Technical Accessibility Designer (Contract)

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The PlayStation brand falls under Sony Interactive Entertainment, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Sony Group Corporation.

Join the award-winning team that created God of War

Santa Monica Studio is seeking a Technical Accessibility Designer for the development of a new unannounced title!

As a Technical Accessibility Designer, you will blend your passion for accessibility in games with your established technical experience to be the primary design owner collaborating with design, art, and engineering teams across the studio to implement and tune best-in-class accessibility features and systems.

Responsibilities

• Act as the key stakeholder in design discussions, advocating for a diverse range of player experiences and provide a proactive voice by engaging with other departments throughout the process
• Anticipate and identify potential issues by guiding departments to incorporate accessibility considerations
• Design and implement accessibility features and work with engineering, art, and design, to scope and schedule work, and usher those designs through to completion
• Be aware of and account for emerging challenges based on design changes or future testing data
• Support the design of hardware-specific features such as haptic feedback, adaptive controls, etc
• Consistently play through game content, analyzing, validating, and providing feedback on accessibility features - work with production and design leadership to translate feedback into scheduled, practical tasks
• Contribute to design discussions and support collaboration, communication, and creativity across all teams and departments
• Work closely with UI/UX Lead, directors, and other departments leads to determine design, technical, and data requirements for game features
• Mentor other accessibility designers to improve their design, scripting, and implementation capability

Requirements

• Strong proficiency with scripting languages (Lua, ActionScript, C#, Python, React JS, etc.) and experience with a visual scripting system (Blueprints, etc.)
• Experience in specifying, advocating for, and implementing accessibility features in games
• Skilled knowledge of design patterns for a wide range of accessibility needs
• Familiarity with the barriers that people with disabilities face in gaming
• Collaborative and inclusive attitude with the ability to listen, learn, and adapt to alternate views and approaches
• Strong communication skills and ability to present work and respond quickly to feedback
• Experience mentoring and training other designers
• Self-motivated, collaborative, excellent interpersonal and communication skills

Preferred Experience

• Being certified through the AbleGamers accessibility course.
• Deep familiarity with God of War (2018) and God of War: Ragnarök
• Experience working on action RPG’s
• Computer Science or Engineering background

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Equal Opportunity Statement:

Sony is an Equal Opportunity Employer. All persons will receive consideration for employment without regard to gender (including gender identity, gender expression and gender reassignment), race (including colour, nationality, ethnic or national origin), religion or belief, marital or civil partnership status, disability, age, sexual orientation, pregnancy, maternity or parental status, trade union membership or membership in any other legally protected category.

We strive to create an inclusive environment, empower employees and embrace diversity. We encourage everyone to respond. 

PlayStation is a Fair Chance employer and qualified applicants with arrest and conviction records will be considered for employment.