Accessibility & Localization - Intrinsically Linked

Localization and Accessibility are intrinsically linked. Localization is often seen as only a necessary step for releasing globally. However, localization should also be viewed as a core aspect of accessibility for millions of players.

Taking Steam’s figures as an example, as of year-end 2024 around 32 to 40% of players use English as their primary language. Comparing that with global populus figures, where only around 20% of people speak English, paints a stark reality. That reality is that English-only titles can fail to reach up to 70% of global players, while additionally reducing the chances of new players purchasing.

Many of those new players may also be over 45, with that demographic growing steadily over the last few years. In 2021, Global Web Index released a study suggesting that the number of gamers over 45 grew by 32% since 2018. Additionally, they found that 24% of grandparents and parents see playing games with their children as core family time. Many incredible games experiences are available to those younger gamers, while their parents and grandparents would struggle to play in English. This isn’t just for English-only games. Even titles with a typical FIGS localization, and even a few APAC languages, would still face accessibility issues for those outside of these established markets.

But how else does localization expand your game’s accessibility?

Inclusivity

Inclusive language is an extremely important and established aspect of localization. Localization’s ultimate aim is not just to make your game understandable to players, it’s to make them feel like it was made for them.

A notably important aspect of localization’s aim is ensuring that players feel included by the specific word choice used. Inclusive language extends across all demographics, ensuring that player immersion is thoroughly maintained throughout all linguistic aspects of the title.

Examples of immersive language would be using “firefighter” instead of “fireman”, or “Police officer” instead of “policeman”. While these are simple changes to make, they make a huge impact on your players. Additionally, utilizing words like this actually reduces the problems that can occur in games. For instance, if an RPG allows the player to completely create their own character, using gender-neutral terminology reduces the requirement to change word through macros based on the player’s character choices. In this way inclusive language doesn’t just help your players, it helps developers, project managers, and linguists too.

How Localization Helps Visually Impaired Gamers

A high-quality and innately natural localization is critical to player enjoyment, but it’s even more important to those who utilize in-game accessibility features. Subtitles are often taken for granted across many forms of media, and it’s not difficult to cite current examples of platforms and mediums where subtitle quality has fallen behind.

The accurate localization and timing of subtitles is critical for many gamers with visual impairments. The BBC reported in 2024 that gaming is becoming increasingly popular among visually impaired gamers[CS1] , with some forming groups of players with similar issues. Nearly 40% of the global population plays games in some form, and it’s estimated there are around 253 million visually impaired people across the globe. With the number of visually impaired gamers in the millions, careful attention to accuracy and clarity across all localized versions is paramount to their enjoyment and ability to access.

The timing of subtitles is an often under-valued aspect of Localization, and more specifically Localization QA. Mistimed subtitles can cause your story to lose all impact for millions of gamers, and notably increase player frustration and drop-off. According to Ross Minor, a YouTuber and blind accessibility consultant, the first fully blind-accessible AAA game was The Last of Us Part II in 2020. He cites specific features including Text-to-speech (TTS) as a core requirement for independent gaming for blind players. The achievements in accessibility of The Last of Us Part II were recognized at the Game Awards, where it won 2020’s Innovation in Accessibility. The game’s importance to blind gamers, and award recognition, highlight how accurate localization of subtitles, menus, items, and all other written content, is a necessity for accessibility in the modern games industry. It’s clear that Sony understand the importance of accessibility, with many other first party titles like Spiderman and Spiderman 2 also including numerous accessibility features, highlighted when first launching the game. It isn’t just Sony titles that are making these innovations in accessibility. Xbox has been championing it’s accessibility guidelines more and more over the last few years. Those guidelines contain specific rules for text displaying, subtitles and captions, screen narration, and more. There’s no space in the modern games industry, on any platform, to leave players behind.

An additional role of Localization for visually impaired accessibility lies with LQA testers, who can be a huge help for adhering to these guidelines. As accessibility features become more common in games, ensuring text is displayed correctly becomes even more important. Games that include features like text resizing or colorblind modes can face difficulties if untested, from players, publishers, and platform holders. Text Resizing can often lead to overspills or unintended truncation. Checking for overspills and truncation are already standard elements of LQA testing. However, viewing these common problems as accessibility issues, rather than simply a graphical bug, may make some developers re-think the priority they apply to such fixes. This same LQA expertise also makes testers a great option for analyzing control remapping alongside typical QA checks. Ensuring that controls are labelled clearly in all localized languages will go a long way to making these features as accessible as possible for gamers worldwide.

In these aspects LQA testers can be a fantastic resource for ensuring that all accessibility features work as intended, across all languages. The feedback gained through thorough LQA analysis can fix major accessibility problems before they reach your players.

When these problems do reach players, they’re not ignored. There are now numerous accessibility-focused games websites such as GamesAccessibilityNexus, with reviews focusing on visual, audible, and mobility-related accessibility. While it’s a testament to modern gaming that websites like this exist, when reading these reviews it’s clear there’s still a long way to go before no players are left behind.

In Conclusion

Localization is about making your game accessible to as many players as possible. In this way, localization and accessibility should be seen as intrinsically linked aspects of game development. In recent years we’ve seen extensive progress with accessibility features, extending from AAA to Indie titles. This progress is guaranteed to continue as games become more complex, and even more ubiquitous among the global population.

If you want to make your game as accessible to new players as possible, you need to think about making your localization accessible too.