Xbox Recognizes International Day of Persons with Disabilities

International Day of Persons with Disabilities

Every December, International Day of Persons with Disabilities is observed to promote awareness, understanding, and equal participation of people with disabilities in all aspects of society and development. At Xbox, we believe that play is a crucial element of today’s society and should be accessible to as many individuals as possible. Our goal is to create inclusive experiences that empower players to enjoy the games they love, in the manner they prefer, within the communities they choose to engage with.

Today and every day, we want to acknowledge the valuable contributions that members of the Gaming and Disability community have made in collaborating with us to develop more accessible experiences across various projects. This includes individuals like Stan Adermann, Principal Firmware Engineer at Team Xbox. Stan’s personal experience with disability inspired the creation of some of our latest controller remapping features:

“My own disability is mild Essential Tremor, along with pain in my hands from years of software development,” Stan shared. “Playing certain games on PC was exacerbating my pain issues, so I delved into finding ways to make the use of controllers on PC easier for players with similar issues, or those seeking more customization options. Mapping mouse movements to controllers and toggle holds were initial steps. Mapping joystick movements to buttons or keyboard keys was also crucial.”

Remapping Options for Xbox Adaptive Controller and Elite Series 2

Remapping is a key aspect of accessibility that allows players to customize the function of a specific key on a keyboard, mouse, or controller to better suit their preferences or gaming needs.

To offer more flexibility for input remapping, we have recently introduced the following capabilities in the Xbox Accessories App for the Xbox Elite Series 2 Controller and the Xbox Adaptive Controller:

  • Toggle holds: This feature is designed to make using a controller easier and supports players who struggle with holding buttons for extended periods. Similar to sticky keys on a computer, toggle holds allow players to keep a button or port on the controller pressed until they press it again to release.
  • Map stick movement to button presses: Players can now map directional movements on their Elite Series 2 thumbsticks or external joysticks connected to the Xbox Adaptive Controller to button or keyboard presses. For example, moving the stick in a specific direction can be mapped to pressing a corresponding button on a traditional controller.
  • Map mouse inputs to controller: Thumbstick or joystick movement can now be mapped to mouse cursor movement. Additionally, buttons can be mapped to right, middle, and left mouse clicks, allowing players to use their controllers as a mouse and keyboard equivalent for gaming and non-gaming scenarios on PC.

A screenshot of the Xbox Adaptive Controller button remapping profile creation experience in the Xbox Accessories app. In the

  • Map hat switch to alternate joystick: Players with external joysticks featuring hat switches can now map the switch to function as the opposite stick when connected to the Xbox Adaptive Controller.

A screenshot of the Xbox Adaptive Controller button remapping profile creation experience in the Xbox Accessories app. The

Visual Accessibility Updates for Diablo IV

Screenshot of the navigational map in Diablo IV. There is a map pin on the Campaign Quest called

Accessibility was a primary focus for the development team behind Diablo IV, under the leadership of Drew McCrory, lead accessibility developer for the game. In October, the team introduced more options to the existing suite of accessibility features in the game, particularly catering to players who are blind or have low vision.

  • Auto-Pin: This new feature automatically places a map pin on the destination of the selected quest or task from the in-game Journal.
  • Audio Navigation Assistance: This feature provides spatial audio cues to guide players towards their placed pin on the overworld map, aiding in navigation through quest content.
  • Compass: The compass feature adds an on-screen HUD element that encircles the player and indicates the direction of their placed in-world pin, offering consistent guidance.

Diablo IV has been nominated in the “Innovation in Accessibility” category for the 2024 Game Awards.

For more information, refer to the full Blizzard blog post detailing these updates here.

Accessibility Features in Call of Duty: Black Ops 6

Image of in-game play from Call of Duty Black Ops 6 with text that reads: Accessibility Updates and Features. There are four enemies on screen in a dimly lit room. Each enemy has a bright red highlight around them to increase visual contrast.

With the release of Call of Duty: Black Ops 6, new features have been introduced including asymmetrical hearing compensation, enhanced high contrast mode, and an updated accessibility settings menu. The development team collaborated with accessibility advocates throughout the process to build and test these features. The game also supports familiar features from Modern Warfare III like reduce motion blur and joystick settings.

Additionally, new arachnophobia settings allow players to alter the appearance of spider-like enemies, additional HUD layout options have been included, and Intelligent Movement settings offer additional support for players to customize their experience according to their needs. The team’s efforts were recently acknowledged, and they were nominated for an “Innovation in Accessibility” award by The Game Awards.

Explore the details of these settings here.

Celebrating the Life of Ibelin in World of Warcraft

Image of the Reven companion, purchases of which support the CureDuchenne charity.

In honor of the release of “The Remarkable Life of Ibelin” on Netflix and the life of Mats “Ibelin” Steen, a Norwegian WoW player with Duchenne muscular dystrophy, World of Warcraft has launched the Reven pack in Modern and Classic World of Warcraft. “Reven” translates to “the fox” in Norwegian, and players can purchase this inquisitive companion to support CureDuchenne, a nonprofit organization dedicated to research, patient care, and innovation for individuals with Duchenne muscular dystrophy.

Discover more about the Reven pack and CureDuchenne here.


Learn more about Microsoft’s approach to Inclusive Design at https://inclusive.microsoft.design.