Summary:
3 Journeys explored and advanced the accessibility of playful media software through deep collaboration with three disabled artists: Dr. Daniel Hajas, Prina Patel, and Danielle Garratt. Each created a game prototype based on a personal journey shaped by their disability and the tools they use to navigate the world. Our team, made up entirely of disabled and/or neurodivergent practitioners, supported the artists with technical skills, immersive storytelling guidance, and a commitment to accessibility as an ongoing method.

The result of this was three digital games and a research experiment into collaborative access, creative agency and the power of playful storytelling. As a whole, the project aimed to challenge how we understand disability and space, while providing the resources and tools to skill up 3 emerging artists.

Why?
Disabled people make up over 20% of the UK population, yet only 4% of workers in the creative industries identify as disabled. The numbers get worse when you look at digital and immersive media. Across the UK, immersive and playable art, from VR to game design, is booming, yet accessibility is still challenging.

That’s a problem. Not only is it exclusionary, it’s creatively limiting. Disabled artists have unique and urgent stories to tell, but they are often shut out of the software, hardware, training, and networks needed to tell them. This project set out to address that imbalance through close, creative, in-person collaboration.

Project Structure:
We worked with three artists over a series of development sessions, one-on-one mentorship, and supported build time. Each artist created a prototype digital game inspired by a journey they regularly take. The goals were:

   - To centre their voice and lived experience;
   - To reduce the barriers to learning complex game tools;
   - To spark joy, anger, surprise - whatever emotions the artists needed to convey.

Our role was not to direct but to facilitate, guide, and adapt.

The Artists & Their Games:
Dr. Daniel Hajas - Blind guide dog user
Daniel’s game explores the trust-based, multi-sensory relationship between himself and his guide dog, Anna. Rather than making a non-visual game, Daniel wanted a visual experience that would communicate blindness to sighted players. The final prototype includes directional sound, reward mechanics for guiding, and distraction events to mimic real-world unpredictability. Daniel directed the game creation while learning to code in Unity with screen readers and giving verbal instructions for layout and logic. We supported his vision while ensuring he had access to the creative tools.

Prina Patel - Electric wheelchair user:
Prina’s daily journey from university to the tube is a battlefield. Her game is an explosive satire, GTA-style, that highlights the rage, humour, and emotional toll of navigating a world built for standing people. Prina worked using adaptive controllers and Playmaker (a visual coding tool that avoids typing), enabling her to build game logic with minimal physical strain. Accessibility for Prina was about the right tools, intuitive interfaces, and the freedom to be angry and hilarious.

Danielle Garratt - Learning disabled, visually impaired, & physically disabled:
Danielle’s game is soft and subtle. It centres around the experience of waiting for a bus—the invisible friction of unclear information, social anxiety, and well-meaning but confusing help.  We used voxel modelling (MagicaVoxel) before graduating to Blender, and focused on visual scripting over text-based code. Danielle brought heart, detail, and deep emotional intelligence to the game. Her work is a complex exploration of having multiple disabilities and navigating invisible disabilities with the general public.

Key Themes & Learnings:

1. Access as Method
Everyone working on this project is disabled and/or neurodivergent, as a result we have all had conversations about accessibility over and over and over again. We have all navigated inaccessible spaces, gone on our own personal journeys to understand what accessibility is for us and thought about what it is for others. As a result, we were able to have a very open and free dynamic around discussing accessibility. It was, as it should be, at the core of this project. We began by discussing accessibility, at every key decision we checked in with one another to ensure it was remaining accessible for each of us and we were all open and free with learning from one another and adapting the project as we went to ensure we were all engaging in the most comfortable way for each of us.

2. Representation ≠ Advocacy
One of the biggest risks in disability arts is the assumption that a disabled artist speaks for all disabled people. This erodes individual voice and pushes artists into an uncomfortable advocacy role they didn’t ask for. Each of the artists in 3 Journeys was clear: they were making art about their experience. We supported them to do just that. These works are not universal statements. They are personal, messy, specific—and that’s what makes them powerful.

3. Cost is Access
Disability is expensive. Accessible software, screen readers, assistive hardware, extended time, support workers, notetakers, travel—all of it stacks up. You cannot do proper accessibility on an underfunded budget. A small budget for a disability-inclusive project has to be much higher than a small budget for a non-inclusive project. Funders and organisations need to plan for this.

4. Games as Radical Tools
Playable media is uniquely positioned to tell complex stories. It’s non-linear, interactive, repeatable, and open to failure. In accessibility terms, it allows for audio-first experiences, controller adaptations, slower pacing, and variable difficulty. Games also appeal to younger, more global participants who may never step into a traditional gallery. It’s democratic, chaotic, and full of possibility.

Technical & Teaching Approaches:
Playmaker: We used Playmaker, a visual scripting tool for Unity. It reduces reliance on typing, uses clickable logic, and simplifies learning curves.
Verbal-Coding: With Daniel, we developed a workflow where he described logic and layout, and our team implemented it collaboratively while also teaching code step-by-step.
Voxel & Blender Pipelines: 3D modelling was introduced gradually, using MagicaVoxel before scaling up to Blender.
In-Person Learning: For all three artists, being in the room together was vital. Zoom and remote tools only go so far when nuance, trust, and embodiment are part of the process.

Outcomes:
3 Prototype Games reflecting the lived experiences of the artists. A Short Film documenting the journey, made in collaboration with the artists. A Public Report (this document) detailing learnings and recommendations.Increased Skills & Confidence for each artist in using immersive digital tools. New Conversations about disability, agency, and play in arts and game design sectors.

Conclusion: What Comes Next?
From this initial project we are now building up additional funding to create more time for further development and eventually the launch of the three games as completed physical installation pieces in a free and inclusive event. The aim is to then tour the installation accompanied with artists talks and a toolkit for accessible design in digital and playable arts spaces.