I’ve been writing about accessibility and the disabled perspective for nearly 7 years. I’ve had the absolute privilege and immense responsibility of breaking some of the biggest stories in the gaming industry, holding powerful organizations accountable, and even helping disabled players process uncomfortable truths about a community that doesn’t always have their best interests at heart. For almost 7 years, I’ve been pushing myself to be a better journalist, not for myself, but for disabled individuals that deserve to have a voice in the gaming space. But for the past six months, I’ve realized that things need to change.

When I began writing for Can I Play That in September 2019, I sought to produce high quality journalism exploring the relationship between disabled players and the gaming industry. I wanted readers to understand that accessibility and disability reporting is not only essential, but capable of sitting alongside the same daily beats that regularly fill the pages of standard gaming publications. This sentiment still rings true. The work that I and other disabled reporters do can be both timely and evergreen. And it’s still true that publications struggle to understand this fact. I’m not here to convince you that the work disabled reporters do matters. I’m here to tell you that unless this style of reporting is consistently supported, the industry risks losing coverage of a beat that will only grow in necessity as time goes on.