I’ll drink the half-full glass: accessible gaming hardware is more widely available than it has ever been.
Big corporation Microsoft bad, but as the article points out, they have been one of the major players in the accessibility field with hardware and software accommodations to help meet some of the common needs of disabled gamers. Valve’s platform allows for dynamic reprogramming of just about any key binding that I can think of to get around games that have their inputs hard coded in.
I believe the CEOs son has some special needs and he’s been big on pushing them to develop inputs methods that are accessible. It’s definitely getting better! As a gamer who’s been playing since they were a kid and now in my 30’s I’m starting to get RSI like issues and definitely appreciate some of these accessibility movements because they allow me to change up my input more often.
Not to mention accessibility settings in games themselves. Fortnite has an option to visually show sounds and their directions on the HUD and it was amazing when I spent a month with no audio solution, I can’t imagine what a breath of fresh air it is for deaf gamers. The Last of Us Pt2 is also wildly player-friendly, and recently I’ve even been seeing some indie titles like Metal Unit do their best to assist players and let them enjoy the game.
Accessibility is only getting better, and I think this cynicism is unwarranted. We should certainly keep up the fight and demand for it, but you go back two decades and games didn’t even come with subtitles as standard. Doom 3 still pisses me off in that regard.
Great article and it sums up my feelings pretty well. I’m incredibly grateful for the XAC. What it has allowed me to combine together to play games, it’s wonderful. But it’s been a bumpy, expensive road to get here. I bought it on launch and the accessories that Microsoft offered at the time of launch were laughable. I only bought a single $60 big red button for it. I get it and the button is so sensitive I think I could set it off by breathing on it. I needed to use it with my feet so that’s no good.
The whole thing sat for a good year or more collecting dust until I came across Logitechs adaptive gaming kit. A great selection of buttons and everything you need to mark and manage them. It’s $120 (ughhhh) and to get all the buttons I want for how I use it, I’ll need 3 of them. My whole setup for it is over $400, ridiculous. Thankfully I am able to work with my disability and can afford that, but back when I was on SSI, no way in hell. I guess it’s cheaper than all the controllers I have bought in the past trying to find one I really enjoy using.
What I came up with, also using foot controls for WASD. https://i.imgur.com/30F9NUi.jpg
Some general rambling, the Xbox Accessories app needs a major overhaul, it’s a mess. Last time I checked Microsoft’s support site for the XAC was a bunch of broken links. Also the XAC stopped working shortly after the warranty died. It has an internal battery the failed. Opening it up and disconnecting/removing that battery got it going again. Couldn’t find the battery anywhere for purchase, so it only works hardwired now but that’s not really a problem.
Hi Termus, I’ve worked in a non-profit that dealt with this kind of thing; half of our focus was on people with disabilities. What I like about the XAC is that it has a 3.5mm jack for every button that the XBox controller uses, and the advantage of that is that you can use ANY accessible input that is available under the sun. You didn’t have to buy the MS or Logitech accessories for them. I’m wondering why you felt you had to do that?
I agree that Sony’s effort is not as good. I feel like it was created for marketing and coolness first.
At the time of launch, Microsoft was the only vendor that had buttons in stock. All the accessibility sites that sold custom ones were sold out. I did buy a mix of loose arcade buttons with the idea to create my own. I gave up on that once I saw the Logitech kit. It’s built nicer than what I would have been able to build myself, with way less effort. I’ve bought one joystick off Etsy to use with my feet. It’s custom made with a 3d printed shell, it’s nice but it was also $45 for a single input. Ughhhh.
Ah, I see. I’m quite sure we’re in different parts of the world and I guess my experience with parts availability was different. Here the problem is more of cost, as I’m sure your experience has shown, these do get expensive very quick, sadly.
