A note from DVW Studio Head, Rhys Lloyd.

Last week we lost our friend and DVW Advisory Council member Brandon Cole, also known to many as @superblindman. Brandon was an award-winning accessibility consultant and advocate, dedicated to making media fully accessible and inclusive for all.

While Brandon’s legacy to video gaming is well-known, not enough has been said about his contribution to audio description and accessibility services across the board. For almost three years, Brandon served on DVW's advisory council, helping us shape our business, services, and long-term goals. He also worked as a consultant, narrator, and QC Operator.

When DVW first began exploring the idea of Audio Description in video games, everyone we spoke to said it could not be done, given the complexity of gaming engines, the development cycles, the allocation of memory, and so on – but then I spoke to Brandon. As Brandon and I talked through the various obstacles, he offered a solution for each one, and a project in mind with which to try it. He was always up for a challenge, and had the amazing ability to articulate potential solutions.

It bears repeating that without Brandon Cole there would be no Audio Described video games today, and that is another mark of his legacy. He consulted on The Last of Us 1 and 2, Mortal Kombat 1, Forza and many others.

Brandon approached his work with joy and passion, and his energy and enthusiasm impacted everyone around him. He was a mentor to many of us at DVW, and I will be forever grateful that our paths crossed. Brandon's friend and colleague, Jennissary summed it up perfectly: "Brandon's mentorship and guidance in the A11y community was a running theme in his career. He always had time to lift others up. We were all very lucky to have had him in our lives."