One Apex Legends player has suggested how Respawn could make the game more inclusive for deaf and hard-of-hearing players.
Apex player Tobiwuerfel11, who is deaf as well as a Predator-level player, designed a series of user interface icons that could be enabled for hard-of-hearing players. The icons would use a variety of symbols and colors to show the type of sound occurring, the direction it’s coming from, and how far away it is. They could even show whether a sound was coming from upstairs or downstairs within a building. Tobiwuerfel11 also included a screengrab to show what the icons might look like in-game, pointing out that Fortnite has had these options for a long time but that Apex has yet to implement anything similar.
Players were divided on the execution in the comments. While everyone agreed that it’s important for hard-of-hearing players to have a wide suite of accessibility options to choose from, some believe that Tobiwuerfel11’s icons idea might be abused by hearing players who could combine them with directional audio to get an even clearer idea of the locations of nearby enemies. To account for this, fans suggested that to enable the icons, players must disable all game audio, which was a popular suggestion to prevent misuse.
Tobiwuerfel11 tagged several Respawn developers in the tweet, but they haven’t received an official response yet. The idea appears to be popular with fans, though, so Respawn may consider these suggestions in the near future.
