Buying a game for your Xbox or PlayStation with dozens of accessibility features is great, but there is still more work to be done. Disabled voice actors shared the ways their disabilities impact their work, and the importance of an inclusive industry.
Assaf-Costello’s relationship with remote work is intrinsically tied to the studios that employ her. While she acknowledges that many are understanding of her situation, she also recognizes the need for protections to guarantee that accessibility becomes standard for herself and her colleagues. Some developers rely on big Hollywood actors to fill voice roles so their names can be used to market projects, which highlights the limitations of the current system.
“While Hollywood actors are trained actors, some of them don’t have experience in voice-over,” she says. “This is something specialized, and we’ve all spent a long time perfecting our craft. For accessibility purposes, often those of us who are disabled aren’t getting these big opportunities from Hollywood, so it feels like if they stick with casting who they know, we won’t have a turn, so to speak.
Beyond giving disabled voice actors more roles in games, it’s also important to have disabled individuals voice disabled characters. Assaf-Costello brought Collei—a disabled character from—to life, and it’s through her lived experiences that she was able to resonate with the character. Thankfully, work to diversify games with disabled voice actors is a collaborative effort.
“When I was really sick several years ago, I had to take a lot of naps and struggled to get through more than a couple hours of being up and about,” Tugman says. “Taking care of your health when you have a condition is like managing an additional full-time job on top of all of life’s other responsibilities. It’s expensive, stressful, painful, exhausting, and time-consuming. Remote work is a huge advantage for voice actors with disabilities.
Like Secora and Assaf-Costello, Tugman notes that the pandemic demonstrated the overall importance of accommodations like remote working arrangements—and how successful they can be. But only through consistent conversations with studios can this option become permanent. And in an industry that includes hundreds, if not thousands, of voice actors, limiting roles to in-house talent prevents new actors from showcasing their skills.
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