Celebrating Accessibility in Gaming: 2023 GAConf Awards
Accessibility in the gaming industry has made incredible strides in the past decade, and the 2023 GAConf Awards celebrates those achievements.
Hosted by accessibility advocate Steve Saylor on Jan. 25 at 9 AM PT / 12 PM ET, efforts across 18 categories from the past year will be recognized. There are two categories for overall excellence, one for indie games and another for AAA titles. It’s no surprise to see “God of War: Ragnarök” as one of the AAA nominees for that category, considering that title has already been lauded for its plethora of accessibility features.
Although the main focus of the ceremony will be on game development, other areas will also receive acknowledgments. These include hardware advancements, academic research, and journalism. The full list of nominees includes links to articles and academic papers on game accessibility. Resources for gamers and developers have also been highlighted and have been nominated.
Winners across the categories, save for the academic papers, are decided “by a separate vote on the finalists, voted on by both the jury and the public vote.” The website explains that the public vote requires a Google account to prevent multiple votes and ensure a fair voting system.
Guests such as SightlessKombat, Phil Spencer of Xbox, David Tisserand of Ubisoft, and Chris 'DeafGamersTV' Robinson will be presenting awards.
Accessibility isn’t limited to just gaming but is reflected throughout the practical aspects of the ceremony. There’ll be an audio description for blind and visually impaired viewers and signing in ASL and BSL for deaf and hard-of-hearing viewers. Subtitling will also be available in English, French, German, Spanish and Brazilian Portuguese.
The ceremony will be broadcast on YouTube, and there’ll be an official watch party on the IGDA-GASIG Discord server.
