The new generation of consoles has officially begun. Many gamers and gaming enthusiasts are excited for higher frame rates, more impressive graphics, and faster load times. But there’s more to be excited about here.
Slowly but steadily, video game accessibility features have become more common and more robust. And the Playstation 5 is launching with a few new ones. Some of these features will really help people with disabilities play games more comfortably. Other features will make using the console easier for everybody. Let’s take a look at some of them.
Voice Dictation
Typing on a controller is annoying for everyone. But for some people, the precise motor movements required can make navigation on a game console nearly impossible. The Playstation 5 addresses this problem by adding voice dictation. Wherever a text input is required, users can opt to simply speak the input, rather than messing with an onscreen keyboard.
Updated Screen Reader
The Playstation 5 will also have improved screen reading and text to speech options for low vision and blind gamers. Users can customize these accessibility features to best suit their needs. These features currently support English, Japanese, German, French, Italian, and Spanish.
Color Correction
For supported games, players will be able to customize the way colors are presented. This is helpful for low vision users, color blind users, and users who have difficulty with low contrast images. What’s even better about this feature is that players will be able to save these preferences and have them carry over to other supported games by default. Getting these color settings just right can be something of a process so the ability to save them is a huge plus.