Immersive and game-based learning keeps showing up in classrooms, and the accessibility questions it raises are different from the ones we are used to asking about web pages and video. Motion sickness, navigating a 3D space, the weight and fit of a headset, controller design, and the sensory load of an environment built to be stimulating are all barriers that a WCAG checklist does not cover. The point of this page is to collect the guidelines, people, and research I return to when a district asks whether a VR or game-based tool is going to work for all of its students. The list is the useful part; the introduction is short on purpose.

Two examples set the bar for what is possible. Naughty Dog’s The Last of Us Part II shipped with an unusually deep set of options, covering colorblind and low-vision aids, audio cues, remappable controls for motor impairments, and settings that reduce cognitive load and sensory input. Nothing in educational technology comes close, which is worth saying plainly to vendors. Owlchemy Labs’ Cosmonious High shows the same care in VR, with one-handed mode, seated play, and customizable locomotion, and it also shows the limit: software settings cannot fix a headset that does not fit a particular person. Laura K Dale’s videos on both games, embedded below, are the clearest explanations I have found of why these features matter.

If you are bringing one of these tools into a learning experience, the practical questions are short: what accessibility settings does the platform actually have, who in your group will be excluded by the hardware regardless of settings, and what is the alternative pathway for those students. The resources below will help with the first question. The second and third require talking to the people in the room.

Guidelines

• “A Guide to Video Game Accessibility” by Hannah Soyer at the World Institute on Disability
• Xbox Accessibility Guidelines from Microsoft
• Game Accessibility Guidelines

Content creators and organizations

• Steve Saylor
• LauraKBuzz (Laura K Dale)
• Annie Elainey
• Rikki Poynter
• James Rath
• Game Maker’s Toolkit accessibility playlist
• All Access Life
• I Need Diverse Games
• Can I Play That?

Articles

• Why VR/AR Developers Should Prioritize Accessibility in UX/UI Design (Medium)
• Games Are More Visually Accessible Than Ever. It’s Just the Beginning (Wired)
• Why Game Accessibility Matters (Polygon)
• Gamers Forge Their Own Paths When It Comes to Accessibility (Wired)

Academic sources

• “Accessibility in Video Games: A Systematic Review” by Aguado-Delgado et al.
• “Disability and Video Games Journalism: A Discourse Analysis of Accessibility and Gaming Culture” by Anderson et al.
• “Game Not Over: Accessibility Issues in Video Games” by Bierre et al.
• “Two Sides of the Same Coin: Accessibility Practices and Neurodivergent Users’ Experience of Extended Reality” by Lukava et al.
• “The Pedagogical Value of Creating Accessible Games: A Case Study with Higher Education Students” by Sousa et al.

If you know of a resource that belongs here, or a game or VR tool that gets this right, send it to licht.education@gmail.com and I will add it.