Alt text: A trio of characters are framed in the center of an image: a short goldfish with a friendly expression, a tall salamander in a confident pose, and a frog gazing intently at a potion bottle. Behind them, a neon sign identifies a building as The Library

Creating a game means creating a shared experience. Whether it’s a small personal project or a global commercial release, a game is an invitation for players to connect with and respond to your ideas as a creator. And, when you make that game more accessible, you’re extending the invitation to a wider and more diverse audience.

How should you go about prioritizing accessibility as an emerging creator? If you’ve never done it before, it might feel overwhelming – but we’re here to help!

Practical Game Accessibility

Practical Game Accessibility is a new, free online course for intermediate creators. It’s an introduction to creating games that more players can enjoy. As you work through the course, you’ll learn about prioritizing accessibility while building a game guided by an inclusive design approach.

To support this learning journey, we created Out of Circulation – a small, vertical slice of a point-and-click narrative adventure game. You’ll use Out of Circulation as an example case study to explore and expand upon throughout the course.

“You’ll work it out, Sureswim,” Old Smalt reassures you as she passes you the apanthometer and sends you on your way. Surely the benevolent tech-witch and her gadgets will help you solve the mystery surrounding the local library. While your sidekick Wink is an expert in eavesdropping, you’re going to need all the support you can get! 

Not working on a game? No problem! Although Practical Game Accessibility uses games and game development as its core example, you can also apply much of what you’ll learn to other non-game projects, such as simulations, visualizations, and other real-time applications.

Why prioritize accessibility?

The gaming community is diverse. A huge number of people enjoy playing games, and this includes players with disabilities. By working directly with these players as you develop your game, you’ll create a better, more inclusive experience for a broader audience.

Prioritizing accessibility is critical to supporting players with disabilities, but it’s also just good design practice. When you center accessibility as a design pillar from the very start of a project, it’s not extra work – it’s just part of making the best game that you can.

Already in the middle of making a game? It’s never too late to try and make your game more accessible. Even relatively small changes can have a big impact on your players’ experience.

What will I learn?

In Practical Game Accessibility, you’ll start with an introduction to accessibility and inclusive design. After that, you’ll work through pre-production for your own game idea, prioritizing accessibility each step of the way. 

When you get to the production stage, you’ll explore a range of focused tutorials on the Out of Circulation case study to help you bring your game to life.

Finally, you’ll reflect on the overall experience and identify your next steps as a creator who prioritizes accessibility.

By the end of the course, you’ll be able to:

• Apply an inclusive design approach to your work as a creator
• Identify critical accessibility requirements for your projects
• Implement accessibility review and feedback cycles throughout development
• Design and develop features using an inclusive design approach
• Maintain a focus on accessibility while adapting to constraints and emerging project needs

Get started today

Practical Game Accessibility is available for free on Unity Learn. Now’s the perfect time to get started on your journey to creating more accessible digital experiences!