The hybrid edition of #GAconf USA 2024 was held on 28th-29th October across Zoom, Discord and the Archer hotel in Redmond.
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In this presentation, Alan will go over what the Toby Accessibility Mod is and explain how game developers can incorporate accessibility features into their own games.
Olivier Palmieri, Ubisoft. Virtual Reality allows an amazing level of immersion in virtual worlds. With motion controls, Virtual Reality can also be a challenge for accessibility. In Assassin’s Creed Nexus VR, the open worlds of the game provide great opportunities for players to explore, parkour, climb, fight or go stealth. This can potentially be a challenge for players’ accessibility. We will present our journey and share our experience developing features and presets to make the game accessible and comfortable for players.
Join industry experts as they explore how to make live service games more accessible. This panel will focus on key strategies for building inclusive games that evolve over time, balancing priorities, and engaging players, all while keeping accessibility at the core of development and player communication.
More often than not, characters with Tourette’s in media are included mainly as comic relief, narrowly portraying their experience based on stereotypes. What’s Tourette Syndrome really like? How do misconceptions about disability impact the characters we create, or the workspaces we share? Pat O’Leary shares his own experience working in the industry while navigating a diagnosis.
A completely blind developer’s path to game development and unique perspectives on the industry
This talk explores how cheat codes, game modifications, and community support enhance accessibility and inclusivity in gaming. By offering customizable difficulty, shortcuts, and innovative ways to play, cheats break barriers for players with diverse abilities. We’ll also examine how guides, tutorials, and inclusive communities empower disabled gamers to engage, contribute, and thrive both in-game and beyond.
This talk will explore how limited memory abilities lead to frustration when learning to play video games. Takeaways include strategies to help prevent overloading players with too much information.
Periphery Synthetic delivers a deeply personalized exploration of ambient music, couched within an undemanding metroidvania experience of discovery and progress, that endeavors to be experienced by as many folks as possible. Let’s dive in to the challenges and possibilities uncovered by its development processes and design philosophies.
Accessibility practitioners are currently at risk of Burnout due to the nature of our work. No matter our role, our work often gets prioritized over our well-being due to a wide variety of factors seemingly out of our control. If you’re feeling overwhelmed, overworked, or burnt out, know you are not alone. In this talk, Shell Little, an Accessibility specialist who has personal experience with burnout, will discuss what Burnout is, its impact on professionals within the Accessibility field, and a range of preventative measures.
A demonstration of how Easy Surf is helping to make Mystiques more accessible with a focus on their diorama system. Understand the process for gathering feedback from players with disabilities, showing how their input changed the design. Learn how the studio decided what changes to make and how working with players with disabilities is influencing the game’s direction.
A cautionary tale of the good, the bad and the ugly sides of gaming with ADHD, focused on the open-world genre. Hear about the personal stories and lessons of Améliane, a Games Accessibility Lead who’s own needs often get pushed aside.
Cognition in games is both relatively nascent and a highly-sensitive topic, as attention, memory and understanding are all at the very core of what defines ‘difficulty’ for many game genres. And UX is often relied upon to close this gap! This talk from the UI/UX Lead of STAR WARS Jedi: Survivor walks through the challenges, findings and caveats that ultimately helped win the GAconf 2023 award for Cognitive Accessibility, all backed by player research and testing.
Looking back at Brandon’s impact both personally and on the industry, where his legacy has taken us to today, and looking forwards to where it will lead us to in the future.
In this talk, Accessibility Consultant, and Dungeon Master Steve Saylor will explore how the show “Dungeons & Disableds” uses Dungeons & Dragons mechanics to highlight the unique adaptability of disabled players. By diving into how game mechanics mirror real-world problem-solving, Steve will demonstrate how, even in game dev, disabled people turn challenges into strengths, showcasing creativity beyond a simple roll of the dice.
Stacey shares insights from their first two years of working as an in-house accessibility specialist – what they wish they knew, and the crucial skills they needed to build… fast!
A look at the ‘Hell Welcomes All’ mini documentary, together with data on the outcomes.
Subtitles and captions in games have progressed enormously in recent years, but the games industry’s approach to them has still not yet caught up with standard practices in other screen media , including the way the text itself is structured. This short talk gives an overview of how to tackle an important aspect of that – line breaking.
Game accessibility has seen rapid growth in recent years, but there remains a significant gap between these technological advancements and their practical application in healthcare. This session aims to bridge that gap by introducing an innovative evaluation tool for adaptive gaming and showcasing *The Rehab Arcade*, a resource designed to help therapists implement accessible gaming solutions in their practice.
This talk will discuss some of the newest developments for accessible input at Xbox, including the Xbox Adaptive Joystick, expanded functionality for the Xbox Adaptive Controller and more. Learn about these new supports and the processes of creating them in partnership with members of the gaming and disability community.