Accessibility advocacy also entails fighting to protect our gains
While we push for a better world, we must also refuse to cede an inch
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Another day, another devastating headline in the realm of video games.
“Layoffs Leave The Future Of Xbox’s Award-Winning Accessibility Efforts In Doubt,” announces one story from the gaming news website Aftermath. The article, published on July 22 and written by a fellow journalist with SMA named Grant Stoner, details how Microsoft has removed key staff, experts, and funding from its Xbox accessibility efforts. It is a drastic change from the company that launched the first mass-produced accessibility controller for gaming in 2018 and championed inclusive gaming through its award-winning games and other initiatives, like a partnership with the Special Olympics. Now, even compliance testing for European Union regulations for Xbox websites could be threatened, reports say.
The news isn’t surprising to me. The tech world chases trends like schoolboys chasing pretty girls.
When we were all isolated during the COVID-19 pandemic, many of us bought video games en masse to occupy our time and find an escape in a world where we couldn’t leave our doorsteps. It was logical to believe gaming was a good investment. Now, the rapt attention is on artificial intelligence (AI). Microsoft (along with other tech companies) has invested billions of dollars in AI development already. That money has to come from somewhere, and last year alone, the company laid off 15,000 people.
It’s concerning that a major global company is pulling back from making gaming inclusive. Decisions like this don’t happen in a vacuum. Unless a business prioritizes social progress on principle, everything is cold calculus. It seemingly doesn’t matter that Microsoft executives know disabled gamers are a large part of their customer base — from their own research. I guess, though, that if we aren’t giving them enough cash, our needs will be ignored.
As someone with SMA who wrote an article in which disabled gamers praised Microsoft for its inclusion efforts, I can’t help but feel betrayed.
The next part is connected, I swear …
Coincidentally, Microsoft’s news comes at a time when the Land Transport Authority here in Singapore, where I live, is trialing an initiative from April to September that will allow baby strollers to be prioritized for the wheelchair berths in buses if the former boards first. Read that again: Strollers will be prioritized for wheelchair berths.
I may be the perfect person to speak to this issue because I used a stroller as my “wheelchair” until I was 15. Under this new initiative, boarding a bus would be easier for my past self than my present self.
Most of Singapore’s buses have only one wheelchair berth. It’s the only open space on the vehicle, and therefore everyone uses it for strollers, luggage, and carts. As a working adult using a power wheelchair, it is frustrating for me to see nondisabled passengers take up space that’s designated for people like myself. What if I have an important meeting and I’m in a rush, but there’s no bus to accommodate me? There are more children than wheelchair users!
Singapore’s buses aren’t like our trains, where there’s plenty of space even if the wheelchair berths are in use. Without the berth, we can’t board a bus at all. As the Disabled People’s Association pointed out, strollers can fold, while many wheelchairs cannot.
I’m grateful and proud that a Singaporean singer-songwriter with SMA, whom I personally know, used his social media following to bring attention to the issue. Thank you, Sky Shen, for being willing to speak out about it.
Access granted
Looking at the two issues that are discussed in this column, I’m reminded that accessibility is more of a cultural issue than a physical one. In my experience, it’s typically assumed that just because a disabled person can enter a venue or use a service, that’s the entirety of accessibility. But accessibility also means recognizing the importance of the workers who make that venue or service possible. It’s about being willing to fund initiatives regardless of profits and designing better transportation. It’s about communities, like the SMA community, that offer different perspectives.
Accessibility is like a kaleidoscope. It has a million angles and color spectrums and creates complex, vivid images of humanity.
But accessibility is also hard-won and easily lost. It’s something that, unfortunately for us fatigued advocates, must be explained and emphasized repeatedly. It isn’t something we can be complacent about or entrust fully to the powerful. We on the ground have to continue covering news about it and hold the feet of those in charge to the fire.
I hope that, one day, accessibility will be so ingrained in our societies that humanity will be appalled that we ever had a time without it.
Note: SMA News Today is strictly a news and information website about the disease. It does not provide medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. This content is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified health provider with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition. Never disregard professional medical advice or delay in seeking it because of something you have read on this website. The opinions expressed in this column are not those of SMA News Today or its parent company, Bionews, and are intended to spark discussion about issues pertaining to spinal muscular atrophy.
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