Making Games More Accessible (UXPA - January 2017)

1 in 7 people have some form of disability. Disability can affect anyone, at any time in their lives. It can be something people are born with or something they develop later in life. Statistics show that players with disabilities play games more frequently, for more hours per week, and for longer sessions. Playing games can be a very important part of their lives, but their needs are often overlooked during game development.

In this talk, Mark will provide an overview about what accessibility is, what the common barriers are that disabled gamers encounter, and examples of how to better design games with disability in mind.

Mark is a User Researcher at Sony Interactive Entertainment Europe. Day-to-day he works with first-party development teams to help improve the usability of their games. Mark has also specialised in accessibility for the past 6 years, both in web and game development. During his time at PlayStation, he has established the SIEE User Research team’s accessibility testing and evaluation service, and has produced a set of accessibility guidelines which have been circulated throughout Worldwide Studios.