Microsoft Announces more accessibility for Xbox and PC players

CTOnews.com Microsoft has been adding more accessibility features to Xbox console and Windows PC gamers, with the company introducing a special Xbox Adaptive Controller and announcing plans earlier this year to provide controller-to-keyboard input mapping for adaptive controllers and Xbox Elite Wireless Controller Series 2.

Today, the Xbox Wire website announced that the Game Bar on PC and Xbox app will get more accessibility features later this week with an app update:

Following the launch of the Xbox app's Accessibility settings menu last spring, Xbox widgets in Game Bar will include their own Game Accessibility settings menu on Oct. 19 to make it easier for players to find accessibility settings on the platform. In the updated Xbox widget, you'll find accessibility control options related to vision and audio to customize your PC gaming experience to your preferences and needs.

Microsoft has also added a new "Gaming Accessibility" channel to the Xbox Store that includes all games with accessibility tabs so players can find them more easily.

For organizers of live gaming events, Microsoft has also just released an "accessibility guide to gaming events." The guide will give these organizers some advice on how to make these events better adapted to participants with disabilities, based on Microsoft's own lessons learned from events such as E3 and Gamescom.

CTOnews.com notes that Microsoft is also adding more accessibility features to its first-party Xbox and PC games, including a new blind assistive feature in Forza Motorsports that provides audio cues for drivers with visual impairments. Developer Rare also recently added similar audio cues to Sea of Thieves so blind and low-vision players can hit their shell targets.

In addition, Age of Empires IV: Anniversary Edition adds a number of accessibility features, including support for UI voiceover, high-contrast mode, and text-to-speech/speech-to-text communications.