Xbox has been prioritizing accessibility settings for the last few years and its November update is no different. The newest Xbox update has a few accessibility features aimed at addressing colorblind users and showing users what games have accessibility settings. There are also some other tweaks that range from additional audio settings to having less latency when using certain controllers.
Xbox detailed these changes on its website and led the post with the new colorblind settings. Instead of relying on individual games to have these settings, there is now a system-wide menu that lets players tweak how colors look on the system so they can cater to their specific type of colorblindness. These changes apply to games, movies, apps, and menus. This is helpful for newer games, but also older games, which works well with Xbox’s extensive backwards compatibility library.
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Searching on the store for more accessible games also just got easier as the Xbox Store now tags games with over 20 different accessibility tags. These include options like adjustable difficulties, custom audio control, color options, and controller remapping. Xbox is setting rules for developers to be able to use these tags in order to “ensure a consistent level of quality.” Titles with more than four of these tags will be on Microsoft’s Accessibility Spotlight page. Over 325 games have been updated with these tags and users will be able to sort and filter between them “in the coming months.”
Audio has been streamlined as well. There are now more options like automatically being able to mute the speaker audio when a headset is attached. The overall audio settings have also been reorganized to allow for easier access.
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Controllers are also better with this update. A new controller firmware update for Xbox One Wireless Controller with Bluetooth support, Xbox Elite Wireless Controller Series 2, and Xbox Adaptive Controller will allow for current-gen features, like reduced latency, on these older controllers. Xbox championed the reduced latency of the Xbox Series X|S controller and has now decided to implement that to its older pads. The controllers now also have better cross-device connectivity and will be able to pair with Windows 10 and 11 PCs, various iOS and Android devices, and be used for remote play from the console or through the cloud.
The Xbox app is also getting some new features “soon,” too. Users will be able to send links of game clips, watch trending content, and be able to more easily compare and contrast the many Game Pass tiers when the update drops.
