Tessera
Folgen

Voiced Gaming

@voicedgaming.bsky.social

Researcher of gaming via voice commands. Dual-wields RSI. Other neurological health. (he/him) https://www.youtube.com/c/VoicedGaming

155 Posts269 Follower17 Folgt
Grant Stoner@supercrip1994.bsky.social · 3w ago

For seven years, I've had the privilege of reporting on accessibility and the disabled perspective. And now, during my seventh Disability Pride Month in this industry, I'm left wondering if this beat is coming to an end. Read my first @skyboxcritics.com piece here: skyboxcritics.com/2026/07/28/t...

The vanishing art of disability reporting

As the games industry contracts, disability reporting is facing an extinction-level crisis.

skyboxcritics.com

Rosie (she/her)@airfriedrosie.bsky.social · last mo.

Remember Streeting's review into whether young people are being overdiagnosed with ADHD, autism, and mental health issues? Well, the interim report is out, and there's a reason the media are silent on it (spoiler: it proves what a lot of us have been saying all along)

In others, notably ADHD and autism, rising diagnoses and referrals appear to exceed changes in underlying epidemiological prevalence and are likely to reflect a combination of: improved recognition changing help-seeking behaviour institutional incentives pressures within existing service pathways Across both ADHD and autism, best currently available population-based estimates remain relatively stable, while administrative diagnoses, self-identification and recorded service demand have increased substantially. In autism, the evidence also points to particularly rapid growth in identified need within educational systems, including increasing identification among girls and among young people without learning disability.These patterns suggest that rising demand is not simply the result of increasing prevalence, but of several processes operating simultaneously, including: real increases in distress in some groups improved recognition of previously unmet need changing expectations about support systems that frequently rely on formal diagnosis as the primary route to assistance Across the system, support is too often accessed through pathways that are slow, fragmented and heavily dependent on diagnostic categorisation. While diagnosis remains essential for some forms of clinical decision-making, the evidence suggests that current arrangements do not always provide the most effective or efficient way of identifying and responding to need. In particular, where access to support depends heavily on formal diagnosis, demand for diagnostic assessment can increase more rapidly than systems are able to respond, generating long waiting times, duplication of assessment and pressure on specialist services. The next phase of the review will therefore focus on clarifying the relationship between distress, diagnosis and need, and on examining how systems might respond more effectively to these patterns. A central objective will be to identify opportunities for developing more coherent, evidence-informed care pathways that enable support to be provided earlier and more proportionately, while ensuring that specialist services are available in a timely and appropriate manner for those whose needs are most complex.
Game A11y Gathering@ga11ygathering.bsky.social · last mo.

Adam Russell - one of our incredible speakers from last year - started a cake business! 🧁 This year we're so excited to have cupcakes (incl. vegan and gf) for the Gathering from Adam. Don't they look delicious?? 🤤 (Obviously these are not the exact ones for next week, we're just excited!)

Bild
The Game Accessibility Conference @gaconf.bsky.social · 2mo ago

Reminder that we offer free tickets to any developers who have recently been laid off. If this is you, drop us a message for the promo code! #DevelopConf #GAConf

The Game Accessibility Conference @gaconf.bsky.social · 2mo ago

GAConf By The Sea! In-person social mixer alongside #DevelopConf, 15th July 6pm-8pm, in collaboration with @ga11ygathering.bsky.social. If you think accessibility for disabled players is cool and want to hang out with others who do too, tickets are now on sale! www.eventbrite.com/e/gaconf-by-...

The Game Accessibility Conference @gaconf.bsky.social · last mo.

GAConf By The Sea is a week today!! Hang out with a bunch of cool accessibilibuddies, with drinks, snacks, trinket swap, swag, quiz with prizes.. have you got your tickets yet? #DevelopConf #DevelopBrighton

The Game Accessibility Conference @gaconf.bsky.social · 2mo ago

GAConf By The Sea! In-person social mixer alongside #DevelopConf, 15th July 6pm-8pm, in collaboration with @ga11ygathering.bsky.social. If you think accessibility for disabled players is cool and want to hang out with others who do too, tickets are now on sale! www.eventbrite.com/e/gaconf-by-...

derek achoy 🐰🏡 indoor animal@derekachoy.bsky.social · last mo.

Paraphrased instructions: open the app, tap your profile, tap the three lines in the top-right corner of the screen. Scroll down to the Sharing and reuse tab. You'll see a section labeled "Allow people to use your content on Instagram and with AI features..." with a toggle for Posts and Reels.

WIRED@wired.com · last mo.

As part of Meta’s Muse Image model rollout, Instagram users with public accounts need to opt out to block AI generations of their content. www.wired.com/story/meta-n...

Kolo@helloitskolo.com · last mo.

Did a hard thing today then joked to my partner about how adulthood sucks because you don't get a gold star when you do hard things. Just found this on my desk 🥹

A hand drawn gold star on lined paper. The words "YOU DID IT" above the star in upper case letters.
Laura Kate Dale - LauraKBuzz@laurakbuzz.bsky.social · 2mo ago

God, it looks like a LOT of Accessibility specialists were hit by today's layoffs at Xbox, inclusing some of their most senior accessibility folks. This feels like a REALLY bad sign for accessibility at Xbox going forward. A huge amount of skilled talent being thrown out as part of this "shake up".

GameSpot@gamespot.com · 2mo ago

Xbox Layoffs “Heavily Impact” The Accessibility Team, Too

As part of the 1,600 people being let go by Xbox during its big reset on July 6, it appears that the company's Accessibility division has been hit pretty heavily as well. According to a July 6 Bluesky post, the senior user researcher for accessibility at ZeniMax Media, Elisabeth Whyte, shared that she was caught in the blast zone, too. Whyte also revealed that the "accessibility staff overall seems heavily impacted," with "multiple people on the Bethesda User Research Team" getting laid off. On LinkedIn, Whyte reshared a post by Zach Clothier, the accessibility test lead for the Microsoft gaming accessibility testing service, who announced his departure after nearly three years in his role. It's unclear how many other people have been affected, but according to Whyte, it sounds like the team has been decimated amidst these layoffs. This comes during Disability Pride Month, which is supposed to honor the history, achievements, and experiences of the disability community. A Microsoft spokesperson told GameSpot over email that despite the restructuring, the company plans to continue its work in making gaming more accessible for all. "Accessibility remains a priority for Xbox," the spokesperson said. "While we've made changes across the team, creating more accessible gaming experiences for players has not changed." Xbox's Accessibility Team is responsible for some wonderful features and technologies that make gaming easier for all players. This includes things like the Adaptive Controller and its various attachments, as well as accessibility options in games such as Forza Horizon 6 to change everything from the way it looks to the way it plays. 1,600 people will lose their jobs on July 6, while another 1,600 will lose their jobs over the next 12 months. These cuts make up about 20% of Microsoft's staff. Some studios have been cut loose, with Ninja Theory and Undead Labs being sold to a mysterious buyer. Meanwhile, the fate of Arkane Studios is still unknown, and both Id Software and ZeniMax have lost staff so that those studios could shift toward focusing on bigger franchises.

dlvr.it

Steve Saylor@stevesaylor.net · 2mo ago

Well, this is a MAJOR blow to accessibility. Fortnite has nerfed the Visual Audio wheel, which was designed for deaf and hard-of-hearing players. It makes the game almost unplayable for those players. Plus it helped a ton of other disabled players, including myself www.linkedin.com/posts/cdspow...

Fortnite sound effects wheel visualizer removed for accessibility | Christopher Power posted on the topic | LinkedIn

After investigating what I thought was a Fortnite glitch, I have found that Epic have severely changed and made nearly useless for accessibility purposes the sound effects wheel visualizer. It is not...

linkedin.com

Spoonie 🔮@spoonienet.com · 2mo ago

I will be about the general Develop vibe area doing a talk at @ga11ygathering.bsky.social on the 15th about puzzles! I'll also be at the @gaconf.bsky.social By The Sea! mixer afterwards if you want to catch me to chat or ask me your burning questions (www.eventbrite.com/e/gaconf-by-...)

#GAConf By The Sea 2026

Evening social mixer, for people interested in making games accessible to disabled players.

eventbrite.com

Game A11y Gathering@ga11ygathering.bsky.social · 2mo ago

We're welcoming back @spoonienet.com to give a talk on Accessibility in Video Game Puzzles! 🧩 Covering barriers presented by puzzles, and tips to help devs challenge their approach to designing and implementing puzzles in their games. Get tickets: www.eventbrite.com/e/game-acces...

A purple image with white text that reads Li Brady, they/them, What's the answer? Approaching Accessibility in Video Game Puzzles. To the right is a circular photo of Li, and at the top are the logos for Many Cats Studios, Unity, PlayStation, PlaytestCloud and Scopely.