GDC 2017 Flash Forward: Game Accessibility: Practical Visual Fixes from EA's 'Madden NFL' Franchise
1,048 views · Published 20 February 2017 · 1:21 · Indexed 20 September 2026
Channel: GDC Festival of Gaming · 2017 · Education
Hi, I’m Karen Stevens, a Software Engineer on Madden NFL. My GDC talk is “Game Accessibility: Practical Visual Fixes from EA’s Madden NFL’ Franchise. This talk is designed for all audiences, including all levels of experience and all disciplines. My story starts with a conversation with a friend. He’s a huge Raiders fan, and I asked if he was looking forward to the next version of Madden NFL. He told me that since Madden moved to 1080p, he wasn’t able to see many things on the screen well enough to play, as he’s legally blind. I promised myself that if I ever had the opportunity to address his issues, along with the issues of many others, I would do everything I can to make the game more usable to a wider audience. My talk also includes colorblind filters, to improve gameplay for the over half a million colorblind Madden NFL players, and includes code in an addendum slide for later viewing – the presentation itself does not require a programming background. These and other technical changes were done within a month, and I was the only developer dedicated to them. My presentation describes them all, and shows how you can use community outreach to find your biggest wins. The presentation is available to all pass types, and I look forward to seeing you there. Karen Stevens | Software Engineer / Product Owner, EA Sports Date: TBD Time: TBD Format: Session Track: Advocacy More details: http://schedule.gdconf.com/session/game-accessibility-practical-visual-fixes-from-eas-madden-nfl-franchise?_mc=sm_x_gdcsf_le_tsnr_gdcsf_x_x-tw GDC talks cover a range of developmental topics including game design, programming, audio, visual arts, business management, production, online games, and much more. We post a fresh GDC video every weekday. Subscribe to the channel to stay on top of regular updates, and check out GDC Vault for thousands of more in-depth talks from our archives. Follow us on Twitter https://twitter.com/Official_GDC Check out our Facebook page for GDC exclusives https://www.facebook.com/GameDevelopersConference Visit our site: http://ubm.io/2ctNvqZ
