Forza Horizon 5
An open-world racing game from Playground Games on Xbox and PC.
Where Forza Horizon 5 comes up1 episode or test
Forza Horizon 5 treated accessibility as a core design pillar, so it reached every system and was not cut for deadlines. It ships menu narration, adjustable steering and braking help, rival aggression and game speed, and prosthetics in its character creator. The sources give no numbers. The lesson: build accessibility in from the start, and offer granular assists instead of fixed difficulty presets.
- 1Make accessibility a pillarDecided from the start
- 2Consider every systemEach system checked for accessibility
- 3Keep it at deadlinesIt was not cut
- 4Ship many featuresMenu narration, assists, slow-down, prosthetics
From Mark Brown on Forza Horizon 5 accessibility
What was said about Forza Horizon 5
Forza Horizon 5 made accessibility a core design pillar from the start. Because accessibility was a pillar, every system was considered for it, and it was not cut when deadlines hit. The game ships with a huge number of accessibility features as a result.
The game's creative director explained the approach. Mark Brown called it "An absolute power move." The character creator also added prosthetics.
Forza Horizon 5 narrates its menus so blind players can start the game. The game includes a menu screen reader, so blind players can get through the menus and settings without help.
Brown notes that many games now ship menu narration, including Age of Empires IV, It Takes Two, Far Cry 6, Riders Republic, Battlefield and Back 4 Blood. Some turn it on by default so players can reach the settings unaided.
Forza Horizon 5 lets players tune difficulty with granular assists. Players set how much the car steers and brakes for them and how aggressive rivals are. They can also slow the whole game down to get more reaction time.
These are separate settings, not a single fixed difficulty preset. Brown highlights the option to "slow down the entire game to increase reaction times."
How Accessible Were 2021's Games?
Accessibility was a core design pillar, so it reached every system and was not cut for deadlines. It has menu narration and lets players set steering and braking help, rival aggression and game speed, and its character creator added prosthetics.
Forza Horizon 5 made accessibility a core design pillar from the start. Because accessibility was a pillar, every system was considered for it, and it was not cut when deadlines hit. The game ships with a huge number of accessibility features as a result.
The game's creative director explained the approach. Mark Brown called it "An absolute power move." The character creator also added prosthetics.
Forza Horizon 5 narrates its menus so blind players can start the game. The game includes a menu screen reader, so blind players can get through the menus and settings without help.
Brown notes that many games now ship menu narration, including Age of Empires IV, It Takes Two, Far Cry 6, Riders Republic, Battlefield and Back 4 Blood. Some turn it on by default so players can reach the settings unaided.
Forza Horizon 5 lets players tune difficulty with granular assists. Players set how much the car steers and brakes for them and how aggressive rivals are. They can also slow the whole game down to get more reaction time.
These are separate settings, not a single fixed difficulty preset. Brown highlights the option to "slow down the entire game to increase reaction times."
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