Playing on Hard Mode: Accessibility, Difficulty and Joy in Video Game Adoption for Gamers with Disabilities

Video games often pose accessibility barriers to gamers with disabilities, yet there is no standard method for identifying which games have barriers, what those barriers are, and whether and how they can be overcome. We propose and explore three phases of the “game adoption process”: Discovery, Evaluation, and Adaptation. To advance understanding of how gamers with disabilities experience this process, the resources and strategies they use, and the challenges experienced, we conducted an interview study with thirteen gamers with disabilities with differing backgrounds. We then engage with existing theories of consequence-based accessibility, of difficulty, and of identity-based gaming to better understand how these processes manifest “access difficulty” and to characterize the experience of “disabled gaming.” Finally, we present design recommendations for game developers and distributors to better support gamers with disabilities in the game adoption process by engaging with community-made resources, supporting socially-created access, and creating customizable experiences with opportunities for unconventional play.