MSFT Xbox Controller

Microsoft stumbled into the accessibility market about

three years ago, with the launch of the Xbox One Elite

controller. The Elite wasn't designed to help people with

disabilities play video games -- in fact, it was built for

hardcore players who wanted more mapping options by

adding rear paddle buttons, more sensitive triggers and

interchangeable analog sticks to the classic dual-grip

Xbox gamepad.

It just so happened these features were also in high

demand at organizations like AbleGamers, whose goal

is to make gaming accessible to anyone with disabilities

via education, community support and the creation of

custom controllers.

Around this time, Xbox's inclusive lead for product

research and accessibility, Bryce Johnson, reached

out to AbleGamers with a proposal. Johnson and a

small team of developers had just submitted a prototype

of an accessibility-focused controller to the annual

Xbox hackathon, and they wanted feedback on the

Design.

"We started jumping onto multiple calls with Microsoft

employees and Xbox hardware developers and talking

about this controller," AbleGamers COO Steven Spohn

said. "Bryce had been working with us on the Elite and

wanted to bring in our input for this new controller. It was

to be a device much like our own Adroit -- a standard

Xbox controller that could use switches, only this new

project could be everything we ever wanted to do better

and more."

That was two and a half years ago. Today, Microsoft

revealed the Xbox Adaptive Controller, the latest and

most disparate evolution of its gamepad line.