Editor’s note: Brandon Cole, an award-winning accessibility consultant and advocate, who was dedicated to making media fully accessible and inclusive for all, passed away in June 2024 – a tremendous loss for the accessibility and video game communities. He wrote this post for BlindNewWorld in October 2022.
I have found my true direction, and my true purpose. And yes, it’s video games. Specifically, video game accessibility.
I have always been a gamer, and I’ve always had ideas for how video games could be more accessible. These two factors are just part of the reason I am where I am today.
Getting in the game
I have spoken at GDC (the Game Developers Conference), GAConf (The Game Accessibility Conference – VIDEO), and directly at both PlayStation and Xbox headquarters about video game accessibility. I received an award from the Game Audio Network Guild for my appreciation of and use of game audio to play games. Now, I find myself actually working in the game industry as an accessibility consultant.
I have worked for newer companies like Blind Sparrow Interactive and myTrueSound, and have even contracted for well-known developer Jackbox Games.
I am also honored to be able to say that I was an integral part of making a game called The Last of Us Part 2 fully accessible to people who are totally blind, all over the world.
The game won awards for its accessibility. While the game contained much more than accessibility for the blind, I still choose to believe I had something, perhaps a lot, to do with that. This belief has been echoed by my coworkers, and so I no longer hesitate to call myself an award-winning accessibility consultant.
Now, I have even more contracts that I can’t talk about quite yet – and things are looking up in the game industry in terms of blind accessibility.
Living my dream
I am where I want to be, doing what I love to do, and I supplement it all with other endeavors, all of which feed into the overarching narrative of game accessibility. I stream games live, both to entertain and to educate. I blog about games and game-related topics. I podcast about games from a blindness perspective. And I have even lent my voice to a couple games.
Best of all, I feel like I’m only just beginning. I want to continue helping game developers bring new experiences to the blind community, and in doing so, maybe I’ll manage to affect the worlds of many others.
About the Author
Brandon Cole was an award-winning blogger, streamer, YouTuber, podcaster, voice actor, accessibility advocate and accessibility consultant with a passion for making accessibility happen! You can learn more about his work on his website and find his archived content on YouTube, X (formerly Twitter) and Facebook.
