Post

I wish with all my heart that the games accessible community was more open and collaborative than it has been historically. When I started, I felt like an outsider looking in. Seeing people do and make and talk about accessibility, wanting to do more with my skillset as well as my disabilities.

I didn't know where to start at first, but when I did - I wish I'd known how lonely it would be. You work in isolation until you're lucky enough to do a workshop with others or go to a conference. You might give a talk, with expected outcomes, but you'll never find out if those happened.

You get pulled in to do a talk or be part of a workshop and then you go home. You might get credited. Maybe. You might get feedback on how well you did, but you might not hear anything from the client ever again. But you might also have to fight to get paid too.

It is unforgiving, especially when you're disabled/neurodivergent too. Don't do this work alone. Please. It isn't on one person's back to carry the load, even if it feels like it. It is a group effort. We all win when we support each other.

In a full time salaried role, I'm now truly the most ultimate version of myself as a person and as a lived experience accessibility specialist. I get regular feedback on the quality of my work, I am never lonely because I work in an integrated team, I'm able to use my skills for what they are.

And for what it's worth, I am always open to questions from other consultants from would-be and newbie consultants, to helping those who had the same feeling I did all those years ago when I first started, watching others do the job I wanted and not knowing how I could get there.