Like last years’ Game Accessibility Conference, this years’ European edition is taking place entirely online. Last year did not see a European edition due to a rescheduling of the US edition to September. Despite early hopes for an in-person event, the conference remains online due to the ongoing pandemic. The conference is once again completely free to attend, however registration is required for the best experience. Those interested can register for the conference here.
The event will be officially taking place over 2 days on April 5th and 6th, with talks given through Zoom from 10am to 5.30pm BST (11am – 6.30pm CEST), (5.30am – 12.30pm ET). The talks will also be broadcast on YouTube, but the Zoom broadcasts provide additional accessibility accommodations with full live captioning and BSL interpreting for all talks. Additionally a Discord server is available for networking and discussions. This arrangement proved successful last year when the conference saw over 1200 registrations.
The conference is hosted by IGDA-GASIG. During the event you’ll hear talks about the importance of accessibility and how developers implemented it in their game development. Aside from learning of the recent advances in video game accessibility as well as what lies ahead for the future, those attending can expect to discover networking opportunities.
Speakers
As we’ve come to expect from the Game Accessibility Conference, developers from AAA and indie studios will be present along with accessibility specialists from other fields, this time mostly speakers from around Europe.
Topics of the conference include case studies on Watchdogs Legions and Scourgebringer, personal stories from Vivek Gohil and Stacey Jenkins, a panel discussion of experiences as a disabled developer, and a retrospective on the pioneering MAVIS accessibility hardware and software from the 1970s. Details of Xbox’s refreshed guidelines and accessibility testing service will also be discussed, as we mentioned earlier in our news story about the updated Xbox Accessibility Guidelines and Game Accessibility Testing Service.
An up to date list of all the speakers is available on the speakers page on the conference website. As of now the following speakers have been confirmed (list updated March 4th 2021).
- Vida Starčević – Remedy Entertainment
- Emilio Jeldrez – King
- Nickie Harper-Williams – Independent
- Ben Bayliss – Freelance
- Anni Pekie – Independent
- Laura Kate Dale – LauraKBuzz
- Kathrin Gerling – KU Leuven, Belgium
- Maksym Horban – Ubisoft
- Stacey Jenkins – Independent
- Chris Goodyear – Many Cats Studios
- Brian Marquez – Raven Software
- Thomas Altenburger – Flying Oak Games
- Felicia Prehn – Nopia Ltd.
- Tara Voelker – Xbox
- Barrie Ellis – OneSwitch
- Ian Hamilton – Independent
- Kaitlyn Jones – Xbox
- Vivek Gohil – Independent
If you’re interested in learning more about IGDA you can visit the official website. The Game Accessibility Conference website is updated and open for attendee registrations.
