PlayStation has announced that more than 50 tags will be available on the PS5 Store to describe a game’s accessibility options. Image source: tofuprod, CC BY-SA 2.0
PlayStation has announced that games featured on the PS5 PlayStation Store will include accessibility tags to provide players with more information about the game before purchase.
More than 50 tags will be available to describe a game’s accessibility options, falling into six major categories:
- Visual accessibility features such as the size and clarity of text, alternative colour displays, and visual audio cues
- Audio features such as volume controls, screen reader support and visual cue alternatives
- Subtitle and caption options including the size and clarity of captions
- Control options, including button remapping, controller sensitivity, and the ability to disable certain controls like rapid button presses or motion controls
- Gameplay options, such as difficulty settings, optional puzzles and game speed
- Online communication options, such as text or voice chat transcription.
Accessibility tags will see a gradual, global rollout beginning this week with tags being introduced for many of PlayStation’s exclusive titles.
“At launch a variety of games such as Days Gone, Death Stranding Director’s Cut, Ghost of Tsushima Director’s Cut, God of War, God of War Ragnarök, Gran Turismo 7, Marvel’s Spider-Man Remastered, Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales, Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart, and Returnal will support Accessibility Tags,” said PlayStation.
Players will be able to access the tags by pressing the “triangle” button when viewing a game on the PlayStation store.
The addition will provide gamers with a greater measure of control over their experience and may even encourage more developers to consider introducing a broader range of accessibility options for future releases.
“We are just starting to roll out this feature and are collaborating with a wide range of developers to implement this feature in their game hubs on PS5 in the coming weeks and months.”
Sony seems to be making accessibility a priority for their newest console generation.
In January, they announced “Project Leonardo” – a currently in-development controller kit, designed specifically for customisation and accessibility.
“Designed to remove barriers to gaming and help players with disabilities play more easily, more comfortably and for longer periods on PS5,” said the company in a blog release.
Currently, there is no release date for Project Leonardo, but gamers and developers both seem to be embracing the move toward greater accessibility.
Rival company Xbox released their own accessible controller back in 2018, but spoke positively of the new developments from Sony.
“I think this is a great addition to the PlayStation ecosystem, well done,” said Xbox boss Phil Spencer in response to the announcement of the Project Leonardo on Twitter.
The introduction of accessibility tags has received a broadly positive response among players, who are hopeful that the practice will be adopted by many more developers in the coming weeks.
