Get the latest tech news

Periphery Synthetic is playable by sound alone - is it the next step in accessibility for the blind and visually impaired?

Progress in the blind and visually impaired accessibility space is happening, but it's slow. Periphery Synthetic's sound-first design offers a way forward.

"Since we can't enjoy the graphics or have audio descriptions to understand the scenery," Vabax, a blind content creator, says, "we often have to rely on friends or others to describe the design of characters or game environments." Across all of which a robust, parameterised soundscape is vital, to the point that some otherwise inaccessible games - like early Pokémon titles - are surprisingly playable for some blind players thanks to their sound design and linear progression. Image credit: shiftBacktick While user-made plugins and mods exist to mitigate this, these are another extra labour and Soft Leaf Studios' director, Conor Bradley, acknowledges that "even then these are a workaround that could be avoided if the game engines did a better job at giving developers access to the tools they need."

Get the Android app