The Hearthstone team has put out a statement about an accessibility issue raised by players. Here’s the latest update.
The post acknowledged Hearthstone Access, which is a third-party mod that lets blind and low-vision individuals play Hearthstone.
“We’ve been in constant communication with GuideDev, its developer, and have implemented measures to make development of the mod easier,” the post read. “We’re big fans of their work!”
Accessibility in Hearthstone and Hearthstone Access
The post also went into how the Hearthstone team has been working on improvements with regards to the game’s native accessibility features. For example, the music, sound effects and voice lines in the game can interact with screen-reading software in a way that’s distracting to players.
“In a patch after March of the Lich King launches, we’re adding expanded Audio Settings to support separate volume controls for each of these, along with an option for Mono Sound,” the statement revealed.
Since support for the Hearthstone Access is ending, the Hearthstone team is shifting their work in this area. According to the statement, the team will explore how to implement native accessibility features for blind and low-vision players.
Such a significant project would take time to complete, and the team is accepting feedback. Although they can’t reply to every message, the feedback plays a part in development prioritization.
“We’ve been encouraged by so many players coming together to show their support for this issue and look forward to sharing more details with you once we have them,” the post added.
In a patch after March of the Lich King launches, we’re adding expanded Audio Settings to support separate volume controls for each of these, along with an option for Mono Sound,” the statement revealed.
Hearthstone community unites to help blind and low-vision players
When GuideDev announced the sunsetting of Hearthstone Access, players such as Zeddy and Lofilord raised concerns and spread the news. Zeddy created a YouTube video about the announcement. He also provided links to Change.org petitions. Meanwhile, Lofilord passed on the information to Hearthstone community members for more visibility.
Hearthstone Community Manager Alkali acknowledged the voices of players as well. Over on Twitter, Alkali thanked the community for their tags, direct messages and more. She noted that she can be a voice for players by bringing their concerns to the game’s team.
“Happy to hear and very much looking forward to seeing it come to life,” GuideDev wrote on Twitter, referring to the Hearthstone team’s statement that addressed the accessibility update. “Feel free to reach out if you ever need my help.”
Players can send in accessibility feedback to [email protected].
That’s all for now. Stay tuned on Esports.gg for more Hearthstone news and updates.