Accessibility and Inclusion in the Game Industry: A position paper

Accessibility removes barriers in the workplace, with game design processes being enhanced by better development tools, improved recruitment procedures, and an increased awareness of inclusive practices. This position paper describes accessibility within the field of digital games – with a special focus on game developers with disabilities – based on challenges and opportunities at workplaces described in a previously available summary of an industry roundtable in 2024. The aim is to find ways forward by raising awareness about issues of inclusion and accessibility based on views from people in the game industry and related research. The paper presents seven thematic concepts and related principles: 1) proactive, inclusive leadership; 2) better structure at workplaces; 3) adaptation with remote work; 4) normalise and facilitate adaptations; 5) inclusive employment processes; 6) sustainable advocacy; 7) accessible tools for inclusive game design. This paper also presents a tentative model where the needs of employees are the input while policy, methods, tools, advocacy and stakeholders provide support, and accountability provides control, which combined may lead to proactive inclusion. Our position is that while game accessibility has advanced significantly in the industry in the last decade, there is a need for more research about inclusion and accessibility in game design processes within game companies.