2024 Gaming Accessibility Awards: GAconf Celebrates Industry Champions

•5 min read

The Game Accessibility Conference (GAconf) 2024 Awards have unveiled their nominees, celebrating exceptional achievements in making video games accessible to players with disabilities. This year's nominations span 19 categories, showcasing remarkable progress in accessible gaming across AAA titles, indie games, and adaptive technologies.

Of particular note are the MVP Award for Unsung Heroes and the Advocacy Award, which recognize individuals who use their voice to drive positive change across the gaming industry, within companies and publicly respectively. Whilst change happens at an organizational level, it is pioneered and championed by advocates like those nominated. a11y Boost wants to congratulate all the nominees and wish them the best of luck!

Notable Category Highlights

AAA Excellence

Major titles like Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown and Star Wars Outlaws lead the nominations, featuring comprehensive accessibility features including customizable contrast modes, detailed menu narration, and extensive assist options.

Best Assistive Technology

The category showcases groundbreaking innovations including:

  • PlayStation Access Controller: A highly customizable PlayStation 5 controller kit
  • Microsoft Adaptive Joystick Button: Featuring four-way switches in joystick format
  • Byowave Proteus: A completely modular accessibility controller

Greatest Innovation

Standout innovations include Diablo IV's groundbreaking overworld navigation audio cues (a first for the ARPG genre) and Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown's memory shards feature for map navigation.

Most Improved

Games like Spider-Man 2 and Star Wars Outlaws demonstrated significant commitment through post-launch updates, adding features like audio description, screen readers, and expanded customization options.

MVP Award for Unsung Heroes Nominees

The MVP award recognizes individual developers who, while not necessarily in the public eye, are making significant and consistent efforts internally within their companies. These accessibility champions work tirelessly behind the scenes to make gaming more inclusive.

Jennissary - Descriptive Video Works

A driving force behind the industry's adoption of audio description, Jennissary has been instrumental in making game narratives accessible to blind and low-vision players.

Kaitlyn Jones - Xbox

Described as "superhuman" by colleagues, Kaitlyn has been pivotal in driving many of Xbox's leading innovations, from hardware developments to creating comprehensive informational resources.

Jordan DeVries - Respawn

As Lead UI/UX on Star Wars Jedi: Survivor, Jordan has not only implemented crucial accessibility features but also actively promotes accessibility on social media and shared insights about Jedi's cognitive accessibility at GAConf.

Joost Peters - Ubisoft Massive

Serving as the accessibility lynchpin across both Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora and Star Wars Outlaws, Joost has been crucial in implementing comprehensive accessibility features in these major titles.

Cari Watterton - Rebellion

Cari has been instrumental in driving accessibility initiatives across all of Rebellion's games and projects, ensuring accessibility is considered from the ground up.

The Advocacy Award Nominees

Among these impressive categories, the Advocacy Award stands out for recognizing individuals who use their voice to drive positive change across the gaming industry. As mentioned, change happens at an organizational level, but it is pioneered and championed by advocates like those nominated, Let's be clear, without their individual contributions (often fighting against the grain), we would not see the progress we are seeing today.

Matthew Allcock - The Wobbly Gamer

A partially sighted advocate, consultant, and content creator, Matthew has been instrumental in improving visual accessibility in games through his streaming and consulting work.

Antonio Martinez - Game Accessibility Nexus

As the editor of Game Accessibility Nexus, Antonio has been crucial in providing a platform for accessibility discussions and resources in gaming.

Mollie Evans - LittleMoTAC

A disabled content creator advocating for greater inclusion in games, Mollie founded the significant "Nothing Without Us" event, creating spaces for disabled voices in gaming.

Elisabeth Sivertsen - Arevya

A disabled and chronically ill accessibility advocate, Elisabeth combines public speaking with content creation, working with national organizations to develop accessibility resources.

Marijn Rongen - ActiveB1t

Recognized for years of dedication to Can I Play That?, Marijn has contributed significantly to multiple platforms including Game Accessibility Nexus, GAconf, and gameaccessibilityguidelines.

Award Process and Ceremony

The winners will be revealed in January, with Steve Saylor hosting the ceremony alongside special guests. The event will be streamed on the IGDA-GASIG YouTube channel, featuring:

  • Audio description
  • American Sign Language (ASL)
  • British Sign Language (BSL)
  • Full captions

The winners are determined through a combined voting system, with:

  • 2/3 weight given to jury votes
  • 1/3 weight given to public votes

Voting is open from November 25th to December 1st, allowing both industry experts and the gaming community to have their say in recognizing these important contributions to gaming accessibility.

About GAconf Awards

The GAconf Awards represent a significant initiative in recognizing and celebrating efforts to make gaming more accessible. With 19 categories spanning various aspects of game development and advocacy, the awards highlight the growing importance of accessibility in the gaming industry.

For more information about the awards and to cast your vote, visit the GAconf website.