ESA Announces Accessible Games Initiative to Provide Product Accessibility Feature Information
Today, the Entertainment Software Association (ESA) has announced the Accessible Games Initiative, a new “tag” system aiming to provide video game accessibility feature information to consumers.
The initiative was announced at the Game Developers Conference today, and was conceived by a coalition from Electronic Arts, Google, Microsoft, Nintendo, Sony, and Ubisoft. Amazon, Riot Games, Square Enix, and WB Games have also since joined the initiative, which will be managed by the ESA.
With this initiative, participating video game companies will label their games with relevant “tags” from an approved set of 24, with the information appearing near the game’s project information on digital storefronts and product pages.
These tags will denote features such as “clear text,” “large and clear subtitles,” “narrated menus,” “stick inversion,” “save anytime,” “difficulty levels,” “playable without button holds,” and others.
“Tens of millions of Americans have a disability and often face barriers to experiencing the joy and connection that comes with playing video games,” said Stanley Pierre-Louis, ESA president and CEO. “We are immensely proud to announce the Accessible Games Initiative in partnership with industry leaders. This initiative demonstrates how impactful we can be when we work together in our industry-wide pursuit of helping more people experience the power of play.”
The tags will be rolled out gradually on a company-by-company basis and are not mandatory. At launch, they will only be available in English. More tags, or adjustments to existing tags, may be developed over time.
Accessible Games Initiative tags:
Auditory Features
Tag
Multiple Volume Controls
Description
Separate volume controls are available for different types of sounds.
• The volume can be changed separately for music, speech, sound effects, background
audio, text-to-speech audio, accessibility audio cues, and voice chat.
• All game sounds can also be changed at once using one volume control.
Tag
Mono Sound
Description
Lets you play with mono audio.
• The same audio will be sent to all channels (e.g., both left and right headphones),
effectively providing a single, combined audio channel.
Tag
Stereo Sound
Description
Lets you play with stereo audio.
• Sounds communicate how far to the left or right they are coming from.
• Sounds will not communicate whether they are coming from above,
below, ahead, or behind you.
Tag
Surround Sound
Description
Lets you play with surround sound.
• Sounds communicate where they are coming from, which may include any direction.
Tag
Narrated Menus
Description
Lets you use screen readers or voice narration for menus and notifications.
• Screen readers can access all menus, or the game provides similar functionality.
• Interactions and context changes are controlled by you and announced through
narration.
• You can move through menus one item at a time, rather than steering a cursor.
Tag
Chat Speech-to-Text & Text-to-Speech*
Description
Lets you use text-to-speech and speech-to-text for game chats with other players.
• Text chats can be narrated out loud in real-time.
• Voice chats can be read as a text transcript in real-time.
*This tag contains both auditory and visual features.
Gameplay Features
Tag
Difficulty Levels
Description
Lets you select from multiple difficulty options, including at least one option that reduces the
intensity of the challenges.
• Differences between difficulty levels are also described.
Tag
Save Anytime
Description
Lets you manually save your progress at any time.
Exceptions:
• The game is saving or loading.
• When saving could result in game-breaking scenarios or blocked progress, such as
during death animations.
Input Features
Tag
Basic Input Remapping
Description
Lets you rearrange the button controls.
• Button controls can be swapped or rearranged by some other method.
• The “Full Input Remapping” tag lets you remap all game controls, not just button
controls, and remap them by choosing which action is performed by which input.
Tag
Full Input Remapping
Description
Lets you choose which action in the game is assigned to which control.
• All game controls can be remapped for all directly supported input methods, e.g.
keyboard, mouse, controllers, and virtual on-screen controllers.
• Controller stick functionality can be swapped.
• The “Basic Input Remapping” tag lets you remap only button controls, and remap by
simple methods like button swap.
Tag
Stick Inversion
Description
Lets you change how direction inputs such as thumbsticks affect game
movement in the up and down and left and right directions.
Examples of these directional inputs include thumbsticks and flight sticks.
Tag
Playable without Button Holds
Description
Lets you play without button holds.
• The game doesn’t require digital inputs (like keys or buttons) to be held.
• Some analog inputs (like sticks and triggers) may still require holds.
Tag
Playable without Rapid Button Presses
Description
Lets you avoid repetitive button actions like button mashing and quick-time events.
Tag
Playable with Keyboard Only
Description
Lets you play using only your keyboard.
• The game can be played with a keyboard alone, without any other devices.
Tag
Playable with Mouse Only
Description
Lets you play using only your mouse.
• This also lets you play using adaptive tech that maps to mouse inputs.
Tag
Playable with Buttons Only
Description
Lets you play using only buttons where the amount of pressure doesn’t
affect the controls.
• The game and menus can be controlled using only digital inputs (like buttons or keys).
Tag
Playable with Touch Only
Description
Lets you play using only touch controls.
• Players are not required to use any type of non-touch controls, such as buttons or
analog sticks.
Tag
Playable Without Motion Controls
Description
Lets you play without using motion controls
Tag
Playable Without Touch Controls
Description
Lets you play without using touchpads or touchscreens.
Visual Features
Tag
Chat Speech-to-Text & Text-to-Speech*
Description
Lets you use text-to-speech and speech-to-text for game chats with other players.
• Text chats can be narrated out loud in real-time.
• Voice chats can be read as a text transcript in real-time.
*This tag contains both auditory and visual features.
Tag
Clear Text
Description
Text in menus, control panels, and settings is a reasonable size. You can adjust the contrast.
• Text is at a reasonable size relative to the device’s screen resolution and typical viewing
distance.
• Font is less stylized or can be changed to a less stylized option (e.g., sans serif).
• Text has, or can be adjusted to, a reasonable contrast against all backgrounds.
(See “Large & Clear Subtitles” tag for subtitle text options)
Tag
Large Text
Description
Lets you use a large font size for text in menus, control panels, and settings.
• Text can be in a large size relative to the device’s screen resolution and typical viewing
distance.
(See “Large & Clear Subtitles” tag for subtitle text options)
Tag
Large & Clear Subtitles
Description
Subtitles are available for all dialogue.
• Text is at a reasonable size relative to the device’s screen resolution and typical viewing
distance.
• The subtitle background transparency can be adjusted.
• Subtitles don’t overlap with important game elements.
• Font is less stylized or can be changed to a less stylized option (e.g., sans serif).
• This tag covers spoken game dialogue only and doesn’t include text displayed for other
audio such as speaker tone or environmental sounds that are typically included in
captions.
Tag
Color Alternatives
Description
Color is not used to communicate important information or can be adjusted.
• Shape, pattern, icons, or text is used to communicate information instead of color.
Tag
Camera Comfort
Description
There are no camera effects that may cause discomfort or harm (e.g., nausea, headaches) or
those effects can be turned off or adjusted.
• ‘Camera effects’ includes, but is not limited to: shaking, swaying, bobbing, motion blur,
camera speed, and forced narrative-based movement.
Rebekah Valentine is a senior reporter for IGN. You can find her posting on BlueSky @duckvalentine.bsky.social. Got a story tip? Send it to [email protected].
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