Accessibility has come a long way from the last generation of consoles to the new one. It’s easy to forget that in seven short years, ‘accessibility’ has gone from a barely recognized word in the gaming lexicon to it being a foundation of the next generation. The PS5 is a good example of years worth of accessibility efforts. The foundation is there, and there are a few holes to fill, but it’s functionally far better than what was available on the PS4 when it first launched in 2013.

Booting Up

These efforts are apparent from the initial boot-up of the system where the text-to-speech screen reader activates after 60 seconds, to help guide Blind players through the setup process. While this is not exclusive to this generation, the screen reader is now available globally and incorporates multiple languages. The screen reader works flawlessly, and all forms of text are readable, with the ability to adjust speed, volume, and voice type (male or female).