Ross Minor, a blind accessibility professional, has finished the Diablo 4 campaign and taken down the final boss, Lilith!
Luckily for us he streamed the kill, and it’s a fascinating one. It’s a great showcase for both Ross’s skill and D4’s accessibility options, specifically the screen reader. Ross wasn’t even sure he was fighting Lilith herself at one point in the video, as some of the mobs that spawned confused him a little. His chat also helped out a bit, explaining about the phases and a few other details. He was even a little disappointed at the fight thinking it was over after phase 1 on the first try!
Accessibility options or no, it’s an insanely impressive feat, so let’s get to it!
The Video
You won’t be hearing the actual screen reader in the kill video below, as Ross Minor explains he didn’t want in on the stream as it may be a little too much for the viewers. It is instead just in his earphones so we’ll just be hearing the regular game audio. Ross also jokingly assured players that his seeing eye dog did not help him out with the kill!
The fist half of the video is a very close try, then there’s a montage of quite a few deaths in the middle, and then finally the kill.
The Accessibility Features
If you’re about these specific accessibility features are, Minor listed a few in the reddit post. There’s also a link to his more in-depth review below.
“So there are a few things and I won’t be able to cover them here. If you want a full breakdown, I have a Diablo IV accessibility review on my channel.
- The screen reader/TTS. This is what allows me to read all the menus in the game, which is important for a game that’s very text heavy when it comes to comparing gear. I’m able to change the voice, pitch, speed, etc. It’s the best screen reader a game has to this date.
- The screen reader will announce when you’re targetting something. However, there’s a current issue where bosses do not read when I target them, which actually makes things more difficult for me. I and others theorize this was done because the developers don’t want to give the screen reader access to the boss names, because then it could be a means to bot the bosses, similar to WoW. It’s just a theory though.
- there are sound cues for types of loot on the ground, as well as a sound cue when you’re pointing in the direction of the loot.”
Congrats on the kill! Uber Lilith next!
