accessibility as a blind gamer
After I posted about my Surface Duo adventures, a good friend of mine called idyllicpixie asked me about what it was like to game as a blind person, and suggested I make a post about it.
Which I think was an excellent idea!
Please note though that these are from my own personal experiences and I'm still learning all the time! Also, I am so sorry that I can't cover other forms of accessibility needs such as mobility and hearing impairment!
The biggest thing when it comes to accessible gaming is your device. I have multiple devices for gaming, but my three main devices are my Steam Deck for higher end PC games, a 7" G90 EmuElec handheld for most retro games, and my Surface Duo for DS and 3DS games, as well as Android games
The main similarity with all those devices is a big, bright screen. Smaller screen devices like an R36S or a DSi or PSVita make it harder to see what you're doing in the game, and makes it harder to use other tools to help you later.
You should also consider what operating systems would work best for you. Steam Decks have a lot of accessibility features but they require additional tools like Decky, or downloading tools in Desktop Mode, which isn't always an option for those who are blind or visually impaired. There is a screen reader built in, but if you need higher contrast or bolder text or the like, you need to do a lot of additional work, and accessibility tools within games aren't readily available.
For EmulationStation or EmuElec devices, they have the option for user-chosen themes, and there's countless high contrast themes, large text themes and the like. This is a list of multiple themes for EmulationStation/EmuElec so you can choose what works best for you! On top of that, both ES and EE have screen readers built into the home menu, but again, accessibility tools within games are non-existent.
Android has virtually limitless options for accessibility, but because of that, it can take a lot of work to get things working as you need. TalkBack is the screen reader service built into Android, and it has a 'Select To Speak' function, which can make reading labels or text in games infinitely easier. On top of that, there are multiple different gaming-oriented launchers such as Daijisho or iiSU for Android, though based on my experience, these aren't always the most accessible. Everyone's needs are unique but I personally would recommend Beacon since it's much simpler in UI.
Different use cases might require different things and it might require some experimenting, but for newer gamers or gamers who are new to visual impairment, I'd recommend Android until you know what you're doing.
So, we've worked out what device type and operating system type is potentially best for you. What next?
Steam Decks have a slightly different workflow from other handhelds, so I can't personally speak for those, but I'd recommend following tutorials such as this one by Retro Game Corps on how to get things set up. You may need multiple tutorials based on what consoles you want to emulate and how those emulators work, so let's cover Android and ES/EE devices.
Both these types of systems primarily use RetroArch for their emulation, except for some more unique stuff like DS or PSP emulation, but the biggest thing that'll make like easier is shaders! Here are some guides from Retro Game Corps and TechDweeb that demonstrate how to apply shaders and show different examples of shaders.
I personally recommend shaders that make colours brighter and stand out more, almost like a cartoon. I'm forever using toon shaders on things, or custom skins in Minecraft (by the way, Hafen is my go-to here!)
However, some might have issues with colour deficit (I'm red-green deficient). Sadly, I haven't personally found any shaders or filters to help with this, but I will keep looking! Please keep in mind that I'm literally doing this blind, and it may be an option within the settings that I haven't found yet!
So, you've got your device, got your operating system all set up and you've got shaders on your games to make it easier to see! Here's some external tools to help you with your gaming if you're struggling!
Most handhelds have a passthrough for use on external monitors. I'd highly recommend getting a portable monitor (touch screen if you can for your touch screen devices!) and connecting your device to it. That way, you have the benefits of a larger screen but with the feeling of your usual handheld. Some might require a mini HDMI cable (my G90 does) but 9/10 times, a USB-C connection will be available.
If you're using a non-Android device and you're feeling the lack of Select to Speak, you can use Google Lens to get the same effect! I'd recommend this more for heavy text situations since that's where Google Lens shines, but it can be a major help, especially on older games with blockier text!
Another tool that can help you with your gaming is honestly GameFAQs! Say you're trying to play a retro game that requires you to find something, and you can't find it anywhere! GameFAQs usually has a text-based walkthrough to tell you exactly where to go. It's been the go-to for visually impaired gamers for 30-odd years and there's a reason for it!
You will notice that I haven't really covered PC or console gaming in this list, and you're probably wondering why.
PC gaming is a whole other beast to tackle and I personally avoid it where I can because of that. So much of accessibility in that comes from hardware as well as software and if I were to talk about the nuances of that, I'd be practically writing a thesis! PC accessibility is so unique to the individual, hell, I use Cairo Desktop Environment on Windows because it makes Windows more accessible for me, while another visually impaired person might find it impossible to use. Sadly, because of how nuanced it is, I can't give cookie cutter advice like I can with handheld gaming.
As for consoles, consoles are not built to be modified the way handhelds are. They're not built with additional accessibility in mind, nor are they built with the ability to add it yourself. Consoles are so much more locked down, and they're less accessible in general due to them being required to stay in place. Portables can be accessed from anywhere, so are designed to be modified to fit your environment. I used to have consoles, but I found them so hard to use that I fully switched to handhelds.
And there we are! This is just the opinions and recommendations of one person so don't take my word as gospel, but hopefully you found this insight into accessible gaming useful, and if you needed the information, I seriously hope you found what you were looking for!
This post was last edited 18 hours, 50 minutes ago.