accessibility options. An important part of accessibility is ensuring that the people who rely on it can find the best PC games that offer it easily, and Valve has just made that process incredibly simple on Steam.

Ubisoft just shared its Chroma tool with the public to improve the accessibility of video games. Chroma is a colorblind simulation tool that allows developers to optimize games for color blindness.

The open-source tool applies a filter over the game screen so developers can check how content will appear to people with different types of color blindness.

Ubisoft has worked on Chroma since 2021. Since its early days, Chroma has gained support for dual screens and hotkeys.

"Over the past few years, Chroma has proven to be a highly efficient tool for us at Ubisoft," said David Tisserand, Director of Accessibility.

"It has allowed us to assess the accessibility of our games for colorblind players much faster and more comprehensively than ever before. Because we believe accessibility is a journey, not a race, we're thrilled to share Chroma with the entire industry. We invite everyone to benefit from it, provide feedback, and contribute to its future development."

Chroma can simulate the three major types of color blindness: Protanopia, Deuteranopia and Tritanopia. With the tool, developers can test and optimize games to ensure content is accessible.

The GitHub page for Chroma outlines the main benefits of the tool:

• Color Simulation on single monitor. This solution works on top of [games] and can be maximized as per requirement.
• [Works] on all games. No dependency on any specific game or engine.
• High performance. Able to simulation live gameplay up to 60 FPS.
• Accurate results.
• Simulation of all type of color blind forms.
• Only available solution which capture screen live gameplay screen and simulate.
• Easy screenshot to log error.
• Easy and configurable UI.

"Chroma was created with a clear purpose---making color blindness accessibility a natural part of the creative and testing process," said Ubisoft's QC Product Manager Jawad Shakil.

Accessibility is crucial when it comes to gaming. Over the years we've seen several innovations that make gaming more accessible, such as the Xbox Adaptive Controller.

Earlier this year, team Xbox joined forces with EA, Google, Nintendo of America, Ubisoft, and other gaming companies by joining the Accessible Games Initiative.

It's been seven years since Microsoft unveiled the Xbox Adaptive Controller, but that doesn't mean that the company's commitment to accessibility has come to an end. Microsoft officially revealed its Xbox Adaptive Joystick in August 2024, but the newest controller for accessibility only just launched exclusively to the Microsoft Store today for $29.99 following the Microsoft Ability Summit's 15th annual celebration.

According to Microsoft, there are more than 429 million players worldwide who are affected by disabilities each with their own unique needs and preferences. To meet these needs, Xbox has partnered with various members of the Gaming and Disability community to focus development on controllers, gaming accessories, and even packaging that is practical and accessible to more players.

The Xbox Adaptive Joystick is designed with players who face limited mobility as the point of focus, but the singular, wired joystick is versatile enough to be incorporated into a variety of gaming setups. You do not need an Adaptive Controller to use the new Adaptive Joystick, as it can work right alongside a regular Xbox controller.

However, if you do have an Xbox Adaptive Controller, the new joystick can be paired along with it, as well as additional Xbox Adaptive accessories including the mouse, pen, and adaptive kit.

The Xbox Adaptive Joystick is compatible with adaptive setups on both PC and Xbox. The joystick's four face buttons, bumper, and trigger can all be customized using button remapping inside the Xbox Accessories app. The face buttons are white and marked x1, x2, x3, and x4 in black text. The controller's singular thumbstick is clickable and is black with a black frame and the Xbox logo

Microsoft has also previouslyreleased the files necessary to create 3D prints of thumbstick toppers to further improve accessibility. The 3D-printed toppers are compatible with the Xbox Adaptive Controller, as well as other Xbox controllers.

Accessibility meets AI

Along with announcing the availability of the Xbox Adaptive Joystick, Microsoft also took advantage of the annual Microsoft Ability Summit to inject some AI into it's accessibility efforts.

Microsoft teams and partners announced plans to integrate Microsoft's Azure AI features into various programs. Tobii Dynavox, for example, is integrating Microsoft Neural Voice to provide personalized options for individuals using assistive communication devices using eye gaze.

Meanwhile, Microsoft Teams' Sign Language View feature will use AI to improve detection of speakers who are using sign language during video calls. The application then features the Sign Language speaker to ensure they are visible.

Copilot, too, is also turning up more as an accessibility tool. Microsoft highlighted a study that claimed Copilot had helped upwards of 76% of employees with a range of neurodiversities to perform better at work. Microsoft further highlighted how Copilot tools could enhance communication, memory recall, and focus among employees. Even the Special Olympics has utilized Copilot as a training companion for coaches and athletes.

AI has, and continues to be, a hot-button topic among those in gaming, with high-profile voice actors speaking out against the use of AI and the lack of protections from the industry for human talent. However, some ethical uses of AI in gaming seems to be more widely accepted, including Call of Duty's partnership with Modulate to reduce disruptive chat behavior.

Microsoft's Chief Accessibility Officer Jenny Lay-Flurrie committed to furthering accessibility efforts from Microsoft, writing, "Accessibility makes our tools and technologies easier for everyone and accelerates innovation for the world."

• Indiana Jones and the Great Circle releases on December 9.
• The title from MachineGames has been well received by reviewers.
• Bethesda has put together a blog to detail the game's accessibility.

In the lead-up to the release of Indiana Jones and the Great Circle, publisher Bethesda and the team at MachineGames have shared details on the game's accessibility and approachability features.

If the reviews for Indiana Jones and the Great Circle are to be believed, everybody loves bashing some fascists with loaves of bread, shovels, and anything else they can get their hands on. For those of us with disabilities, taking on the iconic role of the whip-toting archeologist may seem difficult. Thankfully, the teams at Bethesda and MachineGames recognize that when we all punch Nazis, we all win.

In a post on the Bethesda Softworks blog, the team stated, "Indiana Jones and the Great Circle is designed to be an approachable and accessible game so that as many people as possible can experience the adventure as Indiana Jones."

Indiana Jones and accessibility menus

The blog post also shared details on what accessibility features players can expect to see in Indiana Jones and the Great Circle when it releases on December 9. The game's accessibility menu will feature a selection of quick options to find subsets of commonly used accessibility settings. This is similar to the menu navigation function found in Call of Duty's UI, which makes it easier to find accessibility options that often relate to one another together for streamlined adjustment.

Regarding the UI and Camera, Indiana Jones and the Great Circle players can expect to find adjustments for UI Font Size, Color Presets, and the UI Safe Zone. Players can also find camera adjustments for Field of View, Motion Blur, Camera Stabilization, and Screen Shake. Adjusting these settings can help players who experience discomfort from the fishbowl effect or motion sickness.

Color filters can be applied to make color cues in the game more visible, and those filters can be adjusted for brightness, contrast, intensity, and strength independently. A high contrast mode has also been added to highlight objects and characters. This can also be manually configured with adjustable strength and colors.

Subtitles are also included in accessibility settings, as well as closed captioning. Font size, visibility of the speaker's name, and subtitle backgrounds are adjustable.

For player input, the standards, standard accessibility features like adjustable vibration settings, thumb stick and trigger dead zones, and mouse and controller input sensitivity are all customizable. Players can set whether to toggle or hold the following actions:

• Toggle Sprint
• Toggle Aim Firearm
• Toggle Aim Photo camera
• Toggle Raise Lighter
• Toggle Prime Throw
• Toggle Boat Forward/Reverse
• Toggle Whip Free Climb

Indiana Jones and future accessibility updates

Bethesda and MachineGames' effort to include accessibility features in Indiana Jones and the Great Circle has led to some frustration in the accessibility community among players who face barriers because of low or no vision. The accessibility guide for Indiana Jones and the Great Circle does state that a screen reader will not be supported for menu or UI narration. The team has committed to working to implement a screen reader in a future update, but the absence of the feature at launch has led some in the accessibility community to voice frustration at the need for sighted assistance.

There has also been debate over whether certain features listed in the accessibility guide can be deemed "accessibility" related. Bethesda has listed features like pausing during cutscenes and gameplay, replayable chapters, and multiple save slots as accessibility features, while some have shrugged these off as just expected elements to find in a new AAA title. These gameplay features are more geared toward making Indiana Jones and The Great Circle more approachable.

Gameplay accessibility is often an intersectional challenge, and there can even be conflicting access needs where improvements made for one community can override and create a barrier for another. Approachability and accessibility, like in the case of pause menus and in-game journals, can really be seen as another intersection in the path to developing games that are viable for as many players as possible.

Bethesda has created a support form for players to provide feedback on Indiana Jones and the Great Circle's accessibility features, though it does require signing up and logging in to the website to fill out the form. Indiana Jones and the Great Circle launches on Xbox consoles and PC on December 9, and is available on day one to subscribers of select Xbox Game Pass plans. Indiana Jones and the Great Circle has already received its first major patch ahead of its wide-scale release. You can read Windows Central's review of Indiana Jones and the Great Circle, where our own Samuel Tolbert says of the game: "Indiana Jones and the Great Circle is an absolute blast worthy of the iconic adventurer's name."

What you need to know

• Electronic Arts (EA) has announced that it will be patenting 23 new technologies to make gaming more accessible for more people.
• The new technologies will be made available industry-wide free of royalties or licensing fees.
• Six of the 23 newly patented technologies are set to be released this year, including Intelligent Personalized Speech Recognition, the IRIS plug in for Unreal Engine 5, and Emotion Based Music Style Change Using Deep Learning.

With the International Day of People with Disabilities having just recently passed on December 3, some gaming corporations have shared a look into their recent efforts to remove barriers to make gaming more inclusive and accessible. Xbox recently shared its ongoing commitment by announcing new accessibility features and highlighting games with improved accessibility. Today, Electronic Arts (EA) is also announcing it is doing its part to improve gaming for more players by revealing 23 new patents are being added to its Patent Pledge.

In 2021, EA revealed an industry-first Patent Pledge for accessibility technologies. In this pledge, the company revealed it would hold the patent for a variety of tech that could be used to remove the barriers faced by people with a variety of accessibility obstacles. However, access to the technology patented by EA would be available industry-wide without royalty or licensing fees.

“We believe that games should be accessible to everyone and our industry-leading teams are always looking for new ways to make this a reality,” said Kerry Hopkins, SVP of Global Affairs at EA, “By making this technology available to others, we continue to work to enhance accessibility and inclusivity for players around the world by removing unintended barriers to access.”

In addition to the new patents, EA will also release a plugin for Unreal Engine 5 that utilizes IRIS, EA's photosensitivity analysis tech. The IRIS Plugin allows developers who are building their games in Unreal Engine 5 to analyze and identify frames in their games that could potentially impact players who experience photosensitivity.

Developers can use the IRIS plugin in real-time as their game is running to detect luminance flashes, red saturation flashes, and spatial patterns that can prove harmful to players with photosensitive epilepsy or otherwise cause discomfort to the viewer.

EA has also announced that six of the accessibility technologies that are part of the 23-patent roundup are expected to be available this year. This includes the following technologies:

• Intelligent Personalized Speech Recognition: Speech recognition system that improves the accuracy and efficiency of speech recognition by using personal phoneme mappings for each user, to better understand accent and other pronunciation variations such as those resulting from speech impairments.
• Generating Expressive Speech Audio From Text Data: A system that generates expressive speech audio from text data, and provides more control and personalization of the generated speech based on desired speaking style and speaker attributes.
• Generating Speech in the Voice of a Player of a Video Game : A system that can generate speech in the voice of a player, for their avatar, based on minimal sample speech data as compared with existing techniques.
• Voice Aging Using Machine Learning: A system that can age an original input voice to a desired target age without requiring additional voice samples.
• Emotion Based Music Style Change Using Deep Learning: A system that infers a player’s emotion while playing a video game and tunes the background soundtrack of the game to best fit that emotion.
• Dynamically Selecting Speech Functionality on Client Devices: A system that automatically detects and enables speech recognition technologies available on a gaming device.

EA's previously patented accessibility technologies also include Fonttik. Fonttik is a tool that identifies text in visual content and determines whether it meets specified size and contrast ratio criteria, making it easier to check that the text can be read by players with varying vision conditions. Apex Legends' "ping system" is another accessibility technology from EA that is widely used by an overwhelming number of players, it's also become a standard for team-based games. Even titles like Call of Duty have instituted similar ping systems as a result of its success.

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What you need to know

• The International Day of Persons with Disabilities (IDPD) is observed annually on December 3, with this year's theme focusing on amplifying leadership of persons with disabilities.
• Xbox has announced ahead of IDPD that the gaming company is furthering its commitments to the disabled gaming community.
• Xbox principal firmware engineer Stan Adermann shared a statement on their own lived experience with disability and how that catalyzed the development of new controller remapping features.
• The team also highlighted recent accessibility announcements in Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 and Diablo IV, plus a fundraiser to benefit CureDuchenne via World of Warcraft.

In recent years, accessibility has become a growing segment of gaming. As developers and manufacturers increase their awareness of gamers with disabilities in their communities, new ways to overcome the obstacles those community members face have become more prevalent.

In observation of International Day of Persons with Disabilities, Xbox has announced new improvements to button mapping, while also highlighting recent advances in improved accessibility for certain games.

Additionally, Xbox has added a cosmetic for World of Warcraft that benefits CureDechenne, a nonprofit leader in research and patient care innovation for individuals living with Duchenne muscular dystrophy.

Among the latest innovations in accessibility, the team at Xbox has announced new additions to button mapping options for the Xbox Adaptive Controller and Elite Series 2. Remapping gives players the freedom to change the default function of a specific key on their input device, be it a controller, mouse, or keyboard. This puts the power in the hands of the player to determine the best way to interact with games, allowing them to tackle gaming roadblocks like missing digits or limbs and joint fatigue.

“My own disability is mild Essential Tremor, along with pain in my hands from years of software development,” said Adermann. “Playing certain games on PC was aggravating my pain issues, so I dug in to see what could make the use of controllers on PC even easier for players with similar pain issues, or those who simply wanted more options that allow them to customize their gameplay. Mapping mouse movements to controllers and toggle holds were a start. Mapping joystick movements to buttons or keyboard keys was also critical.”

Players can find the following remapping options in the Xbox Accessories app for the Elite Series 2 controller and the Xbox Adaptive Controller:

• Toggle holds: Players who struggle to hold long button presses can opt toggle any button or port on the Xbox Adaptive Controller, Xbox Adaptive Joystick, or Series 2 Controller. This renders the button as "held" with just a single press until it is pressed again to release.
• Map stick movement to button presses: Directional movement (up, down, left, right) on the Elite Series 2 thumb sticks or external joysticks can be mapped instead to button or keyboard presses.
• Map mouse inputs to controller: Mouse and keyboard inputs can now be mapped to thumb stick and joystick movement, giving players more control to use their controllers like keyboard and mouse inputs. This can be helpful not just in gaming scenarios but for general PC usage, as well.
• Map hat switch to alternate joystick: Some external joysticks feature hat switches, and those players can now map the hat switch to operate as the opposite stick when attached to the Xbox Adaptive controller.

In-game accessibility updates

While systemwide accessibility options are quite beneficial, game developers are also making efforts to implement innovative and intuitive measures for improved accessibility at the individual game level. Xbox's commitment to accessibility can be seen in recent updates for Diablo IV and Call of Duty: Black Ops 6. An update in October introduced new accessibility features for Diablo IV that focused primarily on players with vision impairments.

Auto-Pins now add a map pin for the destination of selected quests, while Audio Navigation Assistance provides spatial audio pings that direct players toward their placed pin on the overworld map. These two features paired together allow players to navigate quest content while tracking their destination through audio navigation. A new Compass feature enables an on-screen HUD element that circles around the player, pointing them toward the place in-world pin.

Call of Duty has had an ongoing commitment to accessibility. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 implemented a host of accessibility features following its launch, and those have all carried over into Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 along with new improvements, including a high-contrast mode, updated settings menu, and asymmetrical hearing compensation. It may seem surprising that a highly-competitive first-person shooter like Black Ops 6 could be seen as accessible. However, the Call of Duty team's efforts to implement useful and functional accessibility settings have earned the franchise a nomination for Innovation in Accessibility at 2024's The Game Awards.

Many of these features start their life out as workarounds for obstacles encountered by players with disabilities. However, they go on to prove beneficial not just for those with disabilities but for all players in a broader sense. One such example is the wide use of subtitles. Rebellion, the studio behind titles like Sniper Elite, Zombie Army, and the upcoming Atomfall, has previously shared that subtitles were utilized by as much as 90% of its player base.

Gaming for a cause

Despite the popularity of accessibility features, Xbox's engineering teams notably had an uphill battle with getting the Adaptive Controller into the hands of players due to the potential for a negative return on investment. Microsoft and Team Xbox committed to the product, anyway, and have further invested in advancing accessibility across gaming.

Team Xbox has also invited players to get involved in supporting accessible gameplay by adding a new companion to World of Warcraft — the proceeds from which will go to support CureDuchenne.

CureDuchenne is a global nonprofit leader in research, patient care, and innovation for improving and extending the lives of individuals with Duchenne muscular dystrophy, a progressive neuromuscular disease that affected the life of Norwegian WoW player Mats "Ibelin" Steen. Netflix has recently released a documentary, "The Remarkable Life of Ibelin," centering around Steen's involvement in a World of Warcraft guild. The film is made up of retrospectives from his guild members and family, alongside excerpts from Steen's blog.

The Reven pack for World of Warcraft features a fox companion ("Reven," meaning "the fox" in Norwegian) and is available for Modern and Classic World of Warcraft.

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What you need to know

• Microsoft released Windows 11 Build 27749 to Insiders in the Canary Channel.
• The update adds a new shortcut that lets you copy the most recent thing Narrator said.
• Microsoft also added a feature that allows Narrator to auto-read contents in the new Outlook app, which is similar to what was supported in the old Outlook app.

Windows Insiders in the Canary Channel have a new build to install that makes Windows 11 more accessible. Windows 11 Build 27749, which shipped this week, includes a pair of new narrator features. You can install the latest Canary Channel build of Windows 11 through the Windows 11 Settings app if you're already in that Insider ring. Microsoft does not plan to release an SDK for this build or any 27xxx series build, at least for now.

A new shortcut in Windows 11 allows you to copy the last thing spoken by Narrator by pressing the Narrator key + control + x. That shortcut is similar to the one that repeats the last phrase spoken by Narrator (Narrator key + X), so it should be easy to remember.

Narrator can also auto-read contents in the new Outlook app. Narrator already supports that feature within Outlook classic. The new Outlook is a controversial app due to it being a web app. Our Senior Editor explained why he hates the new Outlook earlier this year. The core issues of the new Outlook are still there but at least Narrator can auto-read emails in it now.

Microsoft outlined all the changes, improvements, and fixes in the build in a blog post.

Windows 11 Build 27749: Changes and Improvements

Narrator

• We have added a new shortcut “Narrator key + control + X” to copy what Narrator last spoke to clipboard. It follows the pattern of using “Narrator key + X” which repeats the last spoken phrase out loud and is a good way to memorize similar shortcuts. You can use these shortcuts to review and copy what Narrator spoke, useful in cases you want to quickly copy some content or descriptions or codes/numbers for use.
• Narrator will now auto-read contents of a mail in the new Outlook app similar to behavior in Outlook classic.

Windows 11 Build 27749: Fixes

File Explorer

• Fixed an issue which was causing the items in the navigation pane to become very spread out (with unexpected padding between each item) for some people.
• Fixed an underlying issue which was causing RAW images taken in portrait mode to unexpectedly display in landscape mode thumbnails.

Taskbar & System Tray

• Made a change so you will now see a search box if the taskbar auto-hides when the setting for search on the taskbar is set to “Search box” (rather than an icon).

Input

• Updated the mouse option “Show location of pointer when I press the CTRL key”, so that the circles displayed are now DPI-aware, and aren’t really small on high DPI monitors.

Narrator

• We have addressed a performance issue where Narrator would slow down after 15 minutes of continuous use with a single application. If you continue to experience any performance delays, do report using Feedback Hub.
• Fixed an issue where Narrator would add an additional announcement “contains style” whenever its focus is on text that has styling attributes such as bullets, numbers across applications such as Microsoft Edge, Teams, Outlook, etc.
• Fixed an issue where few dialogs in Narrator were not adopting the 200% text scaling setting in Windows.

Task Manager

• Fixed an issue causing Task Manager to show a 0 count for apps and processes.

Audio

• Fixed an underlying issue that could lead to the audio on certain audio devices unexpectedly going to 100% on boot or after sleep.
• Fixed a blank entry in Settings > Privacy, which was crashing Settings if you clicked it.

Other

• Mitigated an issue resulting in Git not working for Insiders with Arm PCs in the previous flight.
• Fixed an issue causing some insiders to see a bugcheck with KERNEL_MODE_HEAP_CORRUPTION in the previous flight.
• Fixed an underlying issue which could potentially lead to not being able to join a domain.
• Fixed an issue where DirectAccess wasn’t working and might stay stuck in a connecting state.

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What you need to know

• Call of Duty: Black Ops 6, developed by Treyarch Studios and published by Activision, is set to launch on October 25.
• In a blog post, the Call of Duty team shared details on new accessibility features coming to Call of Duty: Black Ops 6.
• The new accessibility features include intelligent movements, high contrast visuals, and arachnophobia settings.

When it comes to Call of Duty, it may not be people's go-to for an accessible game. However, the franchise—known for high-octane and competitive gameplay—has been and continues to be committed to accessibility. Activision reports that the accessibility settings menu is accessed by nearly half of the game's player base. The Call of Duty team shared a new blog post ahead of the release of Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 that detailed the accessibility features players can expect to find in the latest title on launch.

Black Ops 6 will be the first Call of Duty title to introduce Asymmetrical Hearing Compensation settings, an option that allows players with asymmetrical hearing loss to create a custom audio profile with unique settings for each ear. This feature can be further improved on with the existing audio settings, which were detailed in a recent announcement about Black Ops 6's audio improvements. This includes the option to reduce the tinnitus sound and to adjust the audio from Concussion and Flash grenades.

High Contrast Mode, which was previously introduced in Modern Warfare 3's accessibility settings, has been improved for Black Ops 6 and expanded to Zombies mode in addition to Black Ops 6's campaign. The mode's settings will now allow players to customize the color outlines of allies and enemies alike, which will improve accessibility to users who need High Contrast Mode but may also be impacted by color blindness or other vision impairments. A new "Dark Background" setting has also been introduced.

While there's ample excitement around Call of Duty: Black Ops 6's new Omnimovement, which provides players the ability to slide or dive in any direction, there is a noticeable learning curve to using it. To help, Black Ops 6 has introduced Intelligent Movement, a new series of settings that allows players to customize four elements of Operator movement. This includes Sprint Assist, Mantle Assist, Crouch Assist, and Corner Slice. With new Intelligent Movement settings, players can reduce required inputs, which is ideal for minimizing fatigue and pain for those with physical limitations that may be aggravated by repeated button presses. Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 is the first in the franchise to allow players to customize the game's HUD Settings with a variety of layout presets. Players can further customize their HUD with color adjustment options, reducing visual clutter and improving the visibility of important elements.

Black Ops 6's Zombies mode is also getting some mode-specific accessibility features this year. Arachnophobia Settings have also been introduced to minimize the spider-like appearance of Black Ops 6's new Zombies variant. Players in Solo matches will also be able to Pause and Save while in Zombies, as well as load into a previous game with full health.

Players who utilize the Xbox Adaptive Controller or the Sony Access Controller will be able to utilize their devices in Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 immediately at launch. Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 launches on October 5, with players gaining access at midnight for those in the Eastern Time Zone. If you're trying to pass the time, we have 7 tips on what to do while you wait for Black Ops 6 to launch.

Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 releases October 25 (at midnight for the East Coast. It's not that much longer, guys. C'mon!) on Xbox, PlayStation, and PC via Steam, Battle.net, and the Microsoft Store. Black Ops 6 will also be available on select Xbox Game Pass plans and via cloud streaming from NVIDIA GeForce NOW and Xbox Cloud Gaming. Today is the final day to preorder and receive preorder benefits.

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What you need to know

• Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 features a new Omnimovement system that speeds up gameplay.
• The game also includes several accessibility features, such as intelligent movement, which reduces the number of inputs needed to perform certain maneuvers.
• Our Cole Martin spoke with the team behind Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 about Omnimovement, intelligent movement, and how the title refreshes the popular franchise.

Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 provides a fresh start for one of the world's most popular gaming franchises. The game builds on years of Call of Duty titles and infuses new concepts and ideas shaped by feedback. The game feels faster than other entries in the franchise, and its Omnimovement system looks like it will have a major effect on the skill gap within the game. But Omnimovement is only part of the puzzle. Expanded accessibility features welcome more players to Call of Duty.

"It may sound shocking, but Call of Duty is one of the most accessible AAA titles I have ever played," shared Cole Martin, our Call of Duty expert in an interview with Treyarch Studios. Martin also got to play the open beta of Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 during Call of Duty: Next.

Martin struggles with lower motor function and suffers from fatigue and joint pain. Competitive shooters require input parity, which is a challenge due to them having cross-play between console and PC. It is also important to ensure accessibility regardless of platform. Modern Warfare 3 introduced "Quick Accessibility Settings" and Black Ops 6 improves accessibility further.

Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 introduces intelligent movement, which includes a series of settings that can automate certain in-game actions. The options are adjustable to meet player preference and can greatly reduce the number of inputs needed to perform certain maneuvers. Automatic tactical sprint, crouch assist, and automatic mantle are among the movements that can be customized.

“It’s just like dialing in a car,” said Treyarch's director of production Yale Miller. “There’s the fastest way to do it, and then there’s the way that’s fastest for you.”

The new accessibility features should broaden the player base of the highly anticipated title that launches next month.

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Human mythology is at the core of one of this year's biggest strategy game launches, and the team behind it is working to make the game more accessible than ever before.

Age of Mythology: Retold is on the way, and ahead of the game's arrival, I had the chance to speak with director of production Earnest Yuen and designer Kristen Pirillo about the work that developer World's Edge and its partner studios have put into remaking Age of Mythology for modern gaming hardware, including making the game more accessible and taking advantage of the graphics capabilities of the latest gaming PCs and Xbox Series X|S consoles. 

This interview was edited for grammar and clarity.

Remaking a classic

The original Age of Mythology was developed by the now-defunct Ensemble Studios. Launching in 2002, it built on a number of ideas in the Age of Empires franchise by introducing God Powers, monsters, and heroes for players to command. In crafting Age of Mythology: Retold, the developers have worked to overcome the limitations the original game faced due to the hardware available at the time. One of the big calls made was to allow God Powers to be reused multiple times, instead of being the one-off abilities they are in the original game. 

"When we approached this design, there was this thought in the back of our heads ‘Well now that we’re in the 2020s, what can we do?’ I mean, right off the bat, one of the big ones was reusable God Powers, because what could be cooler than having a multiplayer match where multiple God Powers are going off?" says Pirillo, adding that, "Something we saw is oftentimes in matches, because God Powers were single-use, they sometimes might not get used at all because you were saving it in the bank trying to find that perfect moment that may never come."

Pirillo notes that players would often abandon using myth units in the endgame of big matches, so the team worked to rebalance the Favor and Population caps in order to emphasize the mythological aspect of the game instead of having it feel like just another Age of Empires title.

“It was a lot of work that we needed to recreate and modernize for the current hardware,” Yuen says, praising the original team at Ensemble while pointing out that setting off multiple God Powers with multiple Titans on the screen simply wouldn’t have been possible with the technology available over 20 years ago.

Naturally, a lot of upgrades have also been pushed across the graphics of the game, allowing the team to push the visual fidelity that's possible in a strategy game.

“It’s like, we can push it further now because we have this incredible team of artists. When we’re making our monsters, we’ve gotta make them more monster-y. When we’re making our heroes, we gotta make them more hero-y," says Pirillo. “How can we make these things feel mythical and larger than life?”

Other, less flashy changes came in balancing. According to the developers, the Norse needed a particular level of restructuring to make them less off-putting to new players, as the data showed many players would try the Norse faction for the first time and then never bother again.

“There were a lot of philosophical questions of ‘How much does this fit? Where is a good medium?' Age of Mythology is more complicated [than Age of Empires] with the types of units and the types of damage that they can deal," explains Pirillo. "There are a lot more things that break the triangle." 

Balancing will naturally continue post-launch, and the team valued player feedback from the beta session held earlier in the year. Yuen notes that "nothing was truly surprising" but that the beta weekend helped the team figure out what needed to be prioritized in the lead-up to launch.

“We all love the original games. So the team did not want to change things for change's sake,” Yuen says.

“There is a lot of complexity there, so I think for design the question is, where’s the sweet spot? Because we could go in and change everything. If this game was created from scratch now, how far would it go in terms of mythology and balance? It’s been a philosophical exercise,” says Pirillo. “It’s involved a lot of play testing.”

“The thing with World’s Edge and its dev partners is that so many of us are hardcore fans, we have a deep respect for the source and we’re very close to the project. So as we’re nearing the end of it, [with] each of us in our own mind, it can be hard to prioritize because we are so close to it. 

With all of the big changes and improvements, I asked what their favorite God Powers are. 

“I’m Meteor all the way,” says Yuen, praising the physics system the teams have created. For Pirillo, it's the Hades Sentinels, "...because then I can be mentally lazy and I don’t have to worry as much about defenses."

"Also – and this is very silly — I love the sound effect, the hum when they pop up," she says.

Adapting for accessibility

Age of Mythology: Retold presents two huge firsts for World's Edge. It's the first game the studio and its partners are shipping simultaneously on Xbox Series X|S consoles as well as PC, but it's also going to include controller support on PC from day one. Yuen says this is because Retold is benefitting from all the work that has come before across the Age of Empires: Definitive Edition launches and bringing two games to Xbox in 2023 while supporting controllers.

“We have learned from the Xbox versions of Age of Empires 2 and 4. Age of Empires 2 especially was really ‘How do we make it feel like a console game?’ We know new players are going to come in on the Xbox side, they may have never played an RTS before, we want them to play the game and think ‘Oh, this makes sense,’” Yuen says, explaining that the team went through multiple iterations of controller support while trying to figure it out.

At one point, they attempted to directly map the mouse to the stick with no other alterations. It did work, just not well, so the team scrapped that approach and ended up with the version that's in Age of Empires 2: Definitive Edition on Xbox. This approach was then iterated on for Age of Empires 4, and then even further than that for the version that will ship in Age of Mythology: Retold.

“From those two, we have noticed that the features we added like the Villager Priority System don’t just help console players feel at home. You actually help new players start playing an RTS. It lowered the cognitive load, it made it easier for people to concentrate on what they want to concentrate on, like the battles, it helps lighten the load on some of the economic management, but it doesn’t take away your strategy, right?" Yuen says. "So we want that to be available in Retold on both sides day one.”

“Age of Mythology: Retold is going to be the most approachable game we have ever built. We want to make it really easy for people to start playing, but we also have the other end of the spectrum, we have aspiration that the game is going to be balanced and cool enough to become an Esport,” he adds, noting that they're really excited about its inclusion in the upcoming annual Wololo tournament later in the year.

I asked how the team is able to balance working with so many external partners on so many different games and DLC packs. According to Yuen, that's part of how the studio has been set up. 

“World’s Edge is really like a hub where we manage the IP to make sure the timeline works. We work with different partners so that they can concentrate on what they’re really good at, because not everybody is good at everything, but they are excellent at something they do," he says. "There’s a lot of complicated coordination that we need to do, but we have been doing it for five years now and it has been working really well for us and that helped us scale further and further to grow the franchise even more in the future."

Looking to the future

I took the time to ask Yuen and Pirillo about what players can expect from the New Gods Pack that's included in the Premium Edition of Age of Mythology: Retold. While they can't share much right now, they do confirm that it's adding Freyr as a new Major God for the Norse faction. 

“We want to offer players essentially new strategies or new ways to play existing civilizations,” Pirillo says, adding that there will be more details shared before the game launches. 

Outside of remaining temporarily tight-lipped about what the Vanir brother of Freya will bring to the Norse, both Yuen and Pirillo are excited to see people take the game on, whether they've played the original or not.

“I want people of all different strategy experiences to enjoy it. To me, this golden situation in my head is that someone who played this game as a kid is able to go to their gaming group in Discord and get everybody into the game, and they’re all just able to meet each other where they’re at with the balance changes we’ve made, the features we’ve added, and everybody finds a way to have fun," Pirillo says. “Mythology is fun. Monsters are fun. Heroes are fun. That’s what this is really all about."

A short while to go

We're only a few weeks away from the game's launch, and I'm excited to see how everything shakes out. This was already one of the my most anticipated games of the year after I went hands-on with it after the Xbox Games Showcase, and it's clear to me the team is working hard to get this right. 

Age of Mythology: Retold is scheduled to launch on Xbox Series X|S and Windows PC on Sep. 4, 2024, as well as being included in Xbox Game Pass Ultimate and PC Game Pass. Premium Edition buyers buyers will be able to start playing on Aug. 28, 2024.

What you need to know

• Microsoft has announced the new Proteus accessibility-focused gaming controller for Xbox. 
• Designed alongside the team at Byowave, the Proteus Controller can be customized with special parts that snap together, allowing an extremely high range of customization for players who have accessibility challenges. 
• The Proteus Controller is available for preorder now at $255 for early orders, though the price will go up to $299 after a while.
• Xbox is also working to improve accessibility in a number of games from different teams, including Candy Crush and Diablo 4.

There's a new accessibility-focused Xbox controller on the way. 

Microsoft shared details on the Proteus Controller on Wednesday via Xbox Wire, revealing the design that's been worked on by Xbox alongside the team at Byowave. The Proteus Controller is officially Designed for Xbox, and features a special modular design, allowing players to swap different components in and out to best suit their particular needs.

Per Byowave, the Proteus Controller supports over 100 million part and LED configurations, and includes the following:

• 2 Power Cubes
• 1 Charge Spacer
• 2 Analog Cubes (left and right)
• 1 Half Cube
• 2 Edge Spacers
• 1 Xbox Peripheral
• 1 XYAB Peripheral
• 1 D-pad Peripheral
• 2 Trigger Peripherals (left and right)
• 2 One Button Peripherals
• 1 Mini Analog Stick
• 9 Socket Covers
• 1 Plug Cover
• 1 Plug Mount Cover

The Proteus Controller is available for preorder at $299, though early VIP orders can grab the controller a discounted price of $255. The controllers are currently estimated to ship at some point in Fall 2024.

What else is Xbox doing to increase accessibility in gaming?

In addition to this new controller, Microsoft is working on an update for the Xbox Adaptive Controller which will allow this existing accessibility-focused controller to be compatible with more accessories when connected through USB ports. There's no exact for when the update will be available, but Microsoft indicates it'll be coming to Xbox Insiders in a few weeks, with a general release some months later.

Outside of this update, players can expect some big accessibility-focused updates coming to a number of Xbox franchises, including under the recently-acquired Activision Blizzard. The Diablo 4 team is releasing a video on May 16 that'll be discussing how the developers are working to improve accessibility.

Meanwhile, Candy Crush Soda Saga is getting a new accessibility menu, allowing players to easily adjust bass and high frequencies, sound effects, controls, and much more. 

Analysis: Some great stuff to expand the Xbox accessibility suite

I've appreciated the Xbox team's focus on accessibility for a long time, and I'm really glad to see that work continuing here. The Proteus Controller is certainly pricey, but the modular design means it should be incredibly useful for a wide range of players who struggle with different physical limitations. 

More game updates to improve accessibility is also great to see. Broadly speaking, games have gotten better about this over time. Going back even just a decade, an accessibility menu wouldn't have been a thing. Now it's (quite rightfully) expected. Perfection should not be the enemy of progress, and I hope to see this work continuing at the same pace for a long, long time.

Lately, it seems there are no shortages of tragedies, controversies, and debacles in the video games industry, not to mention the rest of the world. Each week the ever-online community finds a new hill to set fire to and die on, and each week companies around the globe find new ways to squeeze more profit and less creativity out of the games we're supposed to love. My time with GDC 2024 showed me developers aren't sitting idly by, though; there was a lot of righteous frustration, and a lot of push for positive changes.

Accessibility and inclusivity are both becoming increasingly important for welcoming more players to the community, especially among indie games. Representation for developers in all corners of the globe is giving rise to brand-new gaming experiences we otherwise would've missed out on. The rising environmental cost of the video games industry is finally being combatted by innovation and awareness. Developers are rightfully pushing back against unsustainable, profit-driven trends among mega-corporations and publishers that are actively harming the quality and fun of games.

There's no simple way to solve any of the issues plaguing this industry, but GDC restored a little bit of my hope that the future can still be positive, even as 2024 continues to be hit with mass layoff after mass layoff. I wanted to take a little time to cover some of the biggest topics I saw at GDC, and why I hope they become the themes for video game development in 2024.

Travel to and from and accommodation at GDC 2024 in San Francisco, California was paid for by Windows Central.

Accessible game design lets more people play

I'm not shy about accessibility; I take every chance I get to advocate for superior accessibility and approachability in all video games, and I celebrate every milestone and achievement in the space. I'm usually the one to highlight Xbox's work in video games accessibility, for example, as I'm a huge fan of the company's effort in recent years. GDC 2024 was a fantastic resource for developers looking to improve their games' accessibility.

My first day at GDC, for example, I attended a summit by Matt MacLean from Generic Lake Monster called “Making Accessible Games with Indie Resources.” You can actually find the summit at the GDC 2024 Vault if you're interested in checking it out (in fact, here are some other accessibility-focused summits in the vault). During the summit, MacLean talked about how indie developers can use their limited resources to make accessible and approachable games, which begins with early intent and reasonable goals.

Before that, though, it's worth stressing that making an accessible and approachable game is always worth it in the long run, as it directly leads to more players being able to enjoy your games and results in less stressful and more streamlined player testing during development. There are millions of players that rely on accessibility options or game design elements to enjoy video games, and simple directions during game development can open your game to many of those players.

MacLean's summit reflected a lot of my own thoughts on accessibility in games. He discussed how thinking about accessibility early makes the entire game development process easier, but starting at any point is better than not at all. He talked about how accessibility isn't just a bunch of technical options and settings, but it's also approachable game design that includes the interface, story pacing, gameplay and controls, and even content opt-outs.

As long as you're helping players stay in the flow, a few reasonable accessibility goals can dramatically improve your game. It's impossible to account for every possible pain point that may prevent a player from enjoying your game, but intentional, approachable game design is the first step to great accessibility. You can decide on boundaries for what you believe is possible for your team and game, and then work on achievable and stretch accessibility goals. Test with players, look for easy wins like large fonts and remappable controls, and always be thinking about whether a potential obstacle in your game is really necessary for your vision.

It was a great summit, and he also shared some helpful resources for developers, including the Game Accessibility Guidelines and AbleGamers. I'll also go ahead and add Xbox's accessibility guidelines and development resources there, which can be useful even if you're not developing for Xbox platforms. It wasn't just MacLean's summit, either (or even the other accessibility summits I shared above); GDC 2024's Expo Hall was filled with companies toting new development tools and resources that can help take strain off developers and aid with improving accessibility.

I love to see it, and I'm already seeing titles like Botany Manor push accessibility for indie games. Hopefully, what I saw at GDC 2024 will lead to even more accessible and approachable games in the future.

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Representing players and developers matters

People who have never once struggled to find representation in media love to throw a fit about it as a topic (mostly online), but it's important to many millions of people all around the world. In the video games industry, it's not just important to be inclusive of players, but also of developers. GDC 2024 focused on the latter because finding and supporting diverse developers leads to naturally diverse stories and games.

GDC brings developers from across the globe to one place; I met people from South Africa, Canada, all over Europe, and more. There, developers can gather resources and knowledge to help them build better games and bring those games to more players. In fact, I actually spoke to the lead of Xbox's new Global Expansion team about seeking out developers in underrepresented or underserved markets. More diverse talent leads to more creative and diverse games, and that's good for everyone.

Some of the best Xbox games come from these places, like the winner of the Best Independent Game at IGF 2024, Venba, which my colleague Brendan Lowry played and described as one of 2023's hidden gems. There are countless breathtaking, world-shaking, heart-wrenching, or simply wonderful stories out there that often don't get the chance to shine in the spotlight under the unbearable weight of industry goliaths like Call of Duty and Fortnite. Pulling from as many cultures and histories as possible only makes gaming better, and finding those passionate creators only makes games more fun.

NVIDIA's Audio2Face tech was used for the English facial animations in this game.

Of course, player representation matters, too. That doesn't just mean telling diverse stories or creating diverse characters, it also means meeting players where they are. It's accessibility and inclusivity, but it's also localization. Many players may miss out on games they'd otherwise love because it's not available in a language they speak, and modern tools and technology make it easier than ever to cater to those players.

Expert translation and localization done by hand and supported by local voice actors is obviously the ideal, but many smaller developers simply don't have the resources to invest in that level of localization. However, aside from the internet making it simpler to find people to help with translations (and the bevy of amazing members of the community more than happy to bring more games into their language), AI can also be a potent tool.

I wrote extensively about AI in gaming at GDC 2024, and a part of it explores how AI can assist with localization. The above video shows World of Jade Dynasty, an MMORPG that uses NVIDIA's AI tools to animate character faces when speaking in other languages — tailored animations are more believable, but having accurate facial animations for each localized language is better than none. AI in gaming is also becoming more adept at translating text to audio, so that only subtitles need to be fully localized — proper voice acting will always be more impactful and emotional, but having any audible dialogue in your own language is better than none.

That being said, a lot of this is specifically for independent developers. No so-called "AAA" game studio should be looking to cut corners (and quality) in order to save cash. Localization is just as important as accessibility and inclusivity, and deserves as much investment as possible.

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Environmental sustainability to combat AI

UnearthU isn't a part of Solar Server, but it is a game made by its creator, Kara Stone, using digitally recycled materials.

The earth is important to me. After all, I live here (and so do you, I assume). Environmental consciousness is becoming increasingly important as the effects of climate change evolve and humans as a whole create more waste, and the video games industry is a huge part of that waste. Many don't think about sustainability when it comes to video games or how it can be improved, but I did hear it discussed at GDC.

One of the most interesting summits I attended included a speaker named Kara Stone, who talked about her personal initiative, Solar Server Games. It's a solar-powered server running on Stone's balcony in Alberta, Canada, designed to host a series of smaller, low-carbon indie games with environmental themes. Stone built the server herself, and it's powered by a Raspberry Pi. It's a fascinating project that puts environmental responsibility on game creators rather than the player, and sacrifices the expectation of constant convenience for sustainability, as the server may become unavailable depending on weather conditions.

Solar Server won't make much difference in the long run, but it's one of many initiatives to educate people and raise awareness about sustainability in video games. Video game development, console and other hardware production and manufacturing, and online services like multiplayer servers and game streaming all contribute to the sustainability nightmare that is this industry. I know I recently discussed some of the potential benefits of AI in gaming, but you can't speak about the pros without acknowledging the drastic impact on the environment AI can have.

Fortunately, many companies are actively investing in sustainability and even pursuing carbon neutrality or carbon negativity, with Microsoft and Xbox being a prime example. Microsoft is manufacturing its own ARM server CPUs for its AI and cloud divisions, which are more efficient than traditional server blades, and is also considering nuclear power to help run its AI endeavors. Xbox also worked with its studios to develop a sustainability tool kit for game developers to use, which helps identify potential energy inefficiencies in games.

Even Xbox consoles have changed over the years to be more sustainable. The Xbox Series X|S are carbon aware and have several options to improve power efficiency, for one. The latest Xbox consoles are more repairable than ever, too, making it easier for anyone to keep their console running for longer instead of replacing it. Even game preservation matters, as Xbox's continued backward compatibility efforts mean your console and all your games will last longer. Xbox even has an entire page dedicated to its sustainability investments.

Sadly, none of this will miraculously reverse the damage done to the environment. After all, capitalism and consumerism caused these problems, and a few eco-conscious companies aren't going to reverse the tide. Still, I'll take every iota of progress we can get in this area, and keep fighting for more. If you want to read a little more on the environmental impacts of video games, here's a great article by Charlie Fletcher at Earth.org, and another from late last year by David Lumb at CNET.

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Keeping the industry sustainable for devs

I'll conclude with the topic I saw discussed the most at GDC 2024: sustainability. No, not the sustainability I just covered, but sustainability for the industry itself. Ultimately, GDC is all about networking, where members of the industry can make new connections, seek job opportunities, and hone their skills to be more appealing to job recruiters. It makes sense that the area of the industry most under fire in 2024 would be a hot topic, so to speak.

Burnout, crunch, churn, profit-first game design, poor management, online harassment, and mass layoffs have resulted in a massive pool of talent struggling to maintain a place in the video games industry. Despite video games being as popular as ever, it seems harder than ever to actually find a way to make simply great video games. Creators seem to be sieged on all sides, and GDC was an opportunity to give voice to their struggles. In one way, it was literally about voice.

Yerba Buena Gardens, a beautiful park outside the Moscone Center where GDC is held, has historically been the site of a ton of social activity during the event. This year, it was the gathering place of dozens of developers literally and viscerally screaming their frustrations at an industry that doesn't seem to value them. I saw it myself, but I'm not able to capture the significance of this movement nearly to the same degree as this wonderful article by Giovanni Colantonio at Digital Trends.

“Let’s take a minute where we all stop pretending, and express just how it feels to be a game developer in 2024,” the announcement post for the event, dubbed GDScream, read. Developers are tired of being discarded like they're disposable because of management decisions out of their control, the unreasonable and irresponsible pursuit of ever-increasing profits, and a general unwillingness from companies to simply take care of their employees.

The Independent Games Festival and Game Developers Choice Awards are amazing events that celebrate the most impactful, beautiful, innovative, and creative video games of the year (often in stark comparison to The Game Awards). This year, it was also a platform for people to share their thoughts on the industry, including Larian Studios Swen Vincke. "I've been fighting publishers all my life, and I keep on seeing the same mistakes over and over, and it's always the quarterly profits."

The most prevalent issue afflicting the industry in 2024 is the amount of layoffs we've been seeing. Publishers, especially those who went on a hiring or acquisition spree during the pandemic, are hitting profit walls as a direct result of their impatient greed. This results in these companies unceremoniously laying off a ton of their talent and losing the institutional knowledge they've built up over time. In many cases, those companies have to begin hiring to refill many of those vacated roles in order to keep creating new games anyways.

Riot Games cut 530 staff, or 11% of its workforce. The Embracer Group is one of the most egregious examples, with studio closures like Saints Row developer Volition Studios, canceled games and layoffs like at Deus Ex developer Eidos Montreal, and much more. Microsoft also announced over 1,900 layoffs across Xbox, Bethesda, and Activision Blizzard, despite record profits from the division. This is just a small slice of the layoffs we've seen, and almost all are entirely driven by short-term profit or directly caused by overambitious greed.

In an interview with Game File and beautifully summarized by our siblings at PCGamer, Larian Studios' Director of Publishing Michael Douse said, "None of these companies are at risk of going bankrupt. They're just at risk of pissing off the shareholders... The function of a public company is to create growth for its shareholders... It's not to make a happy climate for the employees."

If you've noticed a trend of Larian Studios, most known now for the critically-acclaimed and award-winning Baldur's Gate 3, being a vocal opponent of the state of the industry, that's for good reason. The company is private rather than publicly traded, and so is not beholden to greedy shareholders chasing exponential growth. Despite this, Larian Studios has enjoyed immense success, and has cultivated a work culture centered around caring for its employees. It's the antithesis to the rest of the industry, and proof that companies can and should be doing better.

I could honestly speak on this topic for much longer, but I'll wrap it up here with a message to video game companies everywhere... Laying off your employees in endless talent-churning loops is not sustainable. Pushing crunch and driving burnout to meet aggressive deadlines is not sustainable. Creating profit-first instead of people-first games is not sustainable. Ignoring your developers in favor of short-sighted management and shareholder decisions is not sustainable. Wondrous things can be accomplished if you have faith in your talent and build games that are fun, engage and include the community, and are built with room for the developers to shine.

Take care of developers and all the amazing people responsible for actually designing, building, and releasing the games that make you money, because I promise that positivity translates into the games themselves and we notice. You want to make money? Slow down and invest carefully in your employees, and stop running studios like they're fast food joints.

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Making games better for everyone, everywhere

Every facet of life is endlessly complex, and the nuances only become more fractured the further down you look. It's like the coastline paradox — the smaller the units of measurement you use to define the length of a coast, the longer that coast will seemingly become. The video games industry is no exception. There are innumerable issues, conflicts, and controversies embroiling the industry, and there's no one blanket solution to fix them all or even begin trying. The more specific your answer, the more complications you'll discover.

At GDC 2024, I saw countless developers, speakers, press, and other industry members gather to discuss the current and future state of the video games industry, and the overall mood was a complicated combination of rightful frustration and cautious optimism. Making games more accessible and inclusive for players, getting better at representing and supporting developers and players all over the world, continuing investments in environmental sustainability for video games, and working on solving the myriad of capitalism-related problems afflicting developers were all subjects I saw discussed.

I'm hoping that, moving forward, these are the themes of video games in 2024. I'm so tired of hearing about mass layoffs or discovering the latest horror stories from ex-employees of this publisher or another. I'm also tired of scrolling past the newest, pointless and ill-informed controversy that has gotten a group of very vocal, persistently miserable people online up in arms. I just want to play amazing video games, celebrate those games with my fellow players, and support the developers behind them.

Here's hoping that every step forward from here is better than the last.

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What you need to know

• More than 40% of Call of Duty's players have customized Deadzone Inputs in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2. 
• New settings and visual representations have been added to Modern Warfare 3 to make it easier for players to adjust motor-related accessibility settings.
• High contrast settings and low motor strain resets are also being added to the accessibility menu.

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 is a fast-paced, blockbuster shooter with an intense PvP multiplayer element. The game requires rapid fire and precision inputs, and for many, it may not seem like a game that would include much in the way of accessibility features. However, accessibility settings have dramatically improved across Call of Duty titles in the last few releases. Today's update to Modern Warfare 3 adds even more accessibility to an already robust menu with more than 500 settings that players can customize. 

In my review of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3, I covered the game's accessibility features, which include more than 500 settings. These include familiar options like turning on or off motion blur, depth of field settings, and controller stick sensitivity. One of the new changes that came to MW3 at launch was including a quick accessibility menu that can be accessed with a simple button press. Today's update adds new features to that accessibility menu by tagging the settings so that players can quickly identify and even filter settings that can affect their gameplay. 

Deadzones and low motor strain presets

According to a press release from Activision, over 40% of Call of Duty's players customized Dead zone inputs in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2. To improve this setting for Modern Warfare 3, the team has added a visual representation of changes made in the Settings Menu to provide more feedback to players as they tweak their settings. 

Adjusting the dead zones in Call of Duty is a way many users who experience arthritis and other conditions that are exacerbated by motor strain can lessen the physical effort required to play MW3. To build upon this, the development team has created a new preset in the accessibility menu specifically for "Low Motor Strain." The Low Motor Strain preset can be toggled on or off, and when on, it reduces the number of button presses or holds required, as well as increases input sensitivity.

High contrast mode

A new high contrast setting has been introduced for players with vision impairments and color blindness. The mode adds a colored silhouette to allies and enemies, making it easier to distinguish between the two. The setting currently only affects campaign mode, however. While it is not currently active for multiplayer, a similar effect was active in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3's multiplayer Experimental Playlist for a short period. There are currently no plans for when or if this setting will be universal across all modes.

Activision reports that more than half of players had adjusted graphical accessibility settings in Modern Warfare 2, including motion blur, field of view, and camera movement. 

Why accessibility matters in Call of Duty

Regarding accessibility, far too often, the argument dissolves into whether games should have "easy" difficulty settings. While that argument is worth having in the spirit of a game's approachability, accessibility is about more than just making a game "easy"—it's about whether a game is even playable for some of its audience. 

I frequently write about Call of Duty here on Windows Central. I've been a franchise fan since Modern Warfare 2 (2009), way back on the Xbox 360, and I've put tens of thousands of hours into the game with my friends over the years. I am also disabled by rheumatoid arthritis, a disease that affects the joints in my hands and wrists (among others). Players typically think of settings like input sensitivity and dead zones in terms of how professional esports players use them for camera-breaking slide cancels or whatever the "movement kings" are doing for video clips these days. 

However, Those settings allow players like me to enjoy the game on a level playing field with others. The disease I live with causes joint swelling and damage in my fingers, and it's exacerbated by straining for everyday tasks. Even holding a controller is enough to cause a flare-up of pain. But with higher sensitivity and lower dead zones, I'm able to play without having to overexert myself and risk injury or a worsening of my existing symptoms. At least so far as Call of Duty is concerned, accessibility settings give me the freedom to be on the same playing field as everybody else even if it's only for a little while in a game. 

What you need to know

• Every month, Xbox releases a new ecosystem update with new features and improvements.
• The Xbox October Update for 2023 is now rolling out to all users, with two headlining changes.
• First, the keyboard mapping to controllers announced earlier this month is officially here.
• Xbox is also making it easier to edit game captures, by adding Xbox integration to Clipchamp.

It's a good day for Xbox players. Alan Wake 2 is just around the corner and is earning rave reviews as a masterpiece horror game, sure, but the Xbox ecosystem is also getting its monthly update today. The Xbox October Update, detailed on Xbox Wire, is rolling out now to players with two new features — one of which was announced earlier this month to significant interest.

So, let's just start with that feature! Xbox announced its latest batch of accessibility improvements and features earlier this month, and the most notable reveal then was the ability to map keyboard controls to your controller. Players with an Xbox Adaptive Controller or Xbox Elite Wireless Controller Series 2 can bind almost 90 individual keyboard keys to any of the controls or paddles, allowing them to play keyboard-only games entirely with a controller. This is a huge win for making games more accessible, and is available through the Xbox Accessories app on both Xbox and Windows PC.

Of course, it does mean you need a non-standard Xbox controller, as both the Adaptive Controller and Elite Series 2 controller feature additional controls. For players with limited mobility or other physical challenges, though, it could be more than worth the investment.

A little less exciting is integrating Xbox into Microsoft's Clipchamp video editor. Now, you'll be able to sign into your Xbox account in Clipchamp and access all of your game captures uploaded to the Xbox Network. From there, you can use the full suite of Clipchamp's video editing tools to trim, crop, and add effects, before sharing your finished creation with whoever you like.

Xbox is also updating the way it approaches your preferences to share diagnostic data. Now, the optional diagnostic data controls (which provide Xbox with valuable telemetry on your usage to help improve the experience), is account-based rather than device-based. In other words, you now have to set it once for it to apply to the entire Xbox ecosystem for your account.

Finally, Xbox is testing a new feature with a small subset of users. The experiment lets the lucky players head to their profile page in order to invite friends to parties or join games.

It's not the most exciting Xbox update, but any advancements in accessibility is a win in my book. You may not see the update on your console immediately, as Xbox likes to roll out new updates slowly to ensure there aren't any issues.

What you need to know

• Microsoft just released Windows 11 Preview Build 25977 to Insiders in the Canary Channel.
• The update adds Bluetooth LE Audio support for hearing aids.
• Windows Location controls have been improved as well in the latest build.

Microsoft shipped Windows 11 Build 25977 to Insiders in the Canary Channel today. The update brings several improvements, including support for Bluetooth Low Energy Audio when using hearing aids that support the standard. Those with supported hearing aids can now pair them to a Windows 11 PC directly and take calls, listen to music, and stream audio.

Microsoft has a long history of improving accessibility with both hardware and software. Just this week the company announced a big addition that lets you map certain Xbox controller buttons to keyboard keys.

The update to Build 25977 also adds controls for location settings on Windows 11. The improvements make controlling location access on your PC a bit more like on a smartphone, such as showing a new prompt the first time an app attempts to access your location. A prompt will also appear when an app tries to use your location unexpectedly, which is important for security. There's also an option to never let apps access your location.

What is Bluetooth LE Audio?

Bluetooth Low Energy Audio, also known as Bluetooth LE Audio, delivers high-quality audio at lower power. As a result, people should experience better calls, videos, and music when using supported devices. Bluetooth Low Energy Audio is supported on many devices running 13th Gen Intel CPUs, such as the Galaxy Book3.

Of course, you also need an accessory that supports Bluetooth LE Audio, such as the hearing aids mentioned by Microsoft in its blog post on Build 25977.

Windows 11 Build 25977: What's new

Improving accessibility with Bluetooth LE Audio

We’re excited to announce that Windows has taken a significant step forward in accessibility by supporting the use of hearing aids equipped with the latest Bluetooth® Low Energy Audio (LE Audio) technology. Customers who use these new hearing aids are now able to directly pair, stream audio, and take calls on their Windows PCs with LE Audio support.

This feature is available on Windows devices with our recently announced Bluetooth® LE Audio support, which will be a growing market of devices in the coming months. In upcoming flights, we will be introducing additional capabilities to the hearing aids experience on Windows, such as controlling audio presets directly within Windows settings. Stay tuned for more details about these new capabilities as they roll out.

Windows Location Improvements

We’re adding new controls to help you manage which apps have access to the list of Wi-Fi networks around you, which could be used to determine your location.  You can view and modify which apps can access the list of Wi-Fi networks by navigating to Settings > Privacy & security > Location.

To simplify the process of sharing your location with trusted apps, we have also added a new prompt that will appear the first time an app attempts to access your location or Wi-Fi information. This prompt will enable location services and allow the app to access your location, helping you complete tasks such as finding directions or checking the weather without navigating to Settings. Additionally, the prompt will notify when an app unexpectedly requests access to location services so that you can deny it. If you never want apps to access your location, you can turn off ‘Notify when apps request location’ on the Location Settings page to hide these prompts when location has been turned off.

Once you have granted permission, apps that use location or Wi-Fi information will now appear in Recent activity on the Location page, and the location icon will show in the taskbar while the app is in-use. This will help you better monitor when apps are using this information.

App developers can learn about changes to the API permissions and actions they can take to improve app experiences by reviewing https://aka.ms/WifiAccessChange

SMB over QUIC Client Access Control

Starting with this build (Build 25977), SMB over QUIC now supports additional access control options for clients. This improves the existing SMB over QUIC feature, which introduced an alternative to the TCP network transport, providing secure, reliable connectivity to edge file servers over untrusted networks like the Internet.

With this new option, administrators can restrict which clients can access SMB over QUIC servers. This option gives organizations additional SMB over QUIC connection protections but does not change the Windows authentication used to make the SMB connection or the end user experience.

This new feature requires both the Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 25977 as well as a Windows Server Insider Preview Build 25967 or higher running in a VM.

For more information on configuring SMB over QUIC client access control, review https://aka.ms/SmbOverQuicCAC.

Microsoft outlines all of the changes and improvements in the build in its blog post. There are some noteworthy changes, such as Xbox Game Bar only appearing as Game Bar in the Start menu.

What you need to know

• For years now, Xbox has been a vocal advocate for the advancement of accessibility in video games.
• On Tuesday, the company unveiled a new range of accessibility-focused updates for gamers.
• Improvements to the Xbox Store and Xbox Game Bar are great, as is a new guideline for event planners to make their events more accessible.
• The headlining feature, however, is the upcoming ability to remap buttons on the Xbox Adaptive Controller or Xbox Elite Wireless Controller Series 2 to any of almost 90 keyboard keys.

The importance of accessibility in all walks of life cannot be understated, allowing people to live normal lives regardless of their personal challenges or disabilities. This is just as true for video games, and few companies have been as vocal about its investments in the area than Microsoft Xbox. On Tuesday, the company revealed more of its efforts to improve accessibility for gamers.

Xbox's new accessibility updates continue the company's annual efforts to celebrate the Gaming & Disability Community, and follow Xbox's last major accessibility update earlier this year. There's quite a bit of information here, but I'm going to focus on the five major updates to accessibility on Xbox. For one, a new way for players to enjoy the best PC games with the accessories that suit them best, even if the game in question doesn't support them.

• Controller rebinding to keyboard keys. Soon, players will be able to rebind any of the buttons on their Xbox Adaptive Controller or Xbox Elite Wireless Controller Series 2 to any of almost 90 individual keyboard keys.
  • The feature will be available through the Xbox Accessories app on Xbox and Windows PC
  • It's currently available to Xbox Insiders and Xbox Accessibility Insiders, but will be rolling out to all players in the coming months
  • Players will be able to customize their controller to play mouse-and-keyboard only games with their controller
  • All controller buttons can be rebound to any keyboard key, or to a combination of keyboard keys
• New "Accessibility in Games" Xbox Store channel. Xbox has been making huge strides toward making accessible games more discoverable on the Xbox Store, and this is another step forward in that endeavor. A new "Accessibility in Games" channel on Xbox.com and the Xbox Store will highlight all Xbox games with accessibility tags.
  • This channel also supports Xbox's advanced filtering options, which let players filter out accessibility tags for Gameplay, Audio, Visual, and Input features
• Contactless Xbox Wireless Controller pairing. Now, players no longer need to physically get up and manually put their Xbox into pairing mode in order to connect an Xbox Wireless Controller. Using an existing Xbox Wireless Controller or Xbox media remote with the Xbox Accessories app, players can put their Xbox into pairing mode remotely and follow the on-screen instructions to pair a new controller. This can also be done using a digital assistant.
• New Xbox Game Bar accessibility options. The Xbox Game Bar now features a new accessibility settings menu with various options to help make the tool and PC games more accessible.
• Playbook for Accessible Gaming Events. Xbox is sharing what it has learned through its own gaming events with the new Playbook for Accessible Gaming Events, a new tool that event planners in the industry can use to guide their planning for gaming events and improve accessibility for attendees.

I love to see accessibility continue to be a focus for Xbox, something that continues to be obvious when looking at its games. Forza Motorsport (2023) is one of the most accessible and approachable video games I have ever played, and Hi-Fi RUSH made huge strides to make the historically unapproachable rhythm-brawler genre more accessible and inclusive. There's a lot of great stuff going on in the space, with more and more companies taking accessibility seriously, like Sony PlayStation.

Enjoying the best Xbox games has never been easier, no matter the challenges or obstacles you face in your life that may have prevented you from playing games in the past. I hope to see Xbox continue to push the bar forward as time goes on.

Forget ever greater resolutions, constantly rising frame rates, gorgeously rendered beams of light, crystal clear reflections, and dappled shadows, photorealistic textures and dense environments... Forget all of that, because one of the greatest areas of innovation and advancement for video games in the last decade has been accessibility and modern, approachable game design.

One of the most impressive games I have ever seen in this respect is coming later this year, and its incredible array of granular, customizable accessibility features practically guarantees it'll be one of the most popular simulation racing games of all time. Forza Motorsport (2023) is almost here, and it's a shoo-in as one of the best Xbox racing games just based on the sheer, obvious passion for accessibility on display within. Let's talk about it.

NOTE: Need help figuring out Forza Motorsport's accessibility options? Turn 10 Studios has created a Forza Motorsport Accessibility Support page to help players get started.

Dozens of options to tailor your experience

"People are different, people have different challenges... That changes how you go towards a game. I think a really strong, accessible design doesn't treat any person as a single thing." — Dan Greenawalt, General Manager of Turn 10 Studios.

Dive into the settings for Forza Motorsport (2023), and you'll be confronted with page after page of detailed, nuanced settings that allow you to tinker with basically every aspect of the game. There are 10 categories of options here, and each one gives players more agency over how they play Forza Motorsport — without affecting the core gameplay loop or taking away the challenge of racing.

The idea here is not to categorize disabilities or challenges that players may face and include toggles that target those generalized tags. Instead, Forza Motorsport includes dozens of tools that can be tailored to any player, regardless of their individual challenges that may have prevented them from playing simulation racing games in the past. Turn 10 Studios previously discussed its incredibly impressive, groundbreaking Blind Driving Assists in Forza Motorsport, but this isn't just one setting that only helps certain people — it's a vast collection of different options that can all work together or individually to help anyone play the game.

It's a brilliant implementation that gives players as much control over the game as they have over their cars. Just like you upgrade your car with new parts and tune those parts to obtain peak performance, you can also tweak and customize every element of Forza Motorsport (2023). To help players find the perfect combination of settings, every option in Forza Motorsport comes with detailed descriptions in a clean, easy-to-read and navigate UI.

This goes far beyond colorblind modes, high contrast menus and text scaling, subtitles, and granular volume sliders. There are intricate options for the screen narrator and audio description, ways to customize the in-game activity feed, the aforementioned Blind Driving Assist with a long list of varied options that provide different assists, audio cues, and more... And this is just one page of options. You get countless options to customize absolutely every part of the HUD, the most in-depth audio controls I've ever seen in a game, per-key bindings (and multiple profiles) for both controllers and keyboards, absurdly detailed control over more than a dozen different deadzones. There's even a way to individually customize the field-of-view (FOV) for each camera.

It's marvelous, and you can peruse most of the options in these 25 screenshots from my Forza Motorsport (2023) preview.

Giving you tools to feel the challenge of racing

Simulation racing games like Forza Motorsport focus on the thrill of competition, the accumulation of skill, and the intrinsic instinct to be constantly challenging yourself. Turn 10 Studios went back to the drawing board with Forza Motorsport (2023) to ensure the game remains true to those core tenets, as recent FM titles seemed to drift away from them. With a cohesive vision, these accessibility tools, and a consistent, approachable game design, Forza Motorsport is poised to offer the ultimate simulation racing game to any player — even those unable to drive themselves.

The idea behind great accessibility in games is to allow players to experience the game as it's truly meant to be played, even when those players may have their own personal challenges that affect their ability to do so. It doesn't fundamentally alter the game, and it doesn't affect any player who opts not to use those features. It's not about giving certain players an advantage, it's about leveling the playing field for everyone. Forza Motorsport (2023) gives you the tools to feel the challenge of racing, and it does so at a level we have never seen before in the genre.

Prioritizing accessibility and approachability from the earliest stages of development benefits all players, too, not just those who need or are greatly aided by those features to play. More control over the HUD, in-game activity feed, and control schemes can help any player customize Forza Motorsport to their heart's desire. Efforts to fully support any custom setups in Forza Motorsport for those who need it also benefits those with unique, simulation-focused gaming rigs and inputs. In general, great accessibility lowers barriers between players and actually playing the game.

I may be an advocate for better accessibility in video games, but I don't require the vast majority of the features included in Forza Motorsport. I am gently hearing impaired and have auditory processing disorder, but my needs are met just with accurate and responsive subtitles, so I'm not in a position to fully evaluate the effectiveness or execution of every accessibility feature. Steve Saylor, on the other hand, is a creator and gamer well-known for reviewing and analyzing video games on their accessibility, and he previewed Forza Motorsport and its blind driving assists.

The results? He won a race in first place because of the various blind driving assists, and lauded Forza Motorsport for the incredible levels of customization possible. It's a great video worth a watch, and Saylor is an awesome creator to follow if you're interested or invested in video games accessibility.

There's a steep learning curve involved, for sure, and it'll take time for some players to tune these settings to their needs, but players can tune these settings to their needs, no matter what they may be. It's all made possible because Turn 10 Studios and Xbox worked together alongside members of the Gaming & Disability Community, like accessibility consultant Brandon Cole. It's all made possible because from day one, the Forza Motorsport team wanted to make an amazing simulation racing game that let anyone experience the challenge of racing.

Opening the doors to more players than ever before

Accessibility in video games may get criticized by the bottom dregs of the gaming community for "making games too easy" and "being a waste of resources," but the reality is that more considerate and thorough accessibility features combined with intelligent and approachable game design just lets more people play video games. It's not about lowering the difficulty ceiling of games — it's about giving people the tools to experience those challenges for themselves, to be able to see themselves improve their skills and overcome obstacles. It's about letting everyone fall in love with the same amazing games, regardless of their personal challenges or abilities.

I've long been a persistently vocal advocate for greater accessibility in video games, and it has been a joy to watch this area of games development evolve by leaps and bounds. There have been so many excellent examples of accessibility simply opening the doors for more people to play. From Grounded and its Arachnophobia Mode to Forza Horizon 5 and its sign language support; Xbox's continued investments in accessibility; The Last of Us Part Two from PlayStation, and so much more — accessibility matters, and it makes video games better for all of us.

Forza Motorsport (2023) may be the most impressive game I have ever played in this regard. The sheer number of options and control verges on overwhelming, with greater flexibility around the core gameplay loop. A lot of trial and error, tuning, and learning may be necessary for players to get the most out of these options, but at least players have the ability to do so. The majority of gamers won't touch most of these settings, but it's not about them. It's about the people who love video games just as much as everyone else, but often can't play the games they want because it wasn't designed with them in mind. Forza Motorsport welcomes those players, and dares them to chase victory on the track.

What you need to know

• Microsoft celebrated the 12th annual Global Accessibility Awareness Day with a blog post highlighting recent accessibility-related partnerships.
• BeMyEyes, a mobile app that helps connect users with vision impairments to sighted assistants for visual interpretations, is expanding with OpenAI and Microsoft.
• Virtual Volunteer can generate AI-powered descriptions of objects and text in the world without needing a human assistant.

Microsoft celebrated Global Accessibility Awareness Day (GAAD) for its 12th year, championing innovative efforts, including generative AI tools powered by ChatGPT-4. Chief Accessibility Officer Jenny Lay-Flurrie covered their first-hand experiences in a blog post, sharing announcements of a brand-new pilot program to assist those with low vision and other degrees of blindness.

Expanding on its existing partnership with BeMyEyes, Microsoft is bringing AI advancements to the service that can help reduce to need for sighted assistants offering their services via video calls. Previously, users with sight restrictions could receive help perceiving items and other general surroundings from a human, with fantastic feedback resulting in an average 4.5 out of 5 rating for customer satisfaction.

One of four leading brands joining the Virtual Volunteer Corporate Beta Test, Microsoft continues its philanthropic efforts by harnessing the almost limitless potential of generative AI like ChatGPT to improve customer service via the Disability Answer Desk. Users will be able to feed images to a dedicated app and receive interpretations of what can be seen, including object descriptions alongside deciphered text.

Alongside the expansion into customer service accessibility with AI, Microsoft highlighted its efforts to improve accessibility in Xbox and tools for Microsoft 365 apps like accessibility checking built into Office. Living with a disabled partner means these advancements are always beneficial to our home, and seeing the borderline limitless potential of OpenAI's partnership with Microsoft applied to accessibility is particularly exciting.

Check out Jenny Lay-Flurrie's full blog post for helpful links to specific accessibility tools offered around Microsoft's ecosystem. BeMyEyes has been a rousing success so far and promises to become an even more empowering tool for those with sight restrictions.

What you need to know

• May 18 is Global Accessibility Awareness Day, which aims to teach the importance of accessibility in all walks of life.
• Xbox is participating in GAAD by highlighting some of its recent efforts to improve accessibility in video games.
• The company continues to invest in accessibility at every level, including in the development, discovery, and playing of games.
• Xbox is also furthering its partnerships with other accessibility-focused organizations.

Hundreds of millions of gamers identify with some form of disability, which is why it's vital to invest in improved accessibility for video games as a whole. Xbox has been a huge player in the space for years, and it's continuing to make new moves this Global Accessibility Awareness Day. Every day, it gets easier for more people to enjoy video games.

On Thursday, Xbox released an in-depth blog post past and future investments in video games accessibility, as well as the company's partnerships with other firms and organizations. There's a lot here, so I'll do my best to condense the most important information for you below.

• Working with the community to improve accessibility in gaming. Xbox has done a lot to improve video games accessibility alongside its developers and partners, but it can't do it alone. It's important to include the people that are actually affected by these changes and investments.
  • The Xbox Ambassadors program has collectively completed over 1 million missions centered around providing feedback on accessibility features and investments, with over 18,000 Ambassadors participating
  • The Microsoft Game Accessibility Testing Service added a "Player with Disability" offering to developers building games for Xbox, with members of the Gaming & Disabled community providing over 13,000 hours of testing on accessibility features and design in the last year
• Improving accessibility in other areas of the Xbox ecosystem. Accessibility in video games is crucial, of course, but Microsoft also wants to make it easier for players to use the Xbox ecosystem and discover new games.
  • Last year, Xbox unveiled a newly redesigned Xbox Support hub, which now includes support articles for over 150 accessibility controls
  • The Xbox App on PC also recently introduced a brand-new accessibility settings menu to help players customize the app for their needs
  • The online Xbox Store has been improved with a bevy of new filter and search options, including the ability to filter for specific accessibility tags and features (this was introduced as part of the Xbox May Update)
• Helping developers create more accessible, approachable video games. Accessibility starts at the very beginning of game development, with an inclusive approach to game design improving every aspect of the finished product. Xbox provides a wide array of tools to help developers build more accessible games.
  • The Microsoft Game Accessibility Testing Service is a program that lets developers validate the accessibility of their projects, and has added 119 test steps and 124 examples to provide further aid in validating a game for Accessibility Feature Tags on Xbox
  • Improvements to accessibility in gaming has also led Microsoft to raise the bar necessary for a game to be featured in Xbox's "Accessibility Spotlight," with titles needing at least 6 Accessibility Feature Tags (versus just 4 in the past)
• Partnering with other companies and organizations to increase awareness. Xbox isn't doing this alone. In addition to working alongside developers, publishers, and the Gaming & Disability community, Xbox is also working with other companies and organizations.
  • From May to Sept. 2023, Xbox is partnering with the Korea National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art on a new "Game Society" art exhibition, with one of the showcasing highlighting accessibility and featuring an Xbox Adaptive Controller for visitors to use
  • Xbox Netherlands is partnering with the HiPerks Foundation to release a series of videos showcasing the impact the Xbox Adaptive Controller is having in the lives of Gaming & Disability community members, including guest Paul Van Der Made
  • Xbox is partnering with the Special Olympics World Games Berlin 2023 and Humanelektronik to provide accessible Xbox gaming stations for athletes to use

I did say it was a lot, but the work isn't done yet. Ultimately, improving accessibility in gaming comes down to the video games. We're still seeing a lot of innovation in this space, with Microsoft highlighting some recent and upcoming Xbox games that feature impressive accessibility features.

This includes games like Forza Motorsport (2023), which is aiming to elevate accessibility in the best Xbox racing games to new heights (even more than Forza Horizon 5 already did).

Hi-Fi RUSH was also featured, which is one of my favorite games of the year and features an in-depth array of considerate, well-designed accessibility options to make the rhythm brawler (historically a rather inaccessible genre), playable for as many people as possible. Many of the best Xbox games that Windows Central lauds are there in part because they aim to be accessible, and developers are still finding new ways to allow more people to play their games.

I'm happy to see Xbox participate in Global Accessibility Awareness Day. Gaming is at its best when we can share these wonderful experiences with everyone.

What you need to know

• Forza Motorsport (2023) is landing later this year on Xbox Series X|S, Windows PC, Xbox and PC Game Pass, and Xbox Cloud Gaming.
• On Thursday, Turn10 Studios and Xbox Game Studios released a new trailer focused on the upcoming game's accessibility features.
• The studio has heavily invested in making Forza Motorsport (2023) the most accessible Forza game ever made.
• The simulation racer's accessibility features include Blind Driving Assists for blind or low vision players, one touch driving for low mobility players, and much more.

Accessibility's importance in video games cannot be understated, as it allows more people to experience the joy of gaming, and makes our favorite games better for everyone. Fortunately, it seems Turn10 Studios, the developer behind the Forza Motorsport franchise, got the memo and is continuing the investments Xbox has made in the space.

On Thursday, Turn10 Studios (via Xbox Wire) detailed the work they've put in to make Forza Motorsport (2023) the most accessible and approachable entry in the entire Forza Motorsport franchise. A new trailer dropped alongside this announcement, showcasing one of the game's headlining accessibility features: Blind Driving Assists.

A first in the simulation racing genre, Blind Driving Assists is a vast collection of configurable, dynamic audio cues that can assist blind and low to no vision people with playing Forza Motorsport (2023). The supplemental audio cues include information about the track and upcoming turns and obstacles, information about your car and its status, and even advice on the necessary amounts of deceleration, shifting, and more.

This is not a separate mode, but rather optional features that are built directly on top of the game in its entirety, so players who maybe have never experienced a racing game before can play Forza Motorsport (2023) exactly as its intended. Turn10 Studios notes that this means there is a learning curve to learning how to play with these assists. Fortunately, the Blind Driving Assists accessibility menu provides detailed, audible descriptions of every setting and a preview of every audio cue, so that players can familiarize themselves with everything they might hear before taking it to the track.

The feature was made in coordination with accessibility consultant Brandon Cole and other members of the Gaming & Disability community over two years of work, and it's just one aspect of Forza Motorsport (2023)'s accessibility features. Some other accessibility features include:

• One touch driving. Another set of accessibility features will allow low mobility players to fully customize their driving experience with a variety of assists like automatic shifting, enhanced steering and breaking assists, and much more. These features are aimed to help players who may struggle with multiple simultaneous button presses, extended button pressing, gripping a controller, and more.
• Screen narration and dynamic audio descriptions. Players can enable features that turn on-screen text and UI elements into audible descriptions, with added features to customize this experience and the information presented. In-game cinematics will also have dynamic audio descriptions based on the weather, time of day, and more in-game.
• Text-to-speech & speech-to-text. For multiplayer communication, players can either choose to convert written text into a synthesized speech for other players, or convert their speech into text format.
• Colorblindness modes. Forza Motorsport (2023) will feature colorblindness modes for both the UI and the in-game world.
• Full controller remapping. A standard accessibility feature, Forza Motorsport (2023) will offer in-depth settings to customize your control schemes to your heart's content, which extends into the one touch driving settings detailed above.
• Subtitles, text scaling, and contrast settings. Subtitles will translate all in-game audio, while various settings will let you customize the size and background of subtitles, size of in-game text, and the contrast of UI and HUD.
• Granular audio customization. Players will have individual sliders for various aspects of Forza Motorsport (2023)'s in-game audio, which can be tweaked independently of each other.

Forza Motorsport (2023) has all the ingredients it needs to be the best Xbox racing game you can play, as well as the most technically advanced, visually impressive, and accessible entry in the franchise. Forza Motorsport (2023) officially releases on Xbox Series X|S, Windows PC, Xbox and PC Game Pass, and Xbox Cloud Gaming later this year.

Windows Central's take

I'm a huge advocate for superior accessibility and approachability in video games, so I love seeing this kind of news come out of Xbox Game Studios. Forza Horizon 5 was already impressive in its accessibility and inclusivity, but it seems that Turn10 Studios may be going even beyond that with Forza Motorsport (2023). Investing so much time and effort into making its upcoming, AAA simulation racing game accessible to blind and low vision players — many of whom may have never driven a car or played a racing game — is just awesome to see.

I have high hopes for Forza Motorsport (2023), and I hope that it's able to deliver on all its ambitions to be the most technically advanced, visually impressive, and accessible Forza Motorsport game ever made. It's undeniably exciting, but Turn10 Studios will really have to best everything it has ever done to pull it off.

What you need to know

• Live Captions is an accessibility tool in Windows 11 which generates live subtitles for any audio source playing on your machine.
• Added to Windows in September 2022, it can be activated via a simple Windows key + Ctrl + L shortcut.
• A user on Reddit has shared their experiences of generating live captions for video games that otherwise lack the feature.

Microsoft added Live Captions to Windows in September 2022, expanding its accessibility options, albeit restricted to only understanding US English. However, it can listen to speech from any audio source playing on your Windows machine, highlighting just one useful feature of the 22H2 update. Activated via a simple Windows key + Ctrl + L shortcut, the customizable captions window allows you to filter out profanity and change text formatting. Very cool and super helpful in browsing the web.

Live Captions also offers something beneficial to gamers in a way you might not have considered. Sharing their experience on Reddit, one clever user adopted the tool to provide live subtitles for Assassin's Creed, a game with an unfortunate lack of subtitled dialog. It's not perfect, with some spoken lines coming through with unusual swaps for certain words. Still, for any game featuring an American protagonist (no shortage there,) it's been working pretty well, particularly on titles like Halo 2: Anniversary.

Xbox promotes accessible gaming with various programs and peripherals, and Live Captions could operate perfectly inside this ecosystem. Well, it could if it received any attention since launch. Knowing the flexible caption toolbar was added to Windows 11 over half a year ago, I had expected some enhancements when I tried it out this week. No such luck, with any character expressing anything but a clear-spoken American accent ending up subtitled with a mix of kind-of-close-captions to total gibberish.

The potential for a powerful accessibility tool is now built into Windows without needing third-party software downloads or manual setups of audio devices. Still, it'll be doomed to appear on 'ten things you didn't know about Windows' content for the rest of its days if Microsoft doesn't offer significant updates. With the growing capability of AI, specifically tools capable of cleaning up muddy audio, there's not much room for excuses to leave Live Captions in the dark. Especially not when Microsoft intends to lead the way with billions of dollars spent on Bing Chat, Copilot, and its other AI-powered projects.

Head to the Accessibility section of your Windows 11 Settings menu to personalize the toolbar and text, or bring the toolbar up with the previously mentioned Windows key + Ctrl + L shortcut and quickly try it for yourself with any game (you might need to run it in a window, though.) It works on anything, from older Xbox Cloud Gaming titles streaming without subtitles or even self-emulated titles of your own retro backups.

Live Captions proves to be another excellent use for lesser-known Windows tools that could grow to something spectacular if it earns any extra attention from Microsoft's internal team. Fingers crossed, they add functionality for more languages besides US English so that I can cheat on my Duolingo lessons or enjoy games in other languages, whichever you find more believable.

Ever wondered what it would be like to scroll reddit just by thinking it? Well, if you have, perhaps our old pal Billy G has something in the works for you. 

Microsoft co-founder and prolific philanthropist Bill Gates has joined up with Amazon's Jeff Bezos according to reports to back Synchron, a company building brain implants to help further interface humans with computers. 

Human-computer interfacing of today revolves around external peripherals, such as touch screens, Xbox controllers, keyboards, etc. But fear not, government-mandated brain implants are not (yet) in Synchron's purview. Instead, Synchron's technology revolves around improving accessibility, for those with limited or impaired mobility. 

The report in CNBC describes how Synchron's "Switch"  technology is seamlessly implants via blood vessels, allowing patients to interact with their devices using their thoughts alone. The report says that so far only 7 patients across the United States and Australia have been testing out the tech, and thus far, the results seem to have been promising. 

Synchron CEO Tom Oxley said, "I’ve seen moments between patient and partner, or patient and spouse, where it’s incredibly joyful and empowering to have regained an ability to be a little bit more independent than before. It helps them engage in ways that we take for granted."

Synchron just announced a $75 million dollar funding round that counts Bill Gates and Jeff Bezos venture firms among those offering early investment. Synchron has described its technology as more "scalable" than competitors like Neuralink, developed by Elon Musk's firm. Synchron's antenna can be fitted via a stent, which is a commonly-used surgical procedure fitted via arteries and veins. 

Competing solutions often require the presence of a full-blown neurosurgeon, whereas Synchron's technology can be fitted with far more expertise that is far more available. The technology could be revolutionary for patients with ailments like ALS, or full-body paralysis, giving thousands of potential candidates a new lease on life.

The technology is subject to all sorts of conspiracy theories and controversy. Questions over Elon Musk's own Neuralink paint a dark picture of the science. Musk's Neuralink is being investigated for animal cruelty, owing to reports of test monkeys being subjected to "extreme suffering." However, on the Synchron side, respected medical journal JAMA Neurology recently approved the technology, noting that their methodology was entirely safe, and didn't degrade in quality after a 12-month period.

While technology revolves around accessibility right now, it's not hard to imagine a future where it could become more commonplace. If it becomes more convenient as current solutions while remaining just as safe, it's not science fiction to imagine a world where able-bodied humans couldn't opt-in to this type of tech. If you ignore some of the more dystopic science-fiction, that is.

What you need to know

• Microsoft announced a range of adaptive accessories alongside its new Surface hardware.
• The accessories can be used to replace or augment existing mice and keyboards.
• The range includes a mouse with separate components, a wireless hub, and dedicated buttons.
• Microsoft also unveiled 3D-printed grips for the Microsoft Classroom Pen 2 and Microsoft Business Pen.

Microsoft has been on a mission to make tech more accessible for several years. The company unveiled the Xbox Adaptive Controller back in 2018, which changed the lives of many gamers. When Windows 11 rolled out, it included several new accessibility features, which were expanded further with the Windows 11 2022 Update. Now, the tech giant is launching a new range of accessories for PCs.

Announced alongside several Surface devices, the Microsoft Adaptive Accessories allow people to customize their computing setup. The lineup includes a mouse, wireless hub, and separate buttons.

The mouse has three separate components, a core, a tail extension, and thumb support. People can adapt these in a variety of ways to fit their specific setup.

The adaptive wireless hub can connect to up to three devices wirelessly or through USB-C. It supports up to four Microsoft Adaptive Buttons, which are separate components that can be used to enhance or replace PC setups. Microsoft has a d-pad, joystick, and dual button that work with the system, though they're sold separately.

The accessories can be adapted further with 3D-printed components, such as mouse tails and button toppers (shown above). Microsoft worked with the disability community to design the pieces and has made them available through Shapeways, which is a popular 3D printing service.

Microsoft also announced 3D-printed grips for the Microsoft Classroom Pen 2 and Microsoft Business Pen today.

This isn't the first time Microsoft's hardware team has facilitated customizing technology. The Surface Adaptive Kit, which was announced in 2021, includes keycap labels, port labels, and an opening solution that works with a lanyard for things like kickstands.

What you need to know

• Microsoft announces new lab that will help it create more inclusive products.
• The lab is called the Inclusive Tech Lab.
• The lab will help Microsoft build products for people with disabilities in mind.

Microsoft has announced at Ability Summit 2022 that it has formed a new "Inclusive Tech Lab" that's designed to help the company build more accessible and inclusive products and experiences. The company says the lab was created as an embassy for people with disabilities, and will demonstrate what is possible when products are intentionally built to be accessible by everyone.

Microsoft already has several products on the market that were built for people with disabilities in mind, including the Xbox Adaptive Controller, Surface Adaptive Kit, and the newly announced Microsoft Adaptive Accessories. All of these products have lead Microsoft to birth the Inclusive Tech Lab, where it will explore accessible design for every hardware and software product.

The Inclusive Tech Lab is a literal lab that allows Microsoft to explore product designs and gather feedback from people with disabilities:

Alongside the announcement of its new Inclusive Tech Lab, Microsoft is also highlighting new accessibility features in Windows 11, Xbox, Edge, and has announced a new Microsoft Adaptive Accessories line that are designed to be modular and configurable.

What you need to know

• Gamers Outreach is a charity organization that brings video games to hospitals all over the world.
• On Monday, Xbox and Gamers Outreach announced "Beyond Xbox: Therapeutic Play," which aims to further these goals.
• The announcement comes with a short documentary titled "A Player Like Me," which tells the story of two people connecting over Xbox from across the world.
• Gaming has been shown to aid in the healing process for children, and Gamers Outreach's Xbox-powered GO Karts make it more accessible.

Video games are undoubtedly a massive source of pure entertainment for millions of players, and even serve as a source of livable income for many. However, video games can also have a therapeutic effect, granting people a fun-filled distraction from their situation or a way to connect with like-minded people all over the world. Gamers Outreach, a charity organization that brings accessible video games to hospitals, is partnering with Xbox to further its initiative to bring gaming to more hospitalized children.

Beyond Xbox: Therapeutic Play, is a partnership between Xbox and Gamers Outreach that continues to accomplish what Gamers Outreach has already been striving to do: use video games to help aid the healing process for children who spend long periods of time in the hospital. Gamers Outreach builds GO Karts, a fully mobile cart equipped with an Xbox, controllers, games, and monitor, from which children suffering from any number of ailments or disabilities that keep them confined to their hospital can benefit and enjoy.

Zach Wigal, Gamers Outreach founder, stated, "Each year, millions of kids and teens receive medical care inside hospitals, and for many, the process can be scary and isolating. During hospitalization, kids lose access to friends, school and moments that typically define childhood. We're on a mission to change their experience."

Alongside the announcement, Xbox and Gamers Outreach released "A Player Like Me," a short documentary film telling the story of 14-year-old Jordan, living with an extremely rare disability known as Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome. The video shows how Jordan uses a GO Kart, built by Gamers Outreach, to connect with another person with Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome, Megan, from nearly 4,000 miles away. The duo played Forza Horizon 5 together while discussing what it's like to live with their condition.

The documentary exemplifies how therapeutic gaming can be, and how it allows people to make new connections and forge new friendships even from within a hospital. "At Xbox, we believe that play is a fundamental human need," Michael Flatt, director of global integrated marketing at Xbox, exclaimed. "We're proud to support Gamers Outreach and to bring the fun, creativity and connection of gaming to children to help support them during their recovery."

If you want to learn more about Gamers Outreach and what the charity organization has accomplished (and how you can donate), you can check out the Gamers Outreach website. Providing an Xbox console and some of the best Xbox games to hospitalized children is a recipe for success, and Beyond Xbox: Therapeutic Play aims to share that message with more people.

What you need to know

• Microsoft Edge now offers "auto-generated image labels."
• These automatically generated labels mean that screen readers can now describe the contents of a picture even if the image's uploader didn't provide any alt text.
• The feature is available for those using Edge on Linux, Mac, or Windows.

In good news for accessibility, Microsoft Edge now has auto-generated image labels. What this means is Edge will ensure that screen readers can describe the contents of images even when those images don't have alt text included. For blind or otherwise visually impaired users who want to know the contents of an image but can't see it, this tool should help.

Microsoft reiterates that these auto-generated labels still aren't as good as page authors providing alt text themselves, as the author is likely to know more about the specific contents of an image than anything an educated guess by Edge can provide. Still, given that "more than half of the images processed by screen readers are missing alt text," according to the company, this solution will hopefully help bridge some of the gap between web-based imagery and total accessibility.

Microsoft has a sixty-second video showcasing how its new Edge feature works.

The feature is powered by Azure Cognitive Services and is available for Edge users on Windows, Linux, and Mac. Android and iOS aren't included, at least for the time being.

As to how you can enable these auto-generated labels: You'll need to go to edge://settings/accessibility and find the setting "get image descriptions from Microsoft for screen readers." So long as screen reader support is enabled, you should be good to go from there.

With the world embracing technology in just about all aspects of our daily lives, the notion that accessibility should play an important role is critical to Microsoft's vision. It's one that the company is taking the lead on and one that other tech companies like Apple and Google need to start taking more seriously.

The $15 Surface Adaptive Kit is, at its heart, a simple creation: It's effectively a pack of labels with various colors and textures meant to improve the usability of Microsoft's Surface products. Of course, anyone can use these on any device, not just Surface, as the need and functionality are universal.

Microsoft sent over a sample of the kit for us to look at. Here's what you need to know about it.

Surface Adaptive Kit: So simple

The Surface Adaptive Kit package is clean, minimalist, as expected from the Surace team. There's no fussy shrink wrap, stickers that need to be peeled off, or any other unnecessary barriers to usage.

Opening it up, you're greeted with a QR code to scan for instructions and usage. That link takes you to this quick guide on how to use the labels, which ones are for what, and some rudimentary directions. I say rudimentary only because I think the guide could use a few more examples and better demonstrate the keycap applicator.

Placing the labels onto any device is quite simple as only the middle part is sticky, allowing some forgiveness for aligning and straightening after plonking it down. I'm going to assume those with visual or physical impairments will need assistance to place these stickers in the first place as they can be challenging to handle.

The most convenient labels are headphones, power buttons, and various connectivity ports.

While Microsoft makes this kit for people with disabilities, it can be used by anyone who wants a simple tactile line/bar to signify where the Type-C port is without having to look. They're akin to the bumps on keyboards for the F and J keys to center yourself before typing.

Speaking of, there are labels for the keyboard, including arrow keys, which can be helpful for any person who desires more tactile usability when using their Surface devices.

Some pull tabs can be placed on Surface Pro or any laptop to help open the kickstand or lids for those with dexterity challenges. One of them even allows for a lanyard, but, unfortunately, one is not included in the box, so you'll need to procure your own.

Surface Adaptive Kit: A big step in the right direction

There's nothing revolutionary about creating various labels for hardware to help those with disabilities. But Microsoft is the first major tech company, to our knowledge, to build the ethos of inclusivity at this level for consumers. Simply put, it's thoughtful and smart. Not only does it help an often-overlooked demographic, but it's good business too, as everyone needs technology, regardless of their abilities. If such moves help win over more customers for Microsoft, everyone wins.

Microsoft even took the time to work with people with disabilities to make this kit, including the packaging, something that seems like a no-brainer but can be easily overlooked. But this first step is something we do not see enough of from other companies, and that's a shame.

While something like Microsoft's Xbox Adaptive Controller is more capital intensive to design and bring to market, you can't say the same about the Surface Adaptive Kit. That raises the question of why more companies aren't at the forefront of such a movement.

At least Microsoft is setting the example here, and while the Surface Adaptive Kit is a seemingly small gesture, it's a big step in the right in making sure everyone can be part of this tech revolution.

Let's just hope the community embraces this project and makes it the new norm.

If it seems like Microsoft's accessibility efforts are getting almost as much attention as its cloud, Windows and productivity businesses, you're not mistaken. Since becoming the company's CEO, Satya Nadella has made "inclusive design" a core part of the company's business model. It is almost impossible to see a major Microsoft event or hear a significant Microsoft announcement without hearing how accessibility is woven in.

Nadella acknowledged that historically companies, including Microsoft, would build products and address an accessibility "checklist" after the fact. This post-design focus on assistive technologies was limiting because it resulted in narrowly designing products for able-bodied people while excluding millions of others with disabilities.

With inclusive design, accessibility is an important part of the design phase. People of all abilities are considered while the product is still a concept. This results in purposeful engineering of products that are broadly designed to be accessible to everyone. Nadella stressed that accessibility is a result of inclusive design and that it enables the over one billion people with disabilities to participate in modern society. I recently predicted that 2019 would be the year inclusive design would become mainstream. Nadella echoed that analysis in a recent interview.

Inclusive design and artificial intelligence (AI)

From gaming to helping the immobile navigate Windows and helping the blind navigate the world, Microsoft's inclusive design mission is bold and comprehensive. This aggressive accessibility mission is intertwined with an equally aggressive AI agenda. AI is a major and necessary part of Microsoft's inclusive design efforts. Machine learning, natural language processing and a host of AI-powered cognitive services that emulate human senses and abilities help Microsoft's products and services bridge the gap between the limits of an individual's ability and their access to modern technology.

Microsoft's iOS app Seeing AI "perceives" the world, recognizes facial expressions, physical activities, reads documents and more for people with visual limitations. This app was designed by Saquib Shaikh, a Microsoft Software Engineer who is also blind. Microsoft's inclusive hiring practices allowed the company to benefit not only from Shaikh's programming talent but also his perspective as an individual with blindness. Hiring people of varying levels of abilities is Microsoft's intentional strategy to ensure broad perspectives are brought to the design process so that its products and services are as inclusive as possible.

Eye Gaze, the result of a Microsoft hackathon contest, is built into Windows 10, and it allows people with immobility to navigate Windows with their eyes. Football great Steve Gleason, who is living with quadriplegia, uses this technology to operate his PC with his eyes.

Empathy and thinking outside the ability box

Microsoft's Xbox Adaptive Controller made waves last year as it opened the world of gaming to millions of people who are unable to manipulate traditional game controllers. Nadella stressed how inclusive design even extended to the controller's packaging. The box is designed to be easily opened by people with a range of motor limitations.

Microsoft's Project Fizzyo turned Cystic Fibrosis treatment into an engaging game to encourage children to endure unpleasant procedures. Project Torino teaches blind children to code. Immersive Reader helps people with Dyslexia read. The Emma Watch stops the debilitating hand tremors endured by people with Parkinson's disease. And Microsoft's Autism Hiring Program tailors the interview process to avoid excluding people with autism from being hired.

Microsoft's broad focus on people with varying levels of abilities reflects a value that is at the company's core: empathy. Nadella has been deliberate in establishing this value, which helps people look at the world through another's eyes, throughout the company.

Nadella says he learned this value after feeling something "happened to him" when his son was born with severe Cerebral Palsy and he began looking at the world through the eyes of his son.

Microsoft is not alone

Google and other companies are aggressively pushing inclusive design within their software and hardware products, as well. Google's goal, according to its User Experience Lead Jen Devins, is to allow everyone to contribute without barriers.

As the world of tech moves beyond a post-design accessibility checklist model to creating products from conception to be accessible to all, inclusive design is becoming mainstream. The language is established, the concept is becoming more broadly understood, and most importantly the inclusive design efforts are beneficially impacting hundreds of millions of people.

Microsoft's at the center of inclusive design

With the foundation having been laid, 2019 looks to be the year inclusive design goes mainstream. And though Microsoft is not alone in its implementation, it is unique. The very human story of a CEO who learned empathy through a son with a severe disability and who is now teaching that empathy to a company makes Microsoft's efforts seem more real.

Nadella's openness about his family life, experiences raising his son and views about failure as a teacher seem to have inspired Microsoft's employees to think and act outside the box. This push beyond traditional boundaries has pushed the company to the forefront of the inclusive design movement.

Related reading

• How fathering a son with disabilities helped Microsoft's CEO transform the company
• How Microsoft's inclusion mission is helping the blind to 'see'
• How Microsoft is helping deaf people 'hear'

What you need to know

• Microsoft routinely releases new features designed to make its products more accessible.
• The company has written a highlight post of all the biggest accessibility features to arrive in Microsoft 365 as of fall 2021.

Microsoft consistently releases hardware and software updates designed to improve the accessibility of its products so that anyone can use them without issue. It's such a focus for Microsoft that it has a quarterly update post on the subject, having just released the fall 2021 edition. Here's what you can now expect from accessibility features in Microsoft 365.

First, there are live captions and transcripts in Microsoft Teams meetings. These features are available on desktop and mobile apps and cover 28 languages.

On top of those items, CART (Communication Access Realtime Translation), which is a fancy way of saying real-time captioning, is rolling out to Teams members in October. This service enhances the captioning experience by addressing situations that are typically complicated for speech recognition software, such as jargon-heavy discussions.

In Outlook, the Editor feature helps with accessibility by providing suggestions and tips that can help neurodivergent individuals optimize their emails' clarity, tone, and more. Outlook also supports dictation functionality so users can speak their emails instead of typing them (this functionality is supported by Word, too).

Outlook will even tell you if the typography or formatting of your email could be functionally inaccessible to others. For example, if you're using color combinations in your font that could be hard to distinguish for certain people, you'll be notified about the potential issue.

Additionally, there's Microsoft Viva, which is designed to help employees focus and assess their personal wellness. It's set to get an upgrade soon courtesy of Ally.io.

For more details on Microsoft's accessibility efforts, check out the company's blog post.

At the 2021 Surface Event, Microsoft debuted a range of hardware products showcasing the best of Microsoft's engineering prowess. Right in the middle, though, Microsoft also demonstrated its social conscience.

The Surface Adaptive Kit is a simple, but powerful set of tools that can add much-needed usability features to any laptop, not just Surface devices. It reminds us that the rush for minimalistic designs and stylish features often fly in the face of accessibility, designed for able-bodied users first and foremost. Much like the Xbox Adaptive Controller, the Surface Adaptive Kit is another step in a long journey Microsoft has kickstarted to start to chip away at inaccessible tech and software, changing perceptions and pressuring competitors to follow suit.

Surface Adaptive Kit: What is it?

The Surface Adaptive Kit is a suite of relatively simple tools and features that can be attached to products with adhesive to enhance usability and accessibility.

The Surface Adaptive Kit is designed right from the unboxing experience with access in mind, much like the Xbox Adaptive Controller. Inside the box, you'll find raised bump labels which can be applied anywhere on the device. For those with sight impairments, raised labels help you find your way to ports and buttons more easily, especially if they've been recessed into the design of the device as is often the case as companies go increasingly "minimalistic" with their designs.

Similarly to the bump labels, we also have keycap labels, which can help users orient their fingers for typing, or finding keys that are oft-less travelled. These come with designs like arrows and circles, which are more pronounced than key designs often are.

Additionally, Microsoft also added a wide array of port labels, designed to help users match up cables to specific ports. There's a shorter strip that can be added to a port, and a longer strip that can be tied around a cable to help you find and match devices up to their correct ports without having to potentially put your fingers over the ports themselves.

Finally, Microsoft also added an adhesive opening solution, which you can combine with a lanyard to any device to help with things like opening kickstand hinges, or opening laptop covers.

Accessibility for everybody

Much scrutiny has been poured over big tech in recent years, whose bottomless wealth and share price valuations are making us question the limits and fairness of our economic systems. Microsoft is at least one of the few that is investing heavily into giving back to communities, whether it's on climatological projects, general charity work, or accessibility tech.

IT pro and game streamer Cerebral Paul praised Microsoft's engagement with the disabled community, emphasizing the benefits of accessible tech. "The connection identifiers alone are worth the price of entry. MS continues to use the easy open accessible packaging, which is awesome. The tabs for opening the lid should be on every laptop," Paul emphasized, "I will say, as I have all along, MS is leading the way in accessibility. They reach out to the disabled community, myself included, to ask us what we need to make computing and gaming more accessible. They then act on that info."

Accessibility consultant SightlessKombat, who reminds us that accessibility features can help everybody, regardless of their ability. "I feel that this could be useful for individuals, regardless of their level of vision, who have issues finding certain keys, or remembering what cables go where for instance. It's just another element of accessibility that isn't always considered, but has been here, which is good to see. After all, design for one, solve for many I believe is the phrase."

Xbox MVP creator and accessibility advocate Steve Saylor also echoed SightlessKombat's sentiments. "On the surface (pun intended) the Surface Adaptive Kit seems like a simple sticker pack with subtle bumps and shapes. Once those stickers are applied to devices a user can by touch know what the function of that button or sticker is for. But, my favorite part of the Surface Adaptive Kit are the stickers you can adhere to the side of ports, and on the cables those ports connect to. This sounds great for those like me who are blind and low vision."

Steve continued, "But what Microsoft does is they create for one, but extend for many. Think about how many times you've had to fumble to figure out which cable goes to which port. The Adaptive Kit was designed with disabled users in mind, but this helps everyone."

Microsoft's Kris Hunter, Principle Director, Devices UX Research and Accessibility, emphasized Microsoft's dedication to inclusive design: "As we build products, there is a belief that drives us. When we don't intentionally include, we unintentionally exclude."

She remarked upon the ingenuity of home-brew methods, including glue dots, and kickstands with holes drilled in them to thread lanyards. While innovative, these solutions compromise devices, and warranties.

Dave Dame, Director of Accessibility at Microsoft, reminds us that one day, we'll all need accessibility features. While many of us enjoy the privilege of an able-body in our youth and adulthood, aging is an inevitability. "We're all going to be disabled someday, just some of us beat you to it. When we design products like this, we're designing for all of our future selves."

More work to be done

Dave Dame raises a good point. Even if big tech companies lack the moral fortitude to see the social value in inclusive design, the fact that practically all millennials and below grew up with computing and smart devices as a cornerstone of their lifestyle is going to make inclusive design a profitable venture to undertake as we age. None of us are getting any younger, but I don't see millennials and Gen Z wanting to give up their technology habits even into old age. In this, Microsoft is ahead of the curve.

Questions of profitability wouldn't even be part of the conversation in a just world. Thankfully, Microsoft has shown itself to be a moral leader in a corporate universe that is characteristically rudderless on social issues beyond basic marketing platitudes. Microsoft is actively putting its mission statement "empower others to achieve more" into direct action.

The Surface Adaptive Kit might seem like a simple product to those who don't need it, but it sends a powerful message. It can adapt every Surface device Microsoft announced in different ways, and showcases how relatively simple things can make a big difference to those who need it. Microsoft's championing of accessible tech and social responsibility in general puts pressure on its competitors to follow suit, and regardless of the mechanism for that action, hopefully, it will gradually lead to a world where nobody is othered.

What you need to know

• Microsoft recently highlighted the team behind the accessibility features of Windows 11.
• Windows 11 has several accessibility settings and features, including voice input for text and high contrast options.
• Microsoft has also invested in accessibility tech for hardware, such as the newly announced Surface Adaptive Kit.

A blog post from earlier this year explained how "Windows 11 is the most inclusively designed version of Windows," according to Microsoft. Now, another blog post from the company highlights the team behind the accessibility features of Windows 11.

John Porter is an input and accessibility designer. He uses voice and speech recognition technology, which provides a unique insight into accessibility tech. "Having someone on the team like me who didn't grow up entrenched in a traditional notion of what it means to interact with a computer allows me to think outside the box," said Porter.

Porter joined Microsoft three years ago. He's been part of an effort by the company to make devices more accessible, which includes making devices more flexible.

"It was critical to recognize that no two people with disabilities are alike. One person who's blind or low vision can't act as a proxy for an entire community," said Porter. He added, "The only way we're going to be able to move forward to represent the full spectrum of human diversity is by being understood and represented in the things we create."

Jiwon Choi is Porter's manager and has been with Microsoft for eight years. "Accessibility wasn't an afterthought," said Choi. "What I like the most about the icon being a human figure is that we're not just talking about one type of disability. We want to embrace the fullness of that range in the spectrum. And to recognize first and foremost, that what it means to be human means to have differences and diversity and to celebrate that. We really felt like the human figure really embraces those principles."

Natassia Silva also worked on accessibility features for Windows 11, including the pen menu, handwriting panel, language switcher, and input method editor for East Asian languages. She also worked on settings for text size, visual effects, and color filters. A large focus of her work has been on high contrast themes.

"I was also very fortunate to work with a product manager who did identify as someone with low vision," said Silva. "It was helpful to have multiple perspectives and it's those multiple perspectives and listening to those with lived experiences that helped shape and drive the design."

Microsoft has also invested time and effort into accessibility tech on the hardware side of things. During its Surface hardware event, the company showed off the Surface Adaptive Kit, which helps make Surface devices more accessible.

What you need to know

• Accessibility has increasingly become a focus in video games over the last few years, and aims to make gaming more inclusive.
• World of Warcraft is releasing a new update today that adds several significant accessibility improvements to the game.
• Voice chat is gaining speech-to-text and text-to-speech transcription, as well as text chat narration.
• There are also several other improvements like text contrast options, lighting control, and an expanded accessibility menu.

World of Warcraft is one of the largest MMOs out there, with millions of active players all over the world. World of Warcraft's players come from all walks of life, which means accessibility is especially vital to ensure that everyone can play. Today, World of Warcraft is releasing an accessibility-focused update, which includes a number of lovely accessibility features and a promise to further improve matters in World of Warcraft moving forward.

Source: Blizzard Entertainment

World of Warcraft's accessibility menu is expanding with today's free update to make room for its new settings. There's quite a bit to talk about here, so let's get started:

• Speech-to-text transcription. Players now have an option to automatically transcribe voice chat channels (from all players) into text, which can be accessed and perused at any time via an on-screen toggle.
• Text chat narration. Players can also have all text chat narrated to them with a synthetic voice, with a wide number of options to control which chat channels and sources are narrated, the voice, speed, and volume of narration, and much more. There are also new chat commands to accompany this feature.
• Text-to-speech transcription. Players now have access to a new "Voice" channel while in a voice chat. Anything that is typed into this channel will be automatically read with a synthetic voice to other members of the voice chat party.
• Quest text contrast. A new accessibility option lets you trade out the low-contrast default background for quest text for a newer, high-contrast option with improved legibility.
• Specular light control. Finally, new commands let players control the amount of specular light in the world, which controls the intensity of effects like light reflecting off water.

It's always awesome to see accessibility features implemented in video games, especially ones as old and long-running as World of Warcraft (that's played by so many different people). For fans of MMOs, World of Warcraft is certainly one of the best PC games, so it's undeniably important to ensure that all of its many players have a fantastic experience with better inclusivity. Our own Jez Corden recently discussed how Xbox and Microsoft are driving accessibility in gaming forward.

If you're interested in World of Warcraft, be sure to read our full review on the latest World of Warcraft: Shadowlands expansion to see where the game stands today.

Microsoft has invested more than ever in its gaming business lately, with its purchase of ZeniMax/Bethesda, a huge staff increase, exclusive content for Xbox Game Pass, and much more. There's another area of investment in the Xbox division that is producing results of an entirely different nature, though: improving people's lives.

Microsoft's accessibility drive hit the spotlight with the advent of the Xbox Adaptive Controller, which allows gamers with disabilities to create custom solutions to fit their specific needs. Really, though, there's so much more to what Microsoft is doing in the space, and it goes all the way back to the Xbox 360, when Microsoft brought screen readers like Windows' Narrator, and later features like Xbox Copilot on Xbox One.

It doesn't really need explaining — Microsoft's leadership in this space is changing lives for the better, and other companies should sit up and take notice.

Changing lives

I previously wrote about how the Xbox Adaptive Controller helped my friend Oliver, who works around osteogenesis imperfecta to maintain an active gaming lifestyle. Of course, there's no simple catch-all solution for solving accessibility needs — as versatile as the Xbox Adaptive Controller is by itself, it requires a range of tools and features for a platform to be truly accessible, and there's still work to be done.

I was inspired to take another look at accessibility recently by this post on reddit, from u/duz_machines. He describes Xbox's Copilot feature, which allows you to separate controller features between two different gamepads in a single game. His sister has cerebral palsy, with impaired motor skills. As a result of Copilot, u/duz_machines' sister has enjoyed an improved quality of life, able to experience games that were previously completely inaccessible.

Sony has begun improving its accessibility features gradually, adding narrator features and other things, but is still a fair ways behind the curve. Nintendo is arguably the worst, for multiple reasons. Nintendo's IP is Disney-like in their appeal to younger audiences, and there's nothing worse to me than imagining how Nintendo makes youngsters with disabilities near completely excluded, owing to its general apathy towards these sorts of features.

The importance of inclusion

One of my younger relatives is on the autistic spectrum. He barely spoke until he was 8 years old, and engaging him was generally incredibly difficult. One way we could communicate was through gaming. Although the Super Nintendo had no Copilot mode, I remember draping a blanket over the TV while playing Star Fox, handing him a controller, and pretending to co-pilot the Arwings through space. Those early experiences helped him eventually get into gaming for himself, forming a cornerstone of his relaxation and recreation time. His accessibility needs are not as mechanically complicated as they relate to gaming, though.

I recently caught up with SightlessKombat, who is an accessibility consultant and gamer without sight. SightlessKombat is a high-ranked Killer Instinct player on Xbox, and has worked with Microsoft and others to enhance games and platforms for the disabled.

SightlessKombat explained to me how Xbox's Copilot changed the game for him, providing access to games that were previously completely out of reach, "Going from being squashed together on the same couch and uncomfortably sharing a controller to me and a sighted player having our own full set of controls at our fingertips was so freeing." SightlessKombat has now successfully completed games like Titanfall 2, DOOM 2016, Wolfenstein: The New Order, and Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order, ultimately providing returns for developers thanks to this platform-level feature. "I would love to see this kind of input setup become standard across all platforms as, not only does it help gamers with disabilities, but also families who want to bond over a game."

Beyond Copilot, SightlessKombat also benefits from thoughtful game design. Killer Instinct's sound design and gameplay features allow SightlessKombat to play Killer Instinct completely independently, able to compete on equal footing in competitive play. We went a few rounds in Killer Instinct a few weeks ago, where he summarily destroyed me. "Killer Instinct's audio design allows you to tell, a vast majority of the time, precisely what's going on. It lets you know when to end your combos for optimum damage thanks to the HUD Meter Volume Slider, an accessibility feature that plays audio cues based on your combo gage, introduced to assist gamers without sight."

I also caught up with Cerebral Paul who navigates cerebral palsy to game. Paul uses the platform-level button remapping to assist his motor skills, alongside the more configurable Xbox Elite Series 2 controller. Paul noted to me how Microsoft's efforts in the space have allowed him to feel more like a participant in the ecosystem, taking him off the sidelines, "Only within the last 5 years have we seen a greater shift and companies like Microsoft saying, 'Hey, here's a mostly untapped segment of the population that we should be helping to get involved, to become a part of the world, and not just spectators of it.' That alone is important. People want to feel like they matter — like they count — that's where inclusion comes in. It makes us feel like we're the same."

Next steps

As gaming moves increasingly away from the obscure hobby our parents don't understand to being wholly mainstream, every company has a social responsibility to take inclusion more seriously. The argument that it's too "expensive" doesn't even hold water — there are millions of people out there with disabilities, who are ready and willing to spend money if these companies will just allow them to join in. Once the features are in place, they will pay for themselves over time, bringing games to new audiences.

Microsoft may have ignited the fire, but there's still a lot more work to do. Microsoft can do a lot of stuff at the platform level, but it also requires involvement from developers to take an interest in adding relatively simple features to address accessibility. SightlessKombat emphasized how important it is to get feedback on accessibility early on in a game's development, "Hire consultants as early as possible to be a part of development, design, iteration, feedback, playtesting, etc. That's not just something for Microsoft to do, but all platform devs."

Adding accessibility features and modes should become a standard part of game development, as granted as resolution sliders or difficulty levels. Microsoft is well positioned to help drive inclusion with their vast wealth and profits, and thankfully, continues to invest heavily in platform-level accessibility features. It's about elevating the quality of life of millions who have been excluded from popular activities arbitrarily. While there might be a vague argument as pertains to smaller teams and independent developers with regards to hiring consultants, there's no excuse whatsoever for the bigger players. When you read about Activision CEOs being paid over 150 million dollars per year, it reduces the argument of cost practically to zero.

Cerebral Paul emphasized the frustratingly slow pace of improvements, "It is only within the last 50 years or so that societal views have started to shift. As far as we've come in many aspects, the entertainment industry and the gaming industry, in particular, seem to be among the slowest to normalize and include those with disabilities."

There are millions of kids out there who can't experience the games being actively pushed as the new "cool thing" because of publisher apathy. There are millions who live in isolation, who have an opportunity to make human connections through network play. There are millions of people who actively want to participate in the ecosystem, and ultimately give money to game devs, who can't — simply because they can't access the game and lack the necessary tools. For every youngster who can't participate in the world's favorite pastime, the industry has a responsibility to step up its game. There's some amazing work being done by charities like AbleGamers and SpecialEffect, but it's more important than ever that those with big platforms, such as Xbox, keep trying to change attitudes.

What you need to know

• Accessibility is extremely important in video games, as it allows more gamers to participate in what they love.
• Xbox has made accessibility a priority for them over the last few years, and this trend continues on Global Accessibility Awareness Day.
• In celebration of today, Xbox has released a ton of information on new accessibility features, resources, and ways to contribute to accessibility from Xbox.
• This include a new Xbox Accessibility Insider League inside the Xbox Insider Program, and much-requested features like speech-to-text for Party Chat.

Today is Global Accessibility Awareness Day, and that means Xbox is taking this opportunity to provide an update on their efforts to make video games more accessible for everyone. Xbox is celebrating Global Accessibility Awareness Day with a huge number of new accessibility features for existing games and the Xbox platform, new resources for gamers and updates to Microsoft's Xbox Accessibility Guidelines, and new ways for players to contribute to accessibility on Xbox both through active participation and donations. There's a lot to unpack here (which is awesome to see!), so let's get started.

Not too long ago, I discussed how Microsoft has become a leader in game accessibility through its investments, and today's announcements only solidify that stance.

It's always awesome to see accessibility stand in the foreground for gamers, and Xbox and Microsoft have gone all out with their announcements and updates today. Many of the best Xbox games make accessibility a priority, and making gaming inclusive for as many people as possible becomes increasingly important every single day.

New accessibility features and game updates

First off, Microsoft is sharing a ton of new accessibility features that are not only coming to the Xbox platform as a whole but also specific games through the hard work of the developer.

• Xbox Party Chat speech-to-text and text-to-speech. An exciting feature that Microsoft is working on bringing to Xbox soon is Party Chat transcription and synthesis. This is a highly-requested feature that means players can transcribe the spoken speech in Xbox Party Chat to on-screen text, or use the synthesis of text to speech to convert written messages to spoken. Able to be used independently or in tangent, these two features make Xbox Party Chat considerably more accessible to Xbox players who may be hard of hearing or have difficulty speaking.
• Gears 5. New accessibility features are heading to Gears 5 this month, including:
  • Navigation Ping – Escape Mode. This new accessibility feature allows players to navigate Escape Mode using audio cues, which can be customized to either assist players with simply finding the exit with a series of helpful audio cues, or even to navigate full cover, walls, and corners with a more complex set of unique audio cues.
  • Assistive Features in Higher Difficulties. The next accessibility feature is actually two-in-one. Players will be able to toggle off all sources of screen shake up to Advanced difficulty, and toggle Target Lock to auto-aim at enemies up to Advanced difficulty.
• Minecraft. Minecraft is the biggest game in the world, making it doubly important that Mojang Studios delivers on accessibility features. Here are new and upcoming accessibility features coming to Minecraft.
  • Achievements screen. The new Achievements screen for Minecraft scales across all platforms, devices, and inputs in Minecraft: Bedrock Edition, and has been carefully designed to keep font sizes, contrast, narration, and more in mind.
  • Granular audio control. Audio controllers in Minecraft have been split up to allow players considerably more control when customizing their audio. Audio from multiple sources can now be finetuned.
  • Updated ore patterns. In the upcoming Caves and Cliffs Update, Mojang Studios is updating all the ore textures and patterns in Minecraft, including the new copper, to be distinctive in patterns as well as colors, instead of just color. This change makes ores more visible for players with low vision or any form of color blindness.
• State of Decay 2. The team at Undead Labs has been working on new accessibility features after being consulted by accessibility experts and members of the Gaming & Disability Community. Undead Labs has shared some of the new accessibility features in State of Decay 2 alongside Xbox.
  • Green Zone difficulty. Introduced in the game last year, the Green Zone difficulty was intended for players who still enjoyed the game but wanted to play it at a lower difficulty. This laid the groundwork for the next accessibility feature.
  • Granular difficulty controls. State of Decay 2 recently introduced entirely granular difficulty controls, which allow players to fully customize their State of Decay 2 experience to their needs and situation.
  • Control changes. State of Decay 2 has made several changes to its controls over time to make them less motor intensive, like making finishers a single button press.

New accessibility resources and programs

It's not enough just to make its own games more accessible. Xbox is also a leader in providing in-depth resources to game developers to help them make their games more accessible and inclusive, while providing ways for members of the Gaming & Disability Community to contribute to making accessibility better in gaming. Today offers a number of new ways and updates to push this venture even further.

• Xbox Accessibility Insider League. A portion of the refreshed Xbox Insider Hub for the Xbox Insider Program, the newly formed Xbox Accessibility Insider League allows self-identifying Gaming & Disability Community members to provide accessibility feedback directly to Xbox and game developers. The program is also open to developers sharing their content with the Gaming & Disability Community to collect feedback.
• Accessible Gaming for All Xbox Support page. Xbox is introducing a refreshed landing page for accessibility support, making it easier for gamers to find resources and have their questions answered. Xbox will constantly add new content to this page over time as they collect feedback.
• Gaming and Disability Player Experience Guide. Xbox has developed a new resource for developers that helps outline common accessibility barriers experienced by players across a wide range of disabilities, even situational ones. The guide is built on the Xbox Accessibility Guidelines and is meant to be used with them, and helps developers get started with making their game accessible as well as preparing them for collecting feedback from the Gaming & Disability Community.
• Xbox Accessibility Guidelines 2.1. Xbox is updating their wonderful Xbox Accessibility Guidelines with further improvements to subtitles and captions, screen narration, game input, game difficulty options, and UI navigation in-game examples.
• Monthly MSFTEnable videos. Microsoft is committed to releasing monthly videos on their MSFTEnable YouTube channel covering a wide range of accessibility topics.
• Global Accessibility Awareness game collection. Xbox has released a new game collection on the Microsoft Store including 15 games that have won awards for their accessibility. Games include titles like Outer Worlds, Grounded, and more.

New ways to celebrate accessibility

Finally, Xbox is turning to you to help celebrate accessibility in gaming. On top of donating accessible gaming peripherals to AbleGamers and Warfighter Engaged, Microsoft Rewards is letting players donate their points to Special Olympics. You can also celebrate accessibility in gaming by rocking the latest Xbox wallpaper.

What you need to know

• The Wall Street Journal's Experience Report interviewed Jenny Lay-Flurrie.
• Lay-Flurrie is the chief accessibility officer of Microsoft.
• She offered insights on accessibility and how it can improve, both at Microsoft and in general.

In a new interview published by the Wall Street Journal's Experience Report vertical, Microsoft's chief accessibility officer Jenny Lay-Flurrie provides a look at what accessibility means and sheds light on how Microsoft spotlights it internally.

Many items are covered in the interview, including how accessibility efforts at Microsoft were handled in the past and what they look like now. Before, the CAO was based in a single product team and had to communicate to other teams from within that one. Now, accessibility efforts are handled much like any other company-wide effort in that they're handled from the top of a pyramid and extend into different branches of the organization from there.

Other key takeaways are that Lay-Flurrie is focused on ensuring Microsoft's autism hiring program initiative reaches different parts of the globe and that the company's supported employment practice is expanded. These are all part of the company's increased commitment to expanding accessibility over the next five years.

The CAO also gives general advice in the interview for how companies can improve their own accessibility efforts, emphasizing that for these efforts to be fully realized, they need to be part of bigger design initiatives from the ground up instead of being hastily assembled afterthoughts.

The full interview is a great read, so check it out. And for updates on Microsoft's moves to increase accessibility, keep it tuned to Windows Central.

What you need to know

• Microsoft announced a five-year commitment to helping people with disabilities.
• The initiative includes developing technology, creating opportunities, and improving inclusivity.
• Microsoft announced several new partnerships and accessibility features as part of its extended commitment.

Microsoft announced a new five-year commitment to improve accessibility and to help people with disabilities. The company calls accessible technology a "fundamental building block that can unlock opportunities in every part of society" in a blog post. The post is written by Microsoft president Brad Smith. Microsoft also announced a set of new "accessible by design" features for Microsoft 365.

According to the World Health Organization, around 15% of people in the world have some form of disability. Efforts to improve access to technology directly affect over 1 billion people, and by extension, touch the lives of billions. Microsoft outlines three priorities for its initiative:

1. Spurring the development of more accessible technology across our industry and the economy.
2. Using this technology to create opportunities for more people with disabilities to enter the workforce.
3. Building a workplace that is more inclusive for people with disabilities.

New "accessible by design" features were also announced today, including a new background accessibility checker across the core Office apps and Outlook, AI in Word to make headings more accessible to low-vision and blind readers, and a new Excel navigation pane designed for screen readers. Microsoft is also expanding Immersive Reader, adding a high-contrast mode to Microsoft Teams, and adding auto-captioning to LinkedIn Live Broadcasts.

Microsoft has worked to improve accessibility for years. Immersive Reader, the Xbox Adaptive Controller, and Seeing AI are just some examples of the company's efforts.

Several partners work with Microsoft to improve accessibility as well. For example, Microsoft announced a new partnership with the University of Washington on CREATE and partners with the nonprofit SeeAbility in the UK. Microsoft also has dedicated accessibility research teams, which have helped create innovations such as Eye Control in Windows 10.

As part of its efforts, Microsoft is creating a Low-Cost Assistive Technology Fund, which is part of the AI for Accessibility program. The new fund will launch in fall 2021. Microsoft is working with internet providers, governments, and organizations to deliver affordable broadband, hardware, software, and digital skills to people with disabilities. Today, Microsoft announced a new ASL video call capability that lets deaf people browse Microsoft Store products with a member of Microsoft's deaf support staff.

Smith's post also outlines Microsoft's efforts to increase skills and education levels for people with disabilities. Those efforts include creating Universal Design Learning environments in STEM education and Reflect within Microsoft Teams, which helps support social and emotional learning.

Microsoft also annnounced plans to make hiring more inclusive, including broadening its Support Employment Program to a total of 12 countries and expanding its Autism Hiring program.

While Microsoft's efforts are extensive, the company highlights that helping other organizations will leave a larger impact. Smith states, "We believe that Microsoft's most important contribution to accessibility will come not from our own work, but from helping our customers and partners use technology to meet their accessibility commitments."

To help organizations, Microsoft published the Microsoft Accessibility Evolution Model last year.

Video games allow people of all kinds to experience incredible creations, connect with people all over the world, and be a part of countless stories in a way you can't with other mediums. However, something that has always been an obstacle for a significant portion of the gaming community is accessibility. While accessibility in gaming is becoming increasingly important, many developers and teams struggle to make their inclusivity ambitions a reality.

How can these developers ensure their games are accessible to as many players as possible without detracting from the experiences they've built? Microsoft has invested heavily in answering this question. Microsoft's efforts in this space have made Xbox the leader in gaming accessibility, and Microsoft wants everyone to follow in its footsteps.

I got an opportunity to speak with Senior Gaming Accessibility Program Manager at Microsoft Brannon Zahand to learn more about what Xbox has accomplished with accessibility in gaming, how developers can learn from Microsoft, and how members of the gaming and disability community can participate in making gaming more inclusive for everyone.

Giving everyone a chance to play

Creating an accessible video game means designing it to be inclusive of everyone and the way they play. Accessibility settings in games should cater to temporary and permanent disabilities, whether physical or mental.

Making games more accessible has been a big focus in recent years, and this movement continues to grow. Microsoft, especially, has been a powerful voice pushing accessibility further and has gone above and beyond ensuring Xbox Game Studios titles include a plethora of accessibility settings, like with Gears Tactics' menu narrator or the arachnophobia accessibility setting in Grounded.

In 2018, Microsoft unveiled the Xbox Adaptive Controller (XAC), a unique controller that allows players to customize their setups with standardized accessories, a massive community of support and solutions, and countless other options. While other adaptive controllers like this exist, the XAC is widely available and is backed by a significant company, its resources, and a dedicated community. The XAC is a fantastic controller and one of the best controllers for Xbox Series X|S for anyone who can benefit from it.

When our own Jez Corden wanted to learn more about the XAC, he teamed up with his friend Oliver Koerber, a Gaming & Disability Community member, to review the Xbox Adaptive Controller. After setting up the XAC and using it to play games previously unavailable to him, Oliver said, "I've never had a controller that worked for me. I can look forward to more types of games now and can dive more into the console world... It's a really great thing."

Unfortunately, accessibility doesn't always sit in the foreground for game companies. Sony, Nintendo, and other game companies can certainly make concessions in their games in the name of inclusivity (The Last of Us Part II from Sony and Naughty Dog, for example, includes a wonderful number of in-depth accessibility settings). Still, these efforts aren't always obvious or consistent. Simultaneously, these companies don't have the same dedication to making accessibility better that Microsoft has shown.

A good example of this is how Microsoft is one of the few companies to provide closed captioning for presentations, like at GDC. Closed captioning is one of the smaller details that large companies can often overlook but is hugely appreciated by all manner of viewers.

Making games accessible on a per-game basis is still great to see, and things have been steadily improving over the last few years from many game companies. Microsoft, though, has several tools that start with the developers to begin fostering an accessibility-first mindset in game development. This movement wants to make accessibility, well, accessible for developers that might not know where to begin.

It starts with the developers

While developing and supporting solutions to enable players to experience games that may not have been built with them in mind is terrific, it doesn't resolve the deeper obstacle that prevents all video games from being as accessible as possible. The Xbox Adaptive Controller is a valuable tool for disabled gamers to use, but taking accessibility in gaming to the next level means starting with developers and how they build their games. Microsoft knows this, and in early 2020 released the Xbox Accessibility Guidelines (XAGs).

This is a series of guidances and advice for developers to follow to ensure their games can reach as many people as possible without affecting the game at its core. While this initial system was a great first step, Microsoft hasn't stopped there.

Taking feedback from developers and the Gaming & Disability Community, Microsoft massively updated the Xbox Accessibility Guidelines with implementation examples, additional information, clearer language, scoping questions, and additional links to resources, non-profit organizations, and industry experts.

Even then, Microsoft wasn't going to stop innovating and announced a brand-new service for developers alongside these guideline updates. "We realized that we could do more," Zahand said. "For a while now, developers and publishers had expressed interest in our Gaming Accessibility Team reviewing their products to provide feedback on their accessibility. So, it made sense to create a program that would provide a simple and straightforward way for us to do just that, using the information we've learned on our own game accessibility journey."

Not only can developers use Microsoft's educational guidelines when creating their games, but now developers can take advantage of Microsoft's in-house Gaming Accessibility Team to test their projects against the XAGs. All developers have to do is submit their builds, and Xbox will issue a report.

The new Game Accessibility Testing Service is a fantastic resource for developers to use, but Microsoft knows it alone doesn't possess enough knowledge and insight to do it all effectively. That's why the newly-created program includes members of the Gaming & Disability Community. These valuable participants test games against the XAGs and provide their insightful feedback on areas of improvement for developers.

"The fact that we have gamers with disabilities... is something we know is incredibly valuable, especially for smaller developers," Zahand said about the Game Accessibility Testing Service. "We've been told by some developers that they just aren't sure how to include the community as part of their development process. Not only does this service provide that opportunity, but we also provide information with every report that includes resources with tips on how to reach out to the Gaming & Disability Community."

On developing with accessibility in mind, Zahand said, "If you are taking an inclusive approach to design from day one of development, accessibility will be a natural byproduct, not to mention an overall better experience for all of your customers. You won't be spending time and resources scrambling towards the end of development trying to slap on accessibility features."

"That's why the Gaming Accessibility Team and Xbox are focusing so much on developer education," he continued. "The sooner teams begin developing inclusively, the easier and cheaper it will be."

Of course, Microsoft is also encouraging Xbox Game Studios to take advantage of the XAGs and Game Accessibility Testing Service. Xbox Game Studios have been an integral part of bringing these projects and ambitions to life by providing first-hand experience and feedback to Microsoft.

All of this shows accessibility and inclusivity are core pillars of gaming at Microsoft. Meaningful investments in developer education and end-user tools are good for everyone in gaming, whether you consider yourself a member of the disability community or not. Every gaming company and developer should strive to improve their own efforts continually. Gaming is always better when we can all play together.

Getting the community involved

It's clear that accessibility in gaming is a priority for Microsoft, and every company involved in gaming should look to the Xbox Accessibility Guidelines and Game Accessibility Testing Service for inspiration and guidance on pushing accessibility in gaming further. Microsoft knows they can't accomplish this alone, though, and strives to involve the Gaming & Disability Community every step of the way.

If you believe you can contribute to Microsoft's efforts in game accessibility, there are ways you can reach out. Feedback can be sent to xaccess@microsoft.com. Also, individuals who reside in the greater Seattle area, are experienced using assistive technology in gaming, and are interested in being a part of the Microsoft Game Accessibility Testing Service can e-mail gamea11ytesterinfo@microsoft.com for more information.

What you need to know

• Xbox has sought to improve accessibility in gaming for years, and created the Xbox Accessibility Guidelines in 2020.
• The XAGs were designed to help game developers create their games with accessibility for all players in mind.
• Just over a year later, Xbox is launching many improvements to the XAGs to make them more comprehensive and easier to use.
• Xbox is also launching a new program to help game devs test their Xbox or PC titles against the XAGs, with feedback from members of the Gaming & Disability Community.

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 team announced updates to their gaming accessibility efforts, with a new program for game developers.

In 2018, Xbox launched the excellent Xbox 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.

What you need to know

• Minecraft is an incredibly popular game accessible to everyone: students, children, and gamers with special needs.
• EyeMine V2 is the latest project from UK-based charity SpecialEffect that allows anyone to play Minecraft with just their eyes.
• The free software pairs with Windows, Minecraft: Java Edition, and any of many compatible eye trackers for an intuitive experience.
• Minecraft can be played entirely with EyeMine V2 and further opens up Minecraft to players who may not use a keyboard or controller.

Minecraft is one of the most well-known and most-played games of all time, and a large part of this is due to its accessibility. Minecraft can be played by people of all ages, whatever their gaming needs or desires are. Well-rounded accessibility settings and moderation tools mean Minecraft can be used in education like with Minecraft: Education Edition, provide a safe place for everyone like with the Autcraft Minecraft server, and be played with any number of input systems like keyboard and mouse, controllers, VR, the Xbox Accessibility Controller, and even eye-tracking.

UK-based charity SpecialEffect helps players with physical disabilities play video games they love, and their latest project is EyeMine V2, completely free software for Windows and Minecraft: Java Edition. Paired with an eye tracker of almost any kind, EyeMine V2 lets you play Minecraft entirely with your eyes. The latest version is faster, more intuitive, and gives players complete control over their Minecraft experience with just their eyes.

It's always wonderful to see how Minecraft can adapt to become available to everyone, and how different people, groups, charities, and more take advantage of Minecraft's openness. You can download EyeMine V2 for free right now.

For the biggest Minecraft fans in your life, consider something from our list of Best Minecraft Merch, Toys, and Gifts.

Minecraft

Main

• Minecraft Nether Update: Everything New
• Minecraft Xbox Series X: What To Expect
• Minecraft Education Edition: Ultimate Guide
• How to survive your first night in Minecraft
• How to keep your child safe online in Minecraft

Video games can be a ton of fun, no matter who you are. They're a great way to pass the time, especially with friends and family, and come in an endless number of genres and types for players to choose from. Obsidian Entertainment is aiming to make a true co-op gem with Grounded, a survival game that shrinks players down to the size of insects, and has them work together to survive in a hostile suburban backyard, as they attempt to figure out how to return to normal.

Grounded already looks great in Early Access and Game Preview, but there's one major thing that's preventing many potential players from trying out this new co-op survival adventure — while players are much, much smaller, the spiders are subsequently much, much bigger. And that's a problem for players with arachnophobia or a crippling fear of arachnids (such as spiders).

Here's how Obsidian Entertainment is catering to all players with the inclusion of their Arachnophobia Safe Mode, and how you can take advantage of this important accessibility option.

What is the Arachnophobia Safe Mode in Grounded?

To put it simply, the Arachnophobia Safe Mode in Grounded is an accessibility option that allows interested players to adjust how spiders appear in the game. This means the vast majority of players won't ever touch this option, and it'll be hidden in the accessibility settings along with crucial options for color blindness, hearing aids, and much more. For players who do have arachnophobia, however, this is a fantastic addition to the game, especially in early access, as spiders are relatively common and very intimidating in Obsidian's latest survival game.

Obisidian actually teamed up with Xbox Research over at Microsoft to figure out what parts of the spiders most often caused problems for people, and designed five different "levels" of the spider for Grounded. These levels adjust the spider model, and slowly remove key features until the player feels comfortable with how spiders appear in the game. A critical detail to keep in mind: this does not affect how spiders behave or function in Grounded. Enabling this feature doesn't change the game or make it any easier, it is for players who have an aversion to eight-legged creepy crawlies.

Keep in mind that this setting isn't meant for general use. It is an accessibility option, so most players won't find any value in the Arachnophobia Safe Mode. That's absolutely fine, but it doesn't make this option any less important. Arachnophobia is an extremely common phobia, and unlike other phobias that might pertain to things like height, claustrophobia, or water, arachnophobia can still very much be triggered by mere images or visages of spiders, which makes an accessibility option like this important in a game where spiders don't actually need to exist.

Because this option is built into the game's settings, it only affects the client using it. That means, players who are playing Grounded in co-op can use the Arachnophobia Safe Mode to change how spiders appear, but other players in the world who aren't using the setting won't be affected at all. If you're not using this mode, you will never notice a change.

So how do you use the Arachnophobia Safe Mode in Grounded? I'm glad you asked.

How can I use the Arachnophobia Safe Mode in Grounded?

Using the Arachnophobia Safe Mode is very easy in Grounded, and the game will even prompt you if you'd like to use the setting when you first start up the game. Don't worry, if you choose no, the game won't bother you again! Players can dive into settings any time they want to alter these settings, so you can tinker with them as you want. Finally, as mentioned above, the Arachnophobia Safe Mode only affects you, just like other accessibility options, so anybody you play with will see spiders exactly as they have their settings, not yours.

Here's how to use the Arachnophobia Safe Mode in Grounded:

Warning, there are images of spiders as the Arachnophobia Safe Mode displays them below.

1. Open Grounded on your Xbox or PC.

2. If this is your first time starting the game, Grounded will prompt you with the above message. Follow the prompt to head to the accessibility options.
3. If this isn't your first time, or you don't see the prompt, scroll down to options on the Main Menu and select it.
4. Once you're in options, tab over to the far right tab, which should be labeled "Accessibility."

5. The Arachnophobia Safe Mode will be the option at the top. Grounded will not show you the spider image preview until you click or tap the corresponding button.
6. Level 0 is the default setting for spiders, and changes nothing about their appearance.

7. For many, a spider's legs make them the most uncomfortable, so Level 1 removes half of the spider's legs, leaving them with only four.

8. Level 2 removes the rest of the spider's legs, leaving only the body, head, fangs, and eyes.

9. Level 3 removes the spider's fangs, leaving only the body, head, and eyes.

10. Level 4 removes six of the spider's eyes, and returns the hit box for the fangs without their pronounced appearance. This leaves just the body and head behind.

11. Finally, Level 5 removes all the textures from the spider, leaving only the hitboxes and two eyes. At Level 5, spiders in Grounded have no stand out features, and are two floating hitboxes devoid of textures, with just two red eyes.
12. Once you're satisfied with your Arachnophobia Safe Mode settings, tap or click the corresponding button to apply the settings. The button will be listed along the bottom of the screen.

Once you load into the game, your accessibility settings will be applied, and all spiders will follow the rules dictated by your settings. No more arachnids, thanks to our trusty spider slider! Even if you are afraid of arachnids, spiders included, Obsidian welcomes you to try out Grounded, and gives you the ability to do so in comfort.

Grounded

Main

• Grounded: Everything You Need to Know
• Grounded: Is it good?
• Grounded: Beginner's Guide
• Grounded: List of creatures
• Get Grounded's best weapon
• Grounded: How to get the level 2 axe/hammer

What you need to know

• Grounded is the latest game from Obsidian Entertainment, a cool survival game that shrinks the players down.
• However, this also makes the spiders in the game comparatively massive, which presents a problem for many people.
• To help with this, Obsidian Entertainment developed an awesome Arachnophobia Mode to allow players with arachnophobia to play.
• The mode has lots of settings, letting players slowly remove features from spiders until they're comfortable enough.

Grounded is shaping up to be a very impressive addition to the Xbox Game Studios lineup, and is debuting in the Xbox Game Preview and Steam Early Access programs on July 28, 2020. However, a big problem is likely prevent many potential players from trying out the game for themselves, and that's the existence of spiders. Spiders are the largest and most aggressive mobs in Grounded, which understandably is going to make people with arachnophobia or discomfort related to spiders wary of the game.

Obsidian Entertainment is aware of this, and they've implemented an extremely detailed Arachnophobia Mode into the game, which frankly needs to be copied by every single game featuring spiders, that allows players to slowly "turn off" spiders using a slider. You can have full spiders or just two floating hit boxes with no textures or stand out features, or anywhere in between.

Obsidian Entertainment wants to make their game accessible to as many people as possible, and this is a great way to help include one of the most common phobias people can have: the fear of spiders. Grounded has even gone so far as to ensure that the preview image doesn't show in settings until the player chooses to view the image, so players won't have to come in contact with a spider before they've suitably stripped it of its more terrifying assets.

If you're interested, you can check out this awesome interview with technical game designer Jerrick Flores from Obsidian Entertainment here at Gamespot for more details on the game's Arachnophobia Mode, or join us as we jump into the Early Access and Game Preview for Grounded starting tomorrow.

Grounded

Main

• Grounded: Everything You Need to Know
• Grounded: Is it good?
• Grounded: Beginner's Guide
• Grounded: List of creatures
• Get Grounded's best weapon
• Grounded: How to get the level 2 axe/hammer

What you need to know

• A new post from Microsoft breaks down how Project Tokyo helps blind people recognize faces.
• The project uses artificial intelligence and specialized hardware to help send cues and information to blind people.
• The post focuses on a 12-year old boy, Theo, and the growth of Project Tokyo.

Microsoft continues to use technology to improve accessibility. A new blog post from Microsoft shares the growth and development of Project Tokyo, a combination of technologies that extend people's capabilities. Project Tokyo uses artificial intelligence, specialized hardware such as a custom HoloLens, and the results of several research efforts to help improve accessibility. One of the key areas that the post highlights is the ability to send spatial audio cues and information to blind people and people with low vision.

The post focuses heavily on the story of Theo, a 12-year old boy who uses a customized HoloLens to improve his communication. The headband detects people's faces, and if a face is on the system, sends an audio cue to Theo to tell who who he's facing. The post explains that some blind people can miss cues that people with full vision take for granted, such as knowing when someone is making eye contact with them. The system Theo uses helps communicate those cues and gives Theo and others an improved sense of connection.

Theo states that "It is so exciting to be able to find out where the people are in my environment," adding, "Not just who chooses to talk, but all of the people who are silent that you can see by their face, but I can't."

Project Tokyo isn't restricted to vision-related aspects of communication. Researcher Cecily Morrison views the future of AI as a set of resources that people can use in a variety of ways, "All of a sudden we don't have to say, 'Hey you are blind and I just made this accessible to you.' We say, 'Hey, you are you and I have just built a system that works for you.'"

Proof that Microsoft's Windows eye-tracking tech works: This article was written with it

Project Tokyo came from a challenge in 2016 to create AI systems that could do more than simple tasks. The blog post shares the story of how a team from Microsoft followed athletes on a trip to the 2016 Paralympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The trip helped Microsoft's team understand communication and group dynamics affected by blindness and vision impairments.

Ed Cutrell, a senior principal researcher at Microsoft, states, "We, as humans, have this very, very nuanced and elaborate sense of social understanding of how to interact with people – getting a sense of who is in the room, what are they doing, what is their relationship to me, how do I understand if they are relevant for me or not... And for blind people a lot of the cues that we take for granted just go away."

People working on Project Tokyo realized that the HoloLens already picks up a lot of the information that they needed in a system. It has a wide field of view, can recognize faces, and has speakers that support spatial audio. These features helped make a system that can identify people, contextually draw people's attention to a location with spatial audio, and to deliver cues to improve communication.

How Microsoft's Xbox Adaptive Controller changed the game for one man with disabilities

In addition to improving communication directly, Microsoft is looking into if Project Tokyo can help teach blind children or children with low vision to improve interactions.

Microsoft plans to expand Project Tokyo in the future. Its goal is to be able to adapt the system to different situations and preferences.

What you need to know

• Microsoft's Seeing AI accessibility app expanded beyond English with its latest update.
• The app now works natively with Dutch, French, German, Japanese, and Spanish.
• Native speakers can now use Seeing AI to interpret the world around them in their own language.

Microsoft has steadily increased the capabilities of its Seeing AI app since 2017, and now it's getting even more accessible. The app, which helps those with visual impairments interpret the world around them, received native support for five new languages with its latest update. The app now supports Dutch, French, German, Japanese, and Spanish.

Previously, Seeing AI only worked with English, which, despite its goals for making the world more accessible for everyone, limited its use outside of English-speaking countries. Now, anyone who speaks any of the five newly supported languages can use Seeing AI to explore the scenery around them, have photos described to them, and read written text out loud.

"Now I will be able to read in Japanese. And I can also read my mail and other communication and correspondence on paper, so that will be super exciting," Seeing AI user Akiko Ishii told Microsoft in a blog post announcing the new feature. "If any communication was on paper, I would have to have somebody read it to me, [b]ut now I'll be able to read it myself."

In addition to the newly supported languages, Seeing AI can now recognize Japanese Yen in the currency channel. It has also picked up the usual batch of bug fixes.

Seeing AI is only available for iOS devices. You can donload and try the app now for iPad and iPhone at the App Store

What you need to know

• A Microsoft news post shares how Dona Sarkar helps herself and others overcome learning disabilities.
• Sarkar found out she had dyslexia five years ago but began speaking about it more to help others last year.
• Sarkar uses a number of tools to help her, and shares how to use those tools with others.

Dona Sarkar, head Ninja Cat of the Windows Insider Program, is featured in a Microsoft news piece that focuses on using tools to address learning disabilities. Sarkar was diagnosed with dyslexia around five years ago but generally kept it to herself until last year, initially not feeling the need to explain her dyslexia to others. Now, Sarkar speaks to groups and shares stories on how to use tools to overcome learning disabilities.

Sarkar was initially inspired to share more after watching a Microsoft video that shows a boy reading for the first time using Microsoft Learning Tools. Sarkar now uses many of those tools herself, including OneNote's Immersive Reader. According to the news post, seeing the video helped her realize that disabilities like dyslexia are common and that she could help support others and raise awareness about learning disabilities.

Sarkar is quoted in the news post saying,

Sarkar has talked about her disability on stage to over 1,500 people and demonstrated how tools such as Immersive Reader, Focus Mode, and other Office tools help her manage her reading.

Sarkar is quoted later in the news post saying,

Sarkar shared a story in the new piece about how she spoke up in a meeting and said she had trouble reading a specific chart. Her coworkers explained the chart right away and as a result she felt included and connected.

There are one billion people, 15-percent of the world's population, living with some form of disability. People with disabilities comprise the world's largest minority group. Throughout the ages, disabilities have presented a barrier to an individual's full participation in the range of opportunities within a society that are often taken for granted by those of us who are not living with a disability.

The altruistic efforts of individuals and groups, the results of activism, the efforts of policy-makers and the empathy of those driven with self-less care of the needs of others has helped to mainstream a range of accommodations that help level the playing field for people with disabilities. Still, there is much work to be done. In this age of technology, much of what we do in life has a digital parallel.

The need for websites, apps and more to be equally accessible to all is just as important as a ramp for those who use a wheelchair, public accommodations for service animals that assist those with blindness or the guarantee of a free and appropriate public education (FAPE) for students with special needs. Imagine being unable to complete a purchase online, prevented from participating in social media platforms or being unable to engage in any range of online activity. This is the reality for millions of people living with disabilities because many websites and apps are not fully accessible to them.

As one of the world's technology leaders Microsoft, under the leadership of Satya Nadella, has embraced inclusive design — building technology from conception to production with all users in mind. This has yielded such products as Microsoft's Adaptive Controller and Eye Tracking technology that allows users to navigate Windows with their eyes and much more. Microsoft's commitment to ensuring much of its software efforts are accessible to all would not be possible without the help of Deque, a company that is passionate about accessibility and has enabled Microsoft to do much of what it does to make software accessible. I had a candid discussion with Preety Kumar, the CEO of Deque. We talked about Deque's mission, its partnership with Microsoft and where the companies are going from here.

Preety Kumar, seeds of empathy and Deque?

Kumar shared that she fell into accessibility by accident about twenty years ago and saw it as a challenge. She was confident that her abilities as a software engineer would help her to automate what was required. She admits that many people who are driven for accessibility were once simply handling a task on their plate but — like her — it became a passion. She reflected on the passion her mother modeled as a champion for equality of all kinds and the orphanage and school for the blind with which she worked. Kumar shared that as a child visiting the school for the blind she wondered why the only jobs the students could have was menial work.

These seeds of empathy later grew into a passion that helps Kumar drive Deque forward. Deque's mission is to provide enterprise-ready tools that make websites and mobile applications accessible to people with disabilities — and to make it easy for developers to build for disabilities. Kumar simplifies the mission as "Digital Equality." Deque works with Fortune 500 companies, large organizations, and others to help mobile app builders, website operators, and more make these tools accessible. Kumar expressed that in the digital age, Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs is met online in some form. This is an insightful perspective that highlights how critical accessibility for digital properties is to meeting many of life's basic needs.

Deque currently has a global team of about 200 people, with the highest number of people being part of product development and research out of Ann Arbor, Michigan. Deque's altruistic nature is a significant part of what drives the company. Deque works closely with people with disabilities, and it is this proximity to the community it serves that continues to drive it. Kumar asked,

Deque and Microsoft open-sourcing and automating accessibility tools

Deque's Axe Accessibility rules engine is the de facto standard for testing digital properties for accessibility issues. In March we learned of Microsoft's and Deque's partnership that expanded on Microsoft's use of "axe core" as the source that powers the automated checker for Microsoft's Accessibility Insight tool. Microsoft open-sourced its Windows rules as Axe for Windows which allows the open source community worldwide to contribute to the tools that target not only the one billion people living with disabilities but benefits everyone who uses the products.

Kumar shared, "We're looking to Microsoft to raise the awareness around the world that this is a must-do thing just like security, even more, important than security in my opinion." The infrastructure this partnership creates makes it possible for accessibility to be "part and parcel of the tools developers use in the Windows ecosystem [and] Azure dev-ops environment," says Kumar. Millions of developers contribute to Deque's open-source rule, Deque ensures GitHub integration occurs and reaches developers. This all works toward Kumar's goal of simplifying things for developers.

Kumar is committed to what she describes as futuristic work: increasing automation by using AI. The more automation is part of these tools that assess accessibility the simpler they will be to develop, deploy, and use. When asked what was on the horizon, Kumar replied,

Deque and Microsoft synergy

Long before the headline-grabbing open-sourcing partnership, Deque has been part of Microsoft's inclusion efforts. All of Microsoft developers were using Deque's tools to enable much of the company's inclusion plan. The relationship grew when Microsoft employees were trained on accessibility through Deque University. Microsoft then decided to utilize Deque's Axe Code as part of its tooling via an Axe Code subscription. Kumar reflected on Microsoft saying, "We spent years trying to create our own rule engine, then we said why should we do it, you already developed the best." Microsoft encouraged Deque to open-source their product; "they're [Microsoft] the ones that did it," Kumar shared.

Kumar spoke kindly of Nadella as a CEO and of the partnership with Microsoft:

Separately Deque and Microsoft do great things to make technology accessible to people with disabilities, together — by simplifying the process and making the tools broadly available to developers for every stage of development — the two companies may change the game.

According to the "Disabled World towards tomorrow" website, 650 million people — nearly 20% of the world's population — are living with a disability. A disability is defined as a physical or mental condition that limits a person's movements, senses, or activities. Many millions of people around the world have limited access to the opportunities and technology the majority of the population enjoys without inhibition.

Global Accessibility Awareness Day's (GAAD) purpose is to get everyone "talking, thinking and learning about digital (web, software, mobile, etc.) access/inclusion and people with different disabilities."

Rather than just trying to build general awareness of these challenges, GAAD is promoting action by targeting the "design, development, usability, and related communities who are responsible for building, shaping, funding and influencing technology and its use." That means Microsoft, and it means you.

Have empathy because it could be you

Interview with GAAD co-founder Jennison Asuncion

GAAD was birthed eight years ago through a blog post written by Joe Devon, a Los Angeles-based web developer. Accessibility professional Jennison Asuncion, after reading the post, joined forces with Devon to create the first GAAD event.

GAAD is geared toward ensuring that the companies that make the products we use have the knowledge and resources to adhere to the strict standards of inclusive design and accessibility. Every year numerous events are held around the world to promote this mission.

On this Global Accessibility Awareness Day (GAAD), the realization that disabilities are both congenital (present at birth) and acquired throughout life is core to appealing to human empathy to build awareness and promote action for the needs of people with disabilities. Disabilities can affect anyone. As life expectancy increases (life spans over 70 years), so does the incidents of various impairments. Malnutrition, disease and child labor, particularly in developing countries, are also causes of disabilities. Armed conflict and violence also cause many of the disabilities with which millions are living. Accidents are a factor as well. Thus, it is important to remember, that someone who does not need technology to be made accessible for them today, may need it in the future.

Empathy, which is the driving force behind Microsoft's CEO Satya Nadella's passion for ensuring its products and services are accessible to all is an important characteristic for individuals, companies and leaders of industry to exercise. Without it hiring practices that promote the inclusion of people of varying abilities will not be part of a company's core mission. This ultimately robs companies of the valuable perspectives of the needs of important segments of the markets they serve.

Inclusive design is also a byproduct of genuine empathy in that it ensures that necessary time and resources are committed to guaranteeing products are designed from conception forward with every user in mind rather than "tacking" on accessibility options after a product is built.

How raising a son with disabilities helped Microsoft's CEO transform the company

Microsoft, inclusive design and accessibility

Nadella admits that his experience raising a son with severe Cerebral Palsy has made him an empathetic leader for Microsoft. He confessed in an interview (above video) that he initially saw his son's condition as something that happened to him; but after the selfless efforts of his wife he realized it had happened to his son Zane. This enabled him so see life through his son's eyes and to address his needs. This empathy has been made part of the company's core identity and is driving a mission of inclusive design to make sure everyone can use Microsoft's products and services.

This is an evolving challenge but Microsoft is aggressively positioning itself as a vocal leader by designing products and services that meet the needs of people with disabilities. Here are some areas where Microsoft is making technology accessible to people with disabilities. They've produced a number of products and programs to open up technology to even more users.

Microsoft's Immersive Reader battles Dyslexia

Immersive Reader is a feature Microsoft built first into OneNote and then expanded to other Microsoft tools and cross-platform products. It has been used by millions and has succeeded in helping people with Dyslexia overcome their challenges.

Microsoft's Seeing AI app helps the blind to 'see'

Created by a Microsoft programmer with blindness, Saquib Shaikh, Seeing AI leverages artificial intelligence and Microsoft's Cognitive Services to describe the world to people who can't see it . This enables them to interact, navigate and provides a level of autonomy they might otherwise not have.

Microsoft's Project Emma confronts Parkinson's Disease

Microsoft's Project Emma is the company's investment in combatting Parkinson's Disease. The Emma Watch, which sparked the more expansive Project Emma, helps to control the tremors associated with Parkinson's Disease.

Windows Eye Gaze gives hope to people with quadriplegia

Microsoft's Eyes Gaze technology was birthed from Microsoft's efforts to help people who cannot navigate Windows with their hands. Using just their eyes, people with immobilizing conditions like ALS can navigate Windows and even type entire articles using only their eyes.

Cortana makes Windows 10 setup easy for everyone

Setting up Windows on a new PC can be daunting for some. And for those with limited movement, using your voice in conjunction with Cortana to set up Windows can be liberating.

Microsoft's Autism Hiring Program

Microsoft's Autism Hiring Program is a modified multi-faceted hiring process that navigates around the social-interaction barriers many people with autism face. Microsoft has allied itself with the Autism @ Work Roundtable to help bring its successful model to other companies.

Microsoft's Xbox Adaptive Controller makes everyone a gamer

Microsoft's Xbox Adaptive controller is an ambitious device filled with a host of ports allowing users to configure the controller to their specific needs. This device has opened the world of gaming to millions of people who were previously shut out.

Microsoft patents Xbox Braille controller

Earlier this month a Microsoft patent for a Braille panel incorporated into an Xbox Elite Controller surfaced. Microsoft is very serious about including everyone in its products and services.

Global Accessibility Awareness Day and you

On this GAAD make an effort to not only know about the issues, but perhaps you can find a way to be a part of doing something to make technology accessible for everyone. Check out the activities and events going on around the world; perhaps there is something near you.