Video Game Increases Accessibility for People with Disabilities

June 2020 – The announcement of the upcoming video game release, The Last of Us Part II, garnered significant attention based on the over sixty accessibility features that were included. The video game company, Naughty Dog, asserts that this game is their most accessible game yet. This video game is PlayStation compatible and was set to release on June 19^th. The Last of Us Part II will include:

• Accessibility Presets configure settings for players who are blind or have low vision, who have mobility disabilities, or who have hearing issues.
• Alternate Controls that allow you to fully remap your outputs, which is impressive considering how many different controls are built into the game.
• HUD scaling to help players change the size of HUD elements like text.
• A colorblind mode, along with giving players the ability to change other colors.
• Camera shake customization for those prone to motion sickness.
• Navigation assistance, which faces the camera in the direction of where you need to go.
• Enhanced Listen Mode, which allows you to scan for items while in Listen Mode.
• Both a Skip Puzzle Option and Infinite Breath for breathing underwater.
• Text-to-speech audio technology. The supported text-to-speech languages include: English, UK English, French, Italian, German, Danish, Turkish, Russian, Czech, Greek, Finnish, Swedish, Norwegian, Hungarian, Polish, Portuguese, Spanish, Dutch, Traditional Chinese, Simplified Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Croatian, LATAM Spanish
• Combat accessibility options that make certain parts of combat easier, like reducing enemy perception and allowing you to be invisible while prone.

For the extensive list of (60+) accessibility features, please check the links below. [Source: Matthew Gallant at Naughty Dog via PlayStation Blog; Carli Velocci via Android Central]