Last month, a new post on the Twitch UserVoice forum requested for a Disability Pride Month. It’s something that’s celebrated for other minority groups, but is yet to be implemented on the streaming platform for the disability community.
In under a month, the post has received over 1100 votes, with plenty of comments from disabled streamers in support.
Let’s Play Midnight Ghost Hunt – HUNTERS OR HUNTED? MIDNIGHT GHOST HUNT PC BETA GAMEPLAY Watch on YouTube
So far, Twitch has celebrated Global Accessibility Awareness Day in May for the past two years. This has included highlighting disabled streamers and talks with top Twitch creators, as well as offering guides on education and advocacy.
Today and every day, we celebrate creators with disabilities and the improvements they’ve made to make gaming and streaming more inclusive to all.
Learn more during Global Accessibility Awareness day on Twitch: https://t.co/dIzxcLTO6a pic.twitter.com/SVWUFYUPbA
— Twitch (@Twitch) May 20, 2021
To see this content please enable targeting cookies.
But could Twitch be doing more to support disabled streamers? How does being disabled on Twitch impact streaming?
It’s important to note that having a disability is incredibly personal and experiences on Twitch will differ from person to person. What’s discussed in this article is by no means exhaustive. But there are some common experiences.
As with all streamers, the process begins with choosing a game to stream. For disabled streamers, even that can be fraught.
“If you want to be successful on Twitch, you have to play certain kinds of games,” says Steve Spohn, streamer and senior director of AbleGamers. There are always certain games that are bound to be popular on the platform – the likes of GTA, Fortnite and Minecraft.
“For me, I get to have considerations, like ‘is this accessible? Oh, it’s not, oh well’ and then I’ll just go and play something else.”
That means discovering whether a game is even accessible in the first place, which can be a “heartbreaking” process. Spohn, for instance, missed out on Animal Crossing because the Switch isn’t accessible to him.
“I kind of missed the entire thing, didn’t get to use it on my channel, didn’t get to really get into it and be part of that world. So that’s kind of the way it comes into play: if you’re disabled it is less about what you can [play] and more about what you’re missing out on.
“I think for people with disabilities, just speaking for myself, the fear of missing out can be a little bit stronger for us.”
For SightlessKombat, a streamer without sight, key accessibility features like menu and UI narration, navigation and traversal assistance features, and full aim assist are just a few options that can have a major impact on whether a game can be played.