Head of Sony’s gaming division signs letter calling for Disability Inclusion in the games industry

Jim Ryan, CEO of Sony Interactive Entertainment, has joined a coalition of company leaders in signing the CEO Letter on Disability Inclusion.

The CEO Letter on Disability Inclusion is part of Disability:IN’s ‘Are you IN?’ campaign which is aiming to improve accessibility and inclusion for disabled people within businesses. Over one billion people have a disability around the world, and the 'Are you IN?’ campaign is pushing businesses and corporations to do more when it comes to hiring, supporting, and enabling those people in the workplace.

Ryan gave a statement as part of the announcement on the Sony Interactive Entertainment blog, where he said “At Sony Interactive Entertainment, we strive to create products and experiences accessible to people of all abilities. Our commitment to supporting an inclusive environment for our community of players, developers, employees, and partners is core to our business and builds the foundation for our mission: to connect the world through the power of play. We are proud to join Disability:IN to help workplaces become more inclusive, accessible, and equitable to all.”

Ryan joins a list of 56 other CEOs who have all signed the open letter, including Microsoft’s Satya Nadella and the heads of Target, Walmart, and Best Buy. The aim of the letter is to make it easier for people with disabilities to work and thrive within corporations. To that end, it asks for all signatories to participate in Disability Equality Index (DEI), a corporate benchmarking tool for disability equality.

We’ve been hearing a lot more about what companies within the games industry are doing to make games themselves more accessible to people with disabilities, with products likes the Xbox Adaptive Controller, but it’s great to see companies like Sony and Microsoft taking steps to make sure that people with disabilities can also fulfill their potential when it comes to delivering those fantastic games to us too.

See how SpecialEffect's EyeMine software is making Minecraft more accessible for players with physical disabilities.