Xbox’s ‘Accessibility Feature Tags’ allow players to see whether a game has included particular accessibility features. It also enables the filtering of games using these tags to help you to find games that have included particular accessibility features. This video will be an introduction to using these tags to discover motor accessibility-related features in games.
When navigating the store, games that have included accessibility features and applied the tags may also be highlighted by the badge showing the game accessibility information symbol.
When viewing a game in the store on Xbox, these tags are listed in the information when viewing a particular game. You can find these by scrolling down the game’s store page. A game may also have further information going into more detail on particular accessibility features they provide, which you can access by selecting ‘Discover available features’ below these tags. This will link you to a website page. You can also learn more about tag definitions, by selecting ‘Show feature definitions’ which is also underneath the list of tags for a game.
If you are interested in games that have a particular accessibility feature, you can filter games by Accessibility Feature Tags in the store. To start filtering on Xbox, you need to select a particular group of games. For instance, here, we select the ‘Top New Games’ and then press ‘X’ to bring up the filters. As another example, if you are a ‘GamePass’ subscriber, you could also use the filter on GamePass games in the store.
On Windows PC, when looking at a game the Accessibility Feature Tags can be found under the ‘more’ tab when looking at a game in the Xbox App and they can be used to filter games within the GamePass section of the app using the ‘filter’ dropdown. If a game developer has linked to further information on accessibility features in their game on a webpage, this can be found under the ‘more’ tab, on the game’s store page, too.
On the Xbox.com website, you can use the ‘Accessibility Feature’ tags to search all available games on both Xbox and on Windows PC, using the filters on the left. Again, by clicking on ‘more’ on a game’s store page, you can see all the tags that particular game has and also select a link to access another webpage with more information, when available.
The tags are added by developers themselves for their own games. As not all developers who have appropriate accessibility features in their games have tagged them, not every game which could include these tags will appear, when using the filters. For the same reason, not all games will have accessibility feature tag information available on their store pages. To be able to apply a certain tag to a game, the game must include certain features to qualify.
In this video, we are going to go through the tags available that are related to the motor accessibility of a game and look at their definitions and what a game needs to include to be able to apply these tags to their game.
The first tag we are going to look at is ‘Accessibility on Launch’ which appears under the ‘Gameplay’ heading. Using this filter will show games that allow you to amend certain accessibility settings before you start playing. For instance, in Halo Infinite, you can alter settings right at the outset when first loading the game. A game may not include all settings here (such as motor accessibility options), but it will show you a message letting players know where they can be found.
Also, under ‘Gameplay’, there is a tag for ‘Adjustable difficulty’ which shows games that have ‘multiple ways to adjust the difficulty on in-game mechanics’ and which also include modes for a ‘wide range’ of players to progress. Star Wars Jedi: Survivor, for instance, has various difficulty levels including ‘Story Mode’. Forza Horizon 5 offers a range of difficulties, too, including ‘Tourist Mode’ that slows down the AI opponents in races when you fall behind, allowing you to catch up and rejoin them. It also includes a wide range of assists which can be used to adjust the difficulty and customise gameplay and controls for players.
The ‘On-demand tutorials’ tag shows games which have tutorials that can be accessed during the game ‘explaining basic controls and core mechanics of the game’. These may either be tutorials in which the player has control or videos they watch. Apex Legends has a tutorial available from the main menu, which introduces certain controls and mechanics and in which you can practice various actions while adjusting settings, acting as a space to become familiar with the controls and experiment with settings. Sea of Thieves also has a tutorial that introduces the core controls and mechanics when on foot or sailing.
The ‘Pausable’ tag shows games that can be paused at any point during gameplay or cut scenes, except in multiplayer or during save/load screens. Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order has this tag and can be paused at any point, such as here during a cut scene. Similarly, Microsoft Flight Simulator can be paused at any point, such as here, mid-flight.
The ‘Progress saving options’ tag displays games that can be regularly saved on multiple slots using both automatic and manual saves at almost any point in a game, to ‘prevent significant loss of in-game progress.’ This tag will allow players to store at least 3 ‘prior game states’ and will provide warnings before saving over save data and will not ‘automatically overwrite itself.’ Both Minecraft and Grounded have this tag and allow players to save games with this criteria.
Under the ‘Input’ filter options, the ‘Adjustable input sensitivity’ tag shows games that have the option to increase or decrease the sensitivity of all analog controls ‘including analog sticks, triggers, race wheels and mouse movement’, if the game uses these inputs. Dirt 5, allows players to adjust various analog settings including deadzones. Similarly, Microsoft Flight Simulator has settings to adjust the sensitivity of all actions linked to the Left Stick, Right Stick and both Triggers.
Under ‘Input’ there is also a tag for showing games that have ‘Full keyboard support’ for games. Games using this tag can be played using just a keyboard, without a mouse or gamepad. Games may not include onscreen key prompts, however. Paw Patrol: Grand Prix allows you to navigate the menus and play with full controls during a race. Minecraft also allows you to do this, using the arrow keys for camera movement when you choose to use the ‘Full Keyboard Gameplay’ option. Pentiment also provides full keyboard support and includes on-screen key prompts.
‘Input remapping’ displays games that allow you to remap all gameplay controls including sticks, triggers and buttons. Dirt 5, for instance, offers these remapping features to players, as does Star Wars: Squadrons…and Grounded. This tag will also cover games that allow you to invert the x and y axis separately for each stick. The games will also show the remapped prompts on in-game screens. Games under this tag will also have menus that can be navigated with either analog or digital inputs (e.g. Left Stick or D-pad) and will not require multiple buttons to be pressed at the same time.
The ‘No button holds’ tag will show games that avoid needing buttons to be held down for an ‘extended period’ or include options to toggle these. Games may still require inputs to be held for movement and camera movement for analog sticks and D-pad. Inputs that need to be held for a shorter set-duration to complete an action may still be shown using this filter, too. As Dusk Falls includes this tag as it does not require these extended holds, as does Sea of Thieves as it offers alternative toggle options for these actions.
‘No quick-time events’ displays games that either don’t require rapid repeated button presses shorter than one second to complete an action, such as a quick-time event or a combo, or they will include an option to remove this mechanic from the game. Star Wars Jedi: Survivor and Fallen Order both have this tag and both have an option to remove quick time events. As Dusk Falls includes both an option to use a Single Tap only for quick actions, or No Mashing. It also includes an ‘Extended QTE Timer’ option that lengthens the time between required inputs during quick time events.
‘Single stick gameplay’ shows games that only need one stick (or the D-pad) alongside buttons and triggers, rather than both sticks. As examples, both As Dusk Falls and Pentiment only use one Stick (or the D-pad) for gameplay and to navigate menus, as do some platformers, such as Celeste, Ori and the Will of The Wisps and Dead Cells. Sea of Thieves, by default, uses both sticks, but also has a tag because it has options to play using a single stick. Using this option, the chosen stick can be used to turn left and right and move forwards and backwards in one state, and then for moving the camera when in another. The Left Trigger input, will alternate between states in this mode. Please note, filtering with this tag may not include games which use both sticks, but which can be played and enjoyed with just one, such as some driving games which may use the Right Stick to move the camera, but which can be enjoyed without this, too.
We hope that this video has been a useful introduction to using the Xbox Accessibility Feature Tags to discover motor accessibility-related features in games. To get started with the tags, as well looking at individual games and using the filters in the store, you can also find games, by viewing the ‘Accessibility Spotlight’ area that shows games with six or more accessibility features tagged. You can currently find these by navigating to ‘Home’ then down to ‘Accessibility Spotlight’, in the store.
For game developers interested in adding tags to their game, Microsoft have provided information, including criterias, for applying tags to games and test steps at learn.microsoft.com
(https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/gaming/accessibility/accessibility-feature-tags)
The ‘Accessibility Feature Tags’ allow players to see whether a game has included particular accessibility features. They can also be used to filter titles to help find games that have included these accessibility features. The tags are available in the Microsoft Store on Xbox, Xbox.com and the Xbox App on PC.
In this video and accompanying post, we will go through the tags that are related to the motor accessibility of a game and look at their definitions and what a game needs to include to be able to apply these tags to their game.
When viewing a game in the store on Xbox, these tags are listed in the information when viewing a particular game. You can find these by scrolling down the game’s store page. A game may also have further information going into more detail on particular accessibility features they provide, which you can access by selecting ‘Discover available features’ below these tags. This will link you to a website page. You can also learn more about tag definitions, by selecting ‘Show feature definitions’ which is also underneath the list of tags for a game.
If you are interested in games that have a particular accessibility feature, you can filter games by ‘Accessibility Feature’ tags in the store. To start filtering on Xbox, you need to select a particular group of games, such as ‘Top New Games’ and then press ‘X’ to bring up the filters. As another example, if you are a ‘GamePass’ subscriber, you could also use the filter on the group of GamePass games in the store.
On Windows PC, when looking at a game the Accessibility Feature Tags can be found under the ‘more’ tab when looking at a game in the Xbox App and they can be used to filter games within the GamePass section of the app using the ‘filter’ dropdown. If a game developer has linked to further information on accessibility features in their game on a webpage, this can be found under the ‘more’ tab, on the game’s store page, too.
On the Xbox.com website, you can use the Accessibility Feature Tags to search all available games on both Xbox and on Windows PC, using the filters on the left. Again, by clicking on ‘more’ on a game’s store page, you can see all the tags that particular game has and also select a link to access another webpage with more information, when available.
The tags are added by developers themselves for their own games. As not all developers who have appropriate accessibility features in their games have tagged them, not every game which could include these tags will appear, when using the filters. For the same reason, not all games will have accessibility feature tag information available on their store pages. To be able to apply a certain tag to a game, the game must include certain features to qualify.
Below, we will briefly introduce the tags related to motor accessibility. The video above also includes examples of games that have applied these tags.
Gameplay Tags
‘Accessibility on Launch’ Tag (4:18)
This tag can filter, and will appear on the store page, for games that allow you to amend certain accessibility settings before you start playing. A game may not include all settings here (such as motor accessibility options), but it will show you a message letting players know where they can be found.
‘Adjustable Difficulty’ Tag (5:03)
This tag will appear on games that have ‘multiple ways to adjust the difficulty on in-game mechanics’ and which also include modes for a ‘wide range’ of players to progress. It also includes a wide range of assists which can be used to adjust the difficulty and customise gameplay and controls for players.
‘On-Demand Tutorials’ Tag (5:55)
This tag will appear on games which have tutorials that can be accessed during the game ‘explaining basic controls and core mechanics of the game’. These may either be tutorials in which the player has control or videos they watch.
‘Pausable’ Tag (6:48)
This tag will appear on games that can be paused at any point during gameplay or cut scenes, except in multiplayer or during save/load screens.
‘Progress Saving Options’ Tag (7:20)
This tag will appear on games that can be regularly saved on multiple slots using both automatic and manual saves at almost any point in a game, to ‘prevent significant loss of in-game progress.’ Games with this tag will allow players to store at least 3 ‘prior game states’ and will provide warnings before saving over save data and will not ‘automatically overwrite itself.’
Input Tags
‘Adjustable Input Sensitivity’ Tag 8:00)
This tag will appear on games that have the option to increase or decrease the sensitivity of all analog controls ‘including analog sticks, triggers, race wheels and mouse movement’, if the game uses these inputs. Dirt 5, allows players to adjust various analog settings including deadzones. Similarly, Microsoft Flight Simulator has settings to adjust the sensitivity of all actions linked to the Left Stick, Right Stick and both Triggers.
‘Full Keyboard Support’ Tag (8:42)
Games using this tag can be played using just a keyboard, without a mouse or gamepad. Games may not include onscreen key prompts, however.
‘Input Remapping’ Tag (9:27)
This tag will appear on games that allow you to remap all gameplay controls including sticks, triggers and buttons. This tag will also cover games that allow you to invert the X and Y axis separately for each stick. The games will also show the remapped prompts on in-game screens. Games using this tag will also have menus that can be navigated with either analog or digital inputs (e.g. Left Stick or D-pad) and will not require multiple buttons to be pressed at the same time.
‘No Button Holds’ Tag (9:27)
This tag will appear on games that avoid needing buttons to be held down for an ‘extended period’ or include options to toggle these. Games may still require inputs to be held for movement and camera movement for analog sticks and D-Pad. Inputs that need to be held for a shorter set-duration to complete an action may still be shown using this filter, too. As Dusk Falls includes this tag as it does not require these extended holds, as does Sea of Thieves as it offers alternative toggle options for these actions.
‘No Quick Time Events’ Tag (11:15)
Games with this tag either don’t require rapid repeated button presses shorter than one second to complete an action, such as a quick-time event or a combo, or they will include an option to remove this mechanic from the game.
‘Single Stick Gameplay’ Tag (12:15)
Games using this tag will only need one stick (or the D-Pad) alongside buttons and triggers, rather than both sticks, either by default, or because they include an option to alter the controls from two sticks by default to one. Please note, filtering with this tag may not include games which use both sticks, but which can be played and enjoyed with just one, such as some driving games which may use the right stick to move the camera, but which can be enjoyed without this, too.
We hope that this video and accompanying post have been a useful introduction to using the ‘Xbox Accessibility Feature Tags’ to discover motor accessibility related features in games.
To get started with the tags, as well looking at individual games and using the filters in the store, you can also find games, by viewing the ‘Accessibility Spotlight’ area that shows games with six or more accessibility features tagged. You can currently find these by navigating to ‘Home’ then down to ‘Accessibility Spotlight’, in the store.
You can also find more information about the accessibility feature tags at the following link: https://support.xbox.com/en-GB/help/account-profile/accessibility/game-accessibility-features and you can find more information about searching for games with accessibility features here: https://support.xbox.com/en-GB/help/account-profile/accessibility/search-games-with-accessibility-features
For game developers interested in adding tags to their game, Microsoft have provided information, including criteria’s, for applying tags to games and test steps at the below link: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/gaming/accessibility/accessibility-feature-tags
Music in Video: Plastic Breath by Tamuz Dekel, Bark Technology by YesNoMaybe, Bleep Bloops by Flint, Orlais by Mintz and Hello World by Flint (all from artlist.io).
