It's a new year and at means a new Madden. The release of Madden NFL 20 this years sees an improved focus on accessibility. Many of the previous accessibility features have been kept while more have been added, making this year's game the most accessible yet. Hopefully with the additions this year and continued growth of accessibility in the future, gamers of all kinds will be able to enjoy Madden and many other video games for years to come.
As technology (specifically video game technology) continues to progress, there has been a focus on helping make games more accessible for people who may not have been able to enjoy a game previously. It could be something as common as color blindness as many games rely on certain colors to a large degree in their gameplay. Games have even begun to aid blind gamers and many more with various other sorts of physical limitations. Continuous improvements and implementation of accessibility features in video games are important to allow everybody to feel included as well as everybody to be able to enjoy games that we all love. When more and more people are able to play (and enjoy) video games, then everybody wins. Like some of the previous installments before it, Madden 20 is doing its part to continue the progression of accessibility features.
Return Of The Menu
A few years ago, EA really began to focus on accessibility in its popular sports franchise with Madden 17. This game added options such as the ability to enlarge on field graphics as well as colorblind support. The addition of these features allowed for players with vision impairments, as well as the large portion of customers who are color blind, the ability to play the game better and make their experience more enjoyable. The ability to change brightness and contrast was also added. All of the features continued to be implemented into the game and Madden 20 will also see the return of these key elements.
Madden NFL 20 also continues to see the controller vibration settings that allow even completely blind players the opportunity to play the game. If you would like know more about how they are able to do that you can check it out here. To some, controller vibrations might be a distraction, but to others, it's legitimately the only way they are even able to play a certain game and the Madden franchise's dedication to it is extremely beneficial to the gaming industry. The fact that they continue to bring it back every year is great in itself.
The accessibility options in Madden NFL 20 will continue to have their own menu that was previously added in Madden 19. With the accessibility options having their own menu, it's easier than ever for players to access them and tweak their game settings to suit their own personal needs. It may not seem like the biggest feature, but it is extremely important to have that ease of use.
Even More Accessible
Madden NFL 20 has also added some new features to the franchise. In-game chat now has text-to-speech as well as speech-to-text functionality. This allows for players to communicate better and also help build a more inclusive community through interactions with other players. Even some light smack-talk can help make a game experience all the better. The most important, and largest feature, added this year is menu narration. The majority of all menus has narration which is extremely beneficial for players that have any sort of visual impairments. It allows them to navigate the entire game much easier and makes for an overall better experience. There is even narration support for deeper aspects of the game such as the depth chart.
Improved accessibility is a benefit to the gaming community and the video game industry as a whole. Madden NFL 20 has made it easier than ever before for anyone to play and love the games. There is no doubt that Madden as well as the collective gaming industry will continue to make strides when it comes to accessibility in the future. They have opened themselves up to a larger customer base as well as allowed a previously excluded group of gamers the ability to play video games as well and when more people are exposed to video games, the only way to go is up. Of course, the accessibility settings are entirely optional, but the options are there and that is the most important part in all of this.