Triple-A Game Publishers Are Finally Taking Accessibility Seriously
Thanks in large part to these developers who are blind.
Jeff Link
July 22, 2021
Jeff Link
July 22, 2021
When Brandon Cole was six years old, his older brother Justin played a cruel trick on him. He invited Cole, who is blind, into the living room of their Minnesota home to play Super Mario Bros. on the original Nintendo Entertainment System.
For hours, Cole broke blocks and stomped on turtle shells, believing he was on his way to restoring Princess Peach to her rightful throne in the Mushroom Kingdom. But when he defeated Bowser, or so he thought, his brother came clean with his double-dealing.
“I believe that I made a vow that day that I would one day beat a game without his assistance.”
“The punch line was he had handed me the completely unplugged second player controller and told me to press buttons while he played the entire game. So literally zero of my inputs actually mattered,” Cole said. “I believe that I made a vow that day that I would one day beat a game without his assistance.”
He has done that, of course, finishing Killer Instinct for the Super Nintendo [...]