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View, browse and sort the ever-growing list of sessions by day, pass type, topic, and format. With this Session Viewer, you can view GDC 2023 session details and speakers, and share your favorites via social media. You will be able to build your schedule and access it during the show via export or Mobile App, once live. Sessions do fill up and seating is first come, first serve, so arrive early to sessions that you would like to attend.

Tabletop Summit: Increasing Accessibility and Broadening Disability Representation in Tabletop Games

Rachel Voss  (Co-Founder, Forge Ahead: A Party To Access)

Carol Mertz  (Senior Game Designer, Exploding Kittens)

Morgan Baker  (Games Accessibility Lead, Electronic Arts)

Jesse Martinez  (PhD Student, University of Washington)

Location: Room 3016, West Hall

Date: Monday, March 20

Time: 10:50 am - 11:50 am

Pass Type: All Access Pass, Summits Pass

Topic: Design

Format: Lecture

Vault Recording: Video

Inclusive design means ensuring games are accessible to people of all abilities and backgrounds, while also making sure we create authentic and meaningful representation.

In the first session, "Shifting Your Perspective of Disability,” Rachel Voss discusses disability representation in tabletop roleplaying games (TTRPG)—touching on why ableism is rampant in TTRPGs and how we can design authentic disabled characters, epic mobility aids, mechanics, items, materials, and much more through the Curb Cut Effect.

In the second session, “Building an Accessible Board Game,” Carol Mertz, Morgan Baker, and Jesse Martinez share how to build an accessible board game through a case study lens of Exploding Kittens' 2022 game Hand-to-Hand Wombat. They'll discuss accessibility heuristics, research, and technical design to demonstrate how other game designers and publishers can utilize these practices to make their own projects more accessible.

Takeaway

Attendees will gain an understanding of best practices for making their tabletop games more accessible to a broad set of different types of player needs, and learn practical strategies for how to implement flexible, accessible resources for their players.