Steam now supports the display of accessibility features for games making it easier for players to find games they want to play that meet their needs and interests. Developers can now indicate which accessibility features they support, and these will be displayed on the Steam store page for those games. Additionally, players can specifically search for games that support these features.

Store Page Display

The Accessibility options that the developer indicates are available for their game are displayed on the side of the store page. By default, it's collapsed:



But it can be expanded to view the features broken out into categories:

Store Search

Players can search for games that have accessibility features enabled:

The Accessibility Feature Wizard

Accessibility features can be indicated by using the Accessibility Feature Wizard under the store page Basic Info tab.



The wizard will walk through a series of questions to identify which accessibility features your game supports.

Accessibility Features

Gameplay:

• Adjustable Difficulty: Players can adjust gameplay difficulty.
  
• Save Anytime: Players can save gameplay using both automatic and manual saves. Saving can be performed at any point in the game.

Audio:

• Custom Volume Controls: Players can adjust the volume of the audio. Different types of audio can be muted independently from each other.
  
• Narrated Game Menus: Players can listen to game menus with narrated audio.
  
• Stereo Sound: Players can identify how far to the left or right sounds are coming from.
  
• Surround Sound: Players can identify how far in any direction sounds are coming from.

Visual:

• Adjustable Text Size: Players can adjust text size. (In-game text, menu text, character dialog text, subtitle text)
  
• Subtitle Options: Players have options to customize the display of subtitles for all spoken content and essential audio information.
  
• Color Alternatives: Gameplay doesn't rely on colors to communicate important information, or players have an option to adjust colors used for distinguishing information.
  
• Camera Comfort: Players have an option to adjust or disable uncomfortable camera movement such as screen shaking, camera bob, or motion blur, or the game doesn't feature these effects.

Input:

• Keyboard Only Option: Players can play the game with just a keyboard and no other additional input mechanisms such as a mouse or controller.
  
• Mouse Only Option: Players can play the game with just a mouse and no other additional input mechanisms such as a keyboard or controller.
  
• Touch Only Option: Players can play the game with just touch controls and no other additional input mechanisms such as a mouse, keyboard or controller.
  
• Playable without Timed Input: Players have an option to adjust gameplay to not require precisely timed button presses ("quick time events") or gameplay does not require such button presses.
  
• Text-to-speech: Text chat can be narrated out loud in real time.
  
• Speech-to-text communications: Voice chat can be read as a text transcript in real time.

Gameplay

Adjustable Difficulty

Why is this tag important to players?

Difficulty settings allow players to match their experience to their abilities and preferences. For example, difficulty designed to be engaging for a player with full mobility might be frustrating for a player with limited mobility. Players can look for this tag to know they can adjust their experience accordingly.

Recommendations

• If possible, provide granular controls over difficulty settings. For example, an FPS might allow adjusting enemy health, aim assist, one-hit kills, or invulnerability.
  
• When providing preset difficulty levels (easy, medium, hard, etc.) explain the difference between the levels.

Save Anytime

Why is this tag important to players?

Players may need to be able to safely stop playing at any time. Players can look for this tag to know that they won't lose significant progress if interrupted.

Recommendations

• Let players save at any time, except during loading, or if loading the save would cause game-breaking scenarios.
  
• Allow both manual saving and auto-saving, and use separate save slots for both types of saves. Don't have auto-saves overwrite manual saves.

Audio

Custom Volume Controls

Why is this tag important to players?

Players may need to reduce distracting sounds so that they can focus on sounds that they need to hear. Players can look for this tag to know that they can adjust the relative levels of different types of sound in the game.

Recommendations

• Provide separate volume controls for music, sound effects, ambient audio, and character speech.
  
• The more distinct volume controls you can provide, the better. For example, consider separate sliders for active sound effects (those critical to gameplay like footsteps or gunshots) and background sound effects (like traffic noise or background speech).

Narrated Game Menus

Why is this tag important to players?

Players with low vision may rely on narration to interact with menus. Players can look for this tag to know that they can understand and use game menus without seeing the text.

Recommendations

• Either expose your UI tree to screen readers (for example, through Microsoft UI Automation) or provide narration for all game menus and notifications.
  
• Narrate headings and subheadings, provide alt text for non-decorative images, and narrate the name, role and state of interactive elements (for example "Volume, slider, 60%")
  
• Whenever context changes, such as switching between screens, narrate the new context. This includes user-initiated changes such as switching tabs, and game-initiated changes like leaving a loading screen.
  
• Allow users to enable narration as soon as possible when launching the game for the first time, or start with it enabled and allow users to disable it.

Stereo Sound

Why is this tag important to players?

Players can look for this tag to know that they can tell whether sounds came from the left or right of the player.

Recommendations

• For sounds that have an in-game location, adjust the left and right channels to indicate their relative position to the player.
  
• For critical gameplay sounds, consider also providing an option for a visual indicator as to the direction the sound came from.

Surround Sound

Why is this tag important to players?

Players can look for this tag to know that they can tell what direction a sound came from, in any direction including above, below, behind and ahead.

Recommendations

• For sounds that have an in-game location, output spatial audio channels to indicate their relative position to the player.
  
• For critical gameplay sounds, consider also providing an option for a visual indicator as to the direction the sound came from.

Visual

Adjustable Text Size

Why is this tag important to players?

Increasing text size is useful both for players with low vision and players playing on a larger or further-away screen. Players can look for this tag to know that they can adjust the size of menu and HUD text so that they can read it clearly.

Recommendations

• Either provide a large default text size, or allow users to increase it.
  
• Allow scaling text up to at least 38 pixels tall at 1080p or 76 pixels tall at 4k.

Subtitle Options

Why is this tag important to players?

Basic subtitle support can be insufficient for players with impaired vision. Providing options for background opacity, text color and size can allow players to customize the subtitles for their comfort. Players can look for this tag to know that they can enable clear, readable subtitles for all dialog.

Recommendations

• Identify who is speaking in subtitles.
  
• Avoid intersecting HUD elements with subtitles, either behind or over.
  
• Use a readable sans-serif font.
  
• Provide the option for a background container, with adjustable opacity.
  
• Provide options for scaling the size of subtitle text, separately from UI text.

Color Alternatives

Why is this tag important to players?

Not all players see color the same way, and colors cannot always be relied upon to communicate gameplay features. Players can look for this tag to know that they will not be required to use color to distinguish between gameplay elements, or that they can change which colors are used.

Recommendations

• Avoid using color as the only way to differentiate important information. Provide other ways, such as shape, patterns, icons or text.
  
• If color is unavoidable, provide options for changing the colors used.
  
• Don't rely on full-screen filters. If you provide preset modes for e.g. red/green colorblindness, also provide the ability to pick specific colors for each element.

Camera Comfort

Why is this tag important to players?

Camera effects such as screen shake, motion blur and camera bob can cause discomfort or harm to some players. Players can look for this tag to know that they will be able to adjust or disable these effects.

Recommendations

• If your game has player-controlled camera movement, allow players to adjust the speed of that movement.
  
• The following effects are examples of things that can cause discomfort:
  
  • Screen shake
    
  • Motion blur
    
  • Camera bob/sway
    
  • Taking control of the camera away, e.g. automatically pointing the camera at a point of interest
• Allow players to adjust the intensity of these effects or disable them entirely

Input

Keyboard Only Option

Why is this tag important to players?

Players might prefer to use only a keyboard, or are using accessibility tools that map to keyboard inputs. Players can look for this tag to know that they can play the game using only keyboard inputs.

Recommendations

• Support binding all actions to keyboard inputs, including camera movements.

Mouse Only Option

Why is this tag important to players?

Players might prefer to use only a mouse, or are using accessibility tools that map to mouse inputs. Players can look for this tag to know that they can play the game using only mouse inputs.

Recommendations

• Provide ways to interact with the game using only the mouse, such as on-screen controls, or movement based on clicking.

Touch Only Option

Why is this tag important to players?

Players might prefer to use only touch inputs, such as a touchpad or touchscreen. Players can look for this tag to know that they can play the game using only touch inputs.

Recommendations

• Provide ways to interact with the game using only touch inputs, such as on-screen controls, or movement based on touch.

Playable without Timed Inputs

Why is this tag important to players?

Quick time events, which require a sequence of precisely-timed button presses or button mashing, can be uncomfortable or impossible for players. Players can look for this tag to know that they can play without being required to perform these actions.

Recommendations

• Give players a way to avoid needing to perform quick time events, such as an option to disable them, or avoid using them entirely.
  
• If button mashing is required for an input, give an option to hold the input instead.

Text-to-speech

Why is this tag important to players?

Social experiences such as text chat in a game can be unavailable for players with low vision. Players can look for this tag to know that they can have text chat narrated for them.

Recommendations

• Provide options for narrating both text chat and canned responses (such as "Good job!")
  
• Provide volume options for text-to-speech that are separate from other game sounds.

Speech-to-text communications

Why is this tag important to players?

Social experiences such as voice chat in a game can be unavailable for players with hearing impairment. Players can look for this tag to know that they can have voice chat transcribed to text for them.

Recommendations

• Provide options for transcribing all player-to-player voice chat in real-time.
  
• Show transcribed voice chat in the same on-screen location as text chat so that they can be read together.