[games_access] Turtle Rock Studios shares accessibility info

[Ian Hamilton]

Absolutely agree with Tara that it is great to see a studio not only opening a public dialogue about ongoing accessibility efforts in their game, but also making a public acknowledgement of some areas that they know are problematic.

That kind of thing is recommended practice for accessibility policies and statements in other industries, but it is a pretty significant step for gaming, I hope others will do the same.

It seems to have been a good few weeks in AAA land, with other studios putting out forum calls for ideas ahead of development, and quickly jumping on patching accessibility issues immediately after launch. All feels pretty different to a few years ago!


> On 11 Jun 2015, at 22:57, Steve Spohn <steve at ablegamers.com> wrote:
> 
> Evolve misses the mark on accessibility. Having played the game, the list is a bit deceptive. The mouse sensitivity is capped, and needs hacked in order to be adjusted to the number of the individual's choosing. For people with low vision the game is nearly unplayable, not only as monster. There is button mashing-- you have to switch weapons rapidly depending on class and character, more so with some than others. Some roles are much more suited to those who have limited reaction time. The hearing impaired is at a major disadvantage. Deaf gamers even more so.
> 
> I hope that game studios work closer with SpecialEffect and AbleGamers to list detailed and accurate accessibility options.
> 
>> On Thu, Jun 11, 2015 at 4:35 PM, Tara Voelker <tvoelker at igda-gasig.org> wrote:
>> Hello!
>> 
>> Turtle Rock studios (where I now work) has decided to publicly share all our accessibility features on our own forum, proving easy access to anyone wanting to know what features we do and don't have. 
>> 
>> We have a post up for the last game we launched, Evolve, and plan to do it for all future titles. 
>> 
>> https://talk.turtlerockstudios.com/t/evolve-game-accessibility-breakdown/61376
>> 
>> What is really awesome is it's straight forward and we're upfront about areas that need improvement, like colorblind friendliness. 
>> 
>> We also note gameaccessibilityguidelines.com and use the Special Effect icon!
>> 
>> Hopefully more AAA studios follow suit!
>> 
>> Tara
>> 
>> Sent from my iPhone
>> 
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> 
> 
> 
> -- 
> Steve Spohn
> 
> Chief Operations Officer
> 
> AbleGamers Charity
> AbleGamers.com | Facebook | Twitter
> 
> Read the award-winning, critically acclaimed set of game accessibility guidelines for developers to create mainstream games that are accessible to everyone: Includification.com
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