One-to-One 4: Accessibility advocate Vivek Gohil

The tide of accessibility in games is turning. Ground-breaking releases like The Last of Us Part 2, Spider-Man: Miles Morales, and Forza Horizon 5 show us what can be accomplished when you think about accessibility in the right way. They show us that by consulting the right people and by factoring accessibility deep into the foundations of your game, you can invite and enable more people to enjoy it than ever before.   It's tempting to think this just happened, that game developers woke up one day and decided accessibility was something they needed to improve. But of course they didn't. Behind the realisation was a push. A push from a community who needed better access to the entertainment and escapism games provide.

 

My guest on The Eurogamer Podcast this week is someone who's a key part of that community. He's someone whose writing for Eurogamer has helped bring awareness to the accessibility challenges he faces, as someone with Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy, and many people face. "With great accessibility comes great inclusivity," he said to a Discord full of cheers during the Games Accessibility conference. He is Vivek Gohil.

 

• You can learn more about Vivek on his Uncanny Vivek blog: https://uncannyvivek.com/
• And you can learn more about the SpecialEffect charity that changed Vivek's life - something we talk about in the Podcast - on its website: https://www.specialeffect.org.uk/

 

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👀 Find out more about Fahmi on his website: https://fahmitsu.com/

🎬 Watch the video version of this podcast: https://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2021-11-29-talking-accessibility-with-vivek-gohil-in-episode-4-of-the-new-eurogamer-podcast

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