April 25, 2023

Accessibility in Video Games

18 minutes

We take a look at how an increasingly prevalent part of the entertainment industry is becoming more accessible to people with visual impairments. For a long time, video game developers have struggled to understand the needs of people with sight loss and therefore, modern games were largely unplayable. We take a look at The European Gaming Accessibility conference, that aims to combat these attitudes. It brings together people from the gaming industry to share best practice and knowledge on how to make games more accessible. Moreover, the RNIB have launched their Design for Every Gamer campaign that works to do the same. Blind gamer, access consultant and Accessible Gaming Officer for the RNIB, SightlessKombat tells us more.

And, part two of a Star Wars spin off game is soon to be released. Visually impaired gamer, access consultant and YouTube personality, Steve Saylor was one of the first people to play an accessibility preview of Star Wars: Jedi Survivor. He tells us what players can expect from the new game.

Star Wars: Jedi Survivor audio described trailer is thanks to the #TranscribingGames project.

Presenter: Peter White

Producer: Beth Hemmings

Production Coordinator: Liz Poole

Website image description: Peter White sits smiling in the centre of the image, wearing a dark green jumper. Above Peter's head is the BBC logo (three individual white squares house each of the three letters). Bottom centre and overlaying the image are the words "In Touch" and the Radio 4 logo (the word Radio in a bold white font, with the number 4 inside a white circle). The background is a bright mid-blue with two rectangles angled diagonally to the right. Both are behind Peter, one of a darker blue and the other is a lighter blue.

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