Platform standardisation improves accessibility across contemporary gaming ecosystems, but it also shapes which forms of accessible play are recognised as legitimate. This Perspectives on Play paper introduces the accessibility paradox of platform standardisation: the same infrastructures that support accessibility can constrain adaptation and community-led solutions. I argue that accessibility is not solely a technical challenge but also a question of authority, legitimacy, and governance.
@inproceedings{AccessibilityParadox,note={Perspectives on Play},title={The {{Accessibility Paradox}}: {{Platform Standardisation}} and the {{Legitimacy}} of {{Play}}},shorttitle={The {{Accessibility Paradox}}},booktitle={Companion {{Proceedings}} of the {{Annual Symposium}} on {{Computer-Human Interaction}} in {{Play}}},author={Burnett, Jack},year={2026},month=nov,series={{{CHI PLAY Companion}} '26},pages={492--495},publisher={Association for Computing Machinery},address={New York, NY, USA},doi={10.1145/3800965.3834658},urldate={2026-10-27},isbn={979-8-4007-2565-4},keywords={Accessibility,Game Accessibility,Platformisation,Standardisation}}
