Who Gets to Play? Disability, Open Literacy, Gaming

Abstract

Video games are an expanding area of popular culture spanning traditional age, gender and socioeconomic divides and appealing to a diverse market. People with disability represent a significant but under researched gaming demographic (Beeston et al., 2018). While this group represent a large portion of the gaming population, inaccessible interfaces and consoles may prevent people with disability from playing games. Despite this, research dating back to 2008 suggests 92% of gamers with disability continue to play games despite these obstacles. This paper aims to put the topic of gamers with disabilities on the agenda for Open Literacies. The paper brings into dialogue research and conceptions of disability and digital media (especially the work of Gerard Goggin, Meryl Alper, Katie Ellis and Elizabeth Ellcessor) with accounts of gamers with disability, and how we might understand digital access as a cultural practice (for instance, the work of Foley & Ferri). This theoretical synthesis leads us to draw attention to the alternative ways in which games can be played and the impacts this has for the disability community. A secondary aim of the paper is to consider the contexts in which disability appears in gaming in popular culture and everyday life. For example, therapeutic and educational contexts dominate while recreation is considered less important. The paper concludes with reflections about the ways disabled gamers engage in open literacy to bring accessibility to the forefront and change the rules of the game.

Accessibility Technologies in Esports and Their Impact on Quality of Life in People with Physical Disabilities

“…Despite the fact that a significant portion of individuals with disabilities engage in gaming, inaccessible interfaces and gaming consoles can act as barriers, preventing them from fully participating in this form of entertainment. We should note that research dating back to 2008 reveals that an impressive 92% of disabled gamers persist in playing games, even in the face of these obstacles (Ellis and Kao, 2019).…”

“You’ve Got to Put in the Time”: Neoliberal-Ableism and Disabled Streamers on Twitch

“…Indeed, the perceived necessary competencies required to play games and engage with gaming culture are, as Brendan Keogh argues, not apolitical despite appearing as such but "entangled in historic contexts" as, in their infancy, games were targeted and advertised towards young, white men with disposable income [39] (p. 78). This creates a feedback loop wherein games and gaming cultures continue to be made for and geared towards this demographic, which in reality is only a small fraction of the larger videogame player base, thus continuing the marginalization of other player bases such as disabled gamers [40] (p. xxiii) [41]. This dominant approach to gaming culture continues on Twitch through the promise that anyone can stream and, if you work hard enough, stream often enough, and are entertaining enough or are a skilled competitive videogame player, you will attract viewers, grow your stream, and eventually be able to earn a stable income from the practice: a promise that conceals many not-so-readily apparent barriers and forms of exclusion.…”

Share the Experience, Don’t Take it: Toward Attunement With Neurodiversity in Videogames

“…The stigmatizing nature of these stereotypes also means that common notions of neurodiversity should be diversified, something which can best be done by changing how the videogame medium itself represents neurodiversity. Ellis and Kao (2019) discuss how the recreational dimensions of videogames for and about disabled people are understudied. The dominating norm of compulsory able-bodiedness and able-mindedness—which conceives of disability in terms of lack or imperfection—also forms the underlying structure of game research (McRuer, 2006).…”