Game Accessibility Conference is coming to the UK for the first time

Game Accessibility Conference #GAconf is coming to the UK on October 21, 2019. The one-day conference – which will be held at Plexal in London – will include presentations and networking “for all disciplines of the games industry, exploring recent and future advances in game accessibility”. 

#GAconf is organised by the International Game Developers Association (IGDA)’s special interest group (SIG) dedicated to making games more accessible to gamers with disabilities. Since 2003, IGDA-GASIG volunteers have worked to aid the game industry in making games accessible to all players, regardless of impairments or other limitations. 

While the event has been run three times in the USA and once in France, this is the first time the event is coming to the UK. Confirmed speakers so far include renowned advocates and specialists Cherry “Cherryrae” Thompson and SightlessKombat, plus representatives from Microsoft, Ubisoft, and the BBC, too. 

Promising a wide range of topics from all sectors of the industry – “indie to AAA, academia to accessibility specialists” – delegates can expect to leave “with inspiration, new contacts, and practical tips to ensure any game can reach as many people as possible, so no player is unnecessarily excluded from everything that games have to offer”.

“Awareness of the importance of game accessibility has increased hugely in recent years, with ever-growing numbers of developers seeing the benefits,” a press release states. “Attendees will take home practical knowledge of how to ensure their vision can reach as wide a range of players as possible, allowing more of those players to benefit from the access to culture, recreation and socialising that gaming brings.”

Early bird tickets are now available from www.gaconf.com.