Tech has come a long way in a very short time in the gaming industry, allowing developers to create realistic and incredible experiences for gamers. TAG24 explores a movement pushing the gaming industry to use those same tech resources to increase the accessibility of gaming for gamers with disabilities.

Each gamer with a disability is going to require a different accommodation to make gaming not only possible, but enjoyable for them.

Accommodations can range from providing sign language, avatars, and characters that more widely represent the population to actual console, monitor, device, and controller adjustments for different muscle or visual needs.

Yes, even visually-impaired individuals can have an enjoyable experience gaming, provided the company that made the game has considered them from the beginning.

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The gaming industry has even started offering awards to companies who make extra efforts to make everything from live-streamed game feeds to the actual gameplay accessible to wider audiences.

Advocacy groups have been pushing for industry-wide acknowledgement of gamers with disabilities, including Can I Play That, which keeps tabs on what companies are doing to make games and apps more accessible for players with disabilities. The foundation AbleGamers pushes the industry to prioritize development of adaptive tech for inclusivity.

Gamers without disabilities can also help bring positive change when they take the time to make accommodations for their fans with disabilities and co-competitors. Bigger companies like Ubisoft have taken notice of the movement and have also begun to offer improved services, such as sign-language and audio description streams during tournaments, according to Wired.

A further difficulty is bridging the experience between gamers who do and don't need the special accommodations so they can not only game together, but also feel there isn't any major difference in the competitive experience.

"Understanding that your way to play the game isn’t the only way, and respecting other approaches is both generally good for community attitudes, but also creates room for disabled players who don’t have full access to a game to play their own way," Brian Peddie, a gamer with Ehlers-Danlos syndrome, told FanByte.

Peddie says there should be "no expectation that they’ll work on some additional input or strategy that might be physically painful or impossible."

While some individuals have needs that require very specifically-developed equipment in order to communicate or accomplish tasks in games, most gaming companies have dedicated accessibility teams to designing features and components to help the greatest number of users with disabilities.

EA is making five patents designed to make gaming more accessible to people of all ability levels free to all developers, according to IGN. These patents offer advancements in in-game communication, making it clearer for people with hearing or cognitive disabilities, and they also improve visual aspects for those with limited sight.

For someone who has a sensory process disorder, just being able to turn off background sounds can enhance the experience significantly.

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However, Microsoft developers recently told PCGamer they felt that they had "hit a plateau" in developing adaptive tech for XBox, which may mean that their adaptive controller has been designed to reach the greatest number of needs possible for users with special needs, though that certainly can't be all of them.

In fact, it's the use of different controllers that generates discussion in the gaming community, particularly when it comes to competitions or marathon speedrunning sessions for gamers who try and complete a level or game as fast as possible. The question whether equipment should be standardized is a big one, but ultimately many gamers don't feel that competitors should be separated by accommodations needed in gaming as they are in the Olympics, for example.

"Is it really that important to use a traditional controller over a hitbox controller?" asked Morgan Baker when speaking to FanByte. Baker, a former competitive gamer who is hard of hearing and now designs games to be more accessible, is referring to a type of controller without joysticks that can be custom-programmed and is often easier for people with disabilities to use.

"Is it really that important to make inputs in the exact same way? Are controllers that fundamental to a game? It’s important to question these things, especially from the lens of accessibility and inclusivity. More so, it’s healthy to challenge our perspectives, because for many games, as developers have shown, the answer is likely to be no," she says.

TAG24 spoke with pro-speedrunner Tim Engelhardt about what competitive gaming looks like for gamers with disabliities, and if other gamers care if those who need them make use of accommodations.

"There is always generally a big distinction between anything that actually impacts gameplay and things that don't impact gameplay. So, if someone prefers to play without music or prefers to have their game in monochrome or whatever, it doesn't really matter because it doesn't really effect gameplay," he says.

Engelhardt notes that he's generally seen other gamers at least make efforts to either turn off flashing backgrounds where possible or put out a verbal warning for photo-sensititive viewers watching streams.

When it comes to custom controllers, however, "it does get a little more complicated [...] it's generally up to each community [...] because sometimes certain controllers can give you a material advantage. For example, some controllers come with a turbo function where if you hold the button down you can get inhuman amounts of input. A turbo button could give someone input 100 times a second, and no human can press a button 100 times a second."

He says that while controllers that enable players to cheat would clearly be prohibited, "generally communities are pretty good about making sensible decisions about making certain accommodations."

During speedrunning marathons, Engelhardt explains that special needs players compete on the same boards with other players, and that he knows of one player who plays only with their feet manipulating the controls. "It's generally quite possible for people with impairments to reach quite high levels of competition in lots of kinds of games," he says.

Gamers with disabilities can enjoy quality gaming experiences and success in competition when they are backed by game and component developers, receive equal industry coverage, and have the support of other gamers.