Steam plans to introduce new tags to assist disabled players in finding games that offer specific accessibility features

Steam is introducing a new feature to assist players with disabilities in finding inclusive games. This initiative allows game developers to apply accessibility tags to better outline how their games accommodate accessibility needs.

The Steamworks platform now features a new questionnaire that developers can use to specify accessibility features in their games. These features include adjustable difficulty levels, text resizing, color options, high contrast modes, speech-to-text and text-to-speech capabilities, customizable volume controls, and narrated game menus, among others.

According to Valve, developers will find this new questionnaire in the "edit store" section of Steamworks for each game. Later this year, players will be able to filter games by specific accessibility attributes. The store page will see updates with accessibility options added to its sidebar for easier navigation.

"Our efforts in gathering feedback from both developers and gamers with disabilities aim to enhance the user experience by facilitating the discovery of games supporting accessibility," Valve stated. "Assisting developers in sharing these details about their games marks the initial step."

These tags are different from those introduced by the ESA's Accessibility Games Initiative, which, according to blind gamer and consultant Steve Saylor, might cause confusion in the future.

In other news, UK technology secretary Peter Kyle criticized Steam for listing a visual novel featuring contentious content, including non-consensual interactions. In response, developer Zerat Games decided to withdraw their visual novel from Steam following its removal from sale in several countries, stating their intention to avoid further conflict.