Nintendo, EA, Riot and Google start labeling accessibility features with shared Accessible Games Initiative tags

Checking whether a game supports the way you play just got a lot easier on several big storefronts. The Accessible Games Initiative, a project run by the Entertainment Software Association (ESA), announced on November 2 that six companies are now using its standard accessibility tags: Electronic Arts, Google (YouTube Playables), Nintendo of America, Riot Games, Ubisoft and Xbox. EA, Nintendo, Riot and Google are the new names, joining Ubisoft and Xbox, which were already on board, according to the ESA’s announcement.

What the tags are

There are 24 tags right now, covering features like large and clear subtitles, narrated menus, button remapping and difficulty levels. The important part is that every tag comes with a shared definition and criteria, so “button remapping” is supposed to mean the same thing whether you see it on Nintendo.com or the EA app. The ESA says the tags were built with feedback from players with disabilities, accessibility advocacy groups and game developers. They’re U.S.-English only for now, adoption is voluntary, and they can sit alongside other tagging systems.

Where to find them

The press release lists where each company is showing them:

• Nintendo of America: the “About this item” section on Nintendo.com game pages, with the full list at nintendo.com/us/store/games/tags
• EA: on game pages in the EA app and on EA.com
• Xbox: a browse page of tagged games at xbox.com/en-US/games/browse/accessibility
• Riot Games: on Riot’s accessibility page
• Ubisoft: on each game’s purchase page
• YouTube Playables: under “Game Info” for each game, on mobile and web

GoNintendo shows how it looks on Nintendo’s side, with tags like “Playable without Motion Controls” and “Color Alternatives” listed near the bottom of a listing. When Nintendo first announced it was joining, it said the tags would come “in the future,” so this is the follow-through.

One name worth noticing: the initiative’s site says the idea was first developed by EA, Google, Microsoft, Nintendo, Sony Interactive Entertainment and Ubisoft. Sony isn’t among the six in today’s announcement, though the site says more companies are still adding tags.

PPR take: This is one of those quiet changes that matters more than a lot of the big trailers we cover. If you need subtitles you can actually read, or you can’t use motion controls, you’ve usually had to dig through reviews or forum threads to find out whether a game works for you, and every store described features a little differently. One shared set of tags with real definitions fixes that, as long as publishers actually fill them in. I’d like to see PlayStation get on board next, since Sony helped come up with the idea and a lot of people buy their games on the PlayStation Store. For now, it’s a solid step, and it costs players nothing.