Turn 10 Studios, developer of the Forza Motorsport series, introduced a suite of accessibility features called “Blind Driving Assist” aimed at making the racing title playable for people who are blind or have severe visual impairments. The system combines audio description, control adjustments and user-interface options developed over several years with input from accessibility consultant and blind gamer Brandon Cole and members of the Gaming & Disability community.
Blind Driving Assist provides real-time spoken information about vehicle position and orientation on the track, progress through corners, and other contextual driving details. Additional voice cues describe the cars in the game, indicate required deceleration, and prompt gear changes when players use manual transmission. A preview of these features featuring Brendan appears on the Xbox YouTube channel:
Accessibility features and control changes
The package includes a “one-touch” driving mode that reduces simultaneous inputs required for steering and other actions, and a screen reader to assist with menus and system navigation. Colorblind modes and filters are available, alongside options to resize text and adjust contrast for improved readability.
Developers also added a setting to disable or adjust moving background elements in Forza to make menus and interface elements easier to read and navigate for players with visual sensitivity to motion.
Release plans and goal
The new Forza Motorsport is scheduled to launch this year across Xbox Game Pass, Xbox Series X|S consoles, Windows PC, Steam and Cloud Gaming (Beta). Turn 10 says Blind Driving Assist was created with the aim of making the game the most accessible in its genre.
