A Sony teamed up with accessibility experts to launch a control of the PlayStation 5 for players with disabilities. The ‘Access Controller’ is a highly customizable kit of different buttons, triggers and manipulation methods that allows players to create a setup that suits their needs.
O ‘Adaptive Controller’ da Microsoftwhich can be used on Xbox and PC, has been on the market since 2018. However, this is the first device of its kind, designed specifically by Sony for the PS5.
The idea is to unbox it and immediately start using it as a PlayStation controller. As long as this works for you and is comfortable for you, there is no need to buy additional third-party accessories and buttons and connect everything together. “We wanted an everything-in-one-box kit,” said Alvin Daniel, senior manager of Technical Programs at Sony, in an interview with the BBC.
Designing accessibility products is a huge task, as every person with a disability is unique and gaming technology is always evolving. Sony’s plan to solve this problem is through customization, making it possible for each person to tailor the solution to their individual needs.
Daniel said the company teamed up with accessibility experts AbleGamers in the US to find ways around this issue.
When they created their own custom solutions for multiplayer, they inevitably tried to solve three problems, the buttons, pressing buttons, or having to hold the controller. If you have challenges in these three areas, this controller will help you regardless of your underlying condition.he explained.
Check out the analysis from Paul Carter, BBC technology reporter, below:
All aspects of the control were clearly designed with input from the disability community. Even the affordable packaging and setup process, while sometimes clunky, allows people to tailor the controller to their specific requirements and even create different profiles for different games or situations.
As a gamer with a disability, I’ve waited years for button remapping to become the norm, so I can play games that rely heavily on the trigger buttons usually placed on the back of a traditional controller and map them to a more accessible environment. But this has always been a workaround and not a solution. This controller makes that a more accessible reality
However, there are one or two design decisions that are baffling at best, for example it doesn’t have a right button, which is standard on all modern controllers and quite essential for many genres of games.
I tried to play Spider-Man 2, which has a deaf character, and it was practically impossible to play. The only solutions are to use the Access Controller together with a regular PS5 controller, which is a complicated setup, or to use two Access Controllers together, which becomes an expensive solution.
That said, this product, and others like it, are a positive step forward for gamers with disabilities. The fact that it exists and was designed in conjunction with and for people with disabilities shows that accessibility to games is now a mainstream issue.
I hope this is the beginning of an evolution of these types of products and that manufacturers listen to the feedback and continue to innovate. The gaming industry has been under pressure to make improvements for gamers with disabilities.
In recent years, racing simulator Forza Horizon 5 has introduced a sign language feature, Last of Us Part II has a mode for blind and deaf players, and Just Dance has a routine suitable for players in wheelchairs. But, the options hardware have been in short supply for people with disabilities, and Daniel said Sony’s new controller aims to address this.
I think that, particularly if you’re a young person today, games are such an important part of popular culture, that you become socially isolated or left behind if you can’t participate in the same experiences that your friends or schoolmates are having or having. We saw that we brought joy to players who were previously unable to playconcluded Daniel.
* With information from the BBC | Cover photo: Disclosure/Sony
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