RNIB's Accessible Gaming Officer, SightlessKombat, who is also an award-winning and multi-credited accessibility consultant, has no sight whatsoever. That being said, he's enjoyed gaming for years and now shares some insights and recommendations for how to get started from his personal perspective:
Gaming is a pastime that everyone, whether they know it or not, has probably enjoyed in some form or other. After all, it's not just video games, but it's also board or card games, as well as other iterations like tabletop roleplaying experiences that make up the wide variety of activities that are included in the term.
Specifically in terms of video games though, there's always been a perception that, just because they feature the word "video", they are a purely visual medium, only worthy of access by those who have usable sight.
This, however, is far from the truth and, if you are on the spectrum of sight loss yourself and want to get in on the action, you have a few options as to where to begin.
A note on perspective
Personally, I have no sight whatsoever. Of course, this means that I can realistically only talk from a first-hand perspective on gaming when you can't see at all. In terms of having usable vision, however, I can say that I've shared stages at events, played games alongside and collaborated with people who have varying degrees of vision.
It's always worth remembering that sight loss is a spectrum, with many degrees of vision within it, ranging from nearly full sight to none at all.
With that being said, the following insights cannot account for every scenario and the answers to what is best for one person might not be best for you personally, so always feel free to do your own research or reach out and ask questions based on your situation.
But let's start with a key aspect of video games... Where you play.
Platforms
One question I often get is "what platform should I choose"? The answer, honestly, is wherever suits you, especially if the title exists in multiple places.
The most accessible platforms are arguably PC with any associated assistive technology (like screen readers and optical character recognition, also known as OCR) potentially being able to fill in when the games you want to play don't have enough accessibility. This can, of course, vary wildly in terms of suitability depending on your personal needs.
OCR, if you're unfamiliar, is a process by which software or hardware takes a picture and attempts to recognise text within it. You might have heard of apps like Seeing AI or Tap Tap See, or even Be My Eyes, all of which include varying versions of this technology on phones.
This technology can be used to help you read video game screens (like menus), though the process is far from smooth and cannot be guaranteed to give you the results you require to play games effectively in most cases.
In terms of consoles, the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X and Series S also have narrated interfaces, meaning that you can launch games and browse settings without the need for sighted assistance.
With the question of platforms covered, let's get on to the really tricky aspect: Choosing games.
The games
Unfortunately, though there have been prominent titles released in the last few years that have been accessible without sighted assistance, they usually come with caveats.
For example, God of War Ragnarok's main story can only be completed via a work-in progress guide, put together through hours and hours of teamwork and community collaboration with yours truly, including from one of the game's key internal accessibility champions and another gamer without sight.
Similarly, The Last Of Us parts I and II – while they can be completed without assistance – have navigation features that make the adventure feel very linear and less driven by you the player, with flaws in certain areas that are hard to work around at times.
Above all though, the key defining factors in terms of what games you play are not just the accessibility offered by the game, but how much effort you're willing to put in and how much assistance you might be able to get if you need or want it.
Working with others
If you have sighted assistance locally and enough controllers, you can utilise Xbox's Controller Assist or PlayStation's Assist Controller features. This system allows you and an individual with greater vision than you, or even just a better understanding of the game to get you through the parts you might find difficult or want guidance on, with both of you simultaneously having control over the same character.
As an example, if I'm playing God of War Ragnarok and have someone assisting me to access an area the accessibility features don't allow me to find unaided, the person assisting me is able to use their controller to move Kratos through the environment, whilst I use the game's accessibility cues and my own set of inputs to dodge, block and parry incoming enemies when a battle begins.
The good news is that these features work at a system level as well and across all games, meaning that even if you have a massive backlog, you won't have to select where to begin based on whether this feature works with your title of choice. You'll be able to enjoy diverse genres of games with a second player, though of course natively accessible games are a much more preferable alternative.
Windows also supports Controller Assist, meaning that if there are PC games that you want to go through with someone else, turning a single player game into a co-op adventure of sorts is as straightforward as getting two Xbox controllers and setting up from there.
There are other more advanced or complex elements to how systems like this can work including enlisting people outside your local physical space, but they won't be covered in this post.
In summary
To conclude this short introduction to gaming, decide what kinds of games you want to play, find out where they might be available that suits your accessibility needs and, if you require it given the lack of accessibility even in the current climate, get assistance if you can, though I understand that's not possible for everyone.
Also, keep an eye on titles you're looking forward to, as there is a possibility that accessibility information might be released before or during launch that will allow you to make informed purchasing decisions.
If you have any further questions, please direct them to gaming@RNIB.org.uk. I hope this information is useful to you.
Happy gaming!
