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“Instead, the team was approached from a gameplay perspective in what situations or controls would benefit from a shortcut,” Zorrilla says. “Some situations might be offered alternately (such as opening or aiming a gun wheel), but they were good candidates to offer as a single press like holders like jumping and slapping or sliding your weapon.”
Apart from the challenge of implementation alternating against holding in specific actions, the developers had to deal with the task of meeting the specific needs of each disabled person. While more studios are adopting accessibility practices, features and settings can adapt so much. Each disability is unique, and people with the same disability can have significant differences in strength, vision, or hearing. As a result, Insomniac Games he invented a new feature specific Ratchet and Clank which can help relieve physical and cognitive fatigue.
“Initially we were discussing how to handle each individual situation, eventually Game Speed could become a general option that could be used in any situation and shortcuts seemed like the best way to allow players control over speed and time,” says Zorrilla. “This created a new challenge, as the addition of three different game speeds meant they all had to be tested, and both our Development Support team and PlayStation Studios QA were key to making that happen.”
These accessibility initiatives are not exclusive to PlayStation. Microsoft and Nintendo have hardware, software, or documentation to help promote inclusiveness in internal studios. For example, in 2020 it was launched by Xbox Xbox Accessibility Guidelines (XAG) to promote consistency across all platforms. While not a rigid checklist that needs to be strictly followed, this list allows developers to continuously track game accessibility performance throughout all stages of development, ensuring that their games do not have crucial features. For PlayStation, the studios and developers have a repeat of their guidelines, with the first version created in 2015. Mark Friend SIE lead researcher acknowledges that such guidelines not only raise awareness but also allow for consistent accessibility.
“The original document was an important moment because it helped make it accessible to people during a much more common topic of conversation in game development, and provided a great resource for developers who wanted to know more about the topic,” says Friends. “It’s been important for us to work with PlayStation Studios developers to keep them up to date on what’s new in terms of accessibility guidelines to ensure that what we determine is achieved.”
And together Ratchet and Clank as proof, the features of accessibility are horrible games, even though they came from the same studio.
“Accessibility is more than just following the suggested guidelines for accessibility in game development,” says Friend. “While there are general good practices that can be extended between games, all games released by PlayStation Studios are different, so our goal is always to make sure we support our studio and our games. The suggested guidelines provide a great knowledge base, but our studios we also want to make sure they plan to explore new and innovative ways to make their games more accessible. ”
Adding accessibility features within a game doesn’t require an AAA studio with hundreds of employees. And regardless of the size of the development, accessibility is best addressed at the beginning of projects. Friend recommends that developers include disabled players as testers to ensure that these features and options work for them.
Aside from the logistical aspect of game design, the inclusion of accessibility features and opportunities comes as a result of a commitment to let everyone play. No one should be left out because of their abilities, and as Sam Thompson says, hearing directly from people with disabilities how beneficial and important accessibility can be as well as rewarding as a developer is reassuring.
“Empathy is the most powerful tool in your arsenal. With this you can achieve more than you ever thought possible. It’s totally amazing how effective and motivating A11Y community members can be when they go to the studio to share their perspectives and encourage your team to see things differently. You will be amazed at the impact it will have on your team. “
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