Forza Horizon 5 - Accessibility Spotlight

Forza Horizon 5, the acclaimed open-world racing game from Playground Games, doesn't just deliver breathtaking Mexican landscapes and exhilarating racing action – it also sets a new standard for accessibility in racing games. The team here at AbleToPlay revved up our engines and explored how the game makes high-octane racing accessible to more players than ever before.

A Commitment to Accessibility From the Start

Playground Games partnered closely with the disability community and used the Xbox Accessibility Guidelines to implement the accessibility features in Forza Horizon 5. This dedicated approach is evident from the moment you start the game, where you can immediately navigate to the Accessibility menu at the push of a button before hitting the throttle.

This thoughtful design choice means players can customize their experience before getting deep into gameplay – a welcome feature that demonstrates the developers' commitment to making racing accessible to everyone. This is also an incredibly important step in normalizing accessibility features, as something that incredibly high quality games have, rather than functionality relegated to just a sub-menu.

Visual Accessibility Features

Forza Horizon 5 offers several helpful options to assist with visual accessibility needs.

Colorblind Modes

One particularly helpful visual accessibility option in Forza Horizon 5 is the ability to change the color of game map icons – and the spot colors in the UI – making it easier to visualize game elements by compensating for color blindness. Players can choose from Deuteranopia, Protanopia, and Tritanopia options.

These colorblindness settings apply to all of the game visuals, including cars and the environment around you. The UI can be adjusted separately, which is a welcome addition we don't commonly see. This depth of customization is rare and extremely helpful for players with colorblindness.

A well-integrated High Contrast mode makes it much easier to read text across the game's vibrant and colorful backgrounds, addressing a common challenge in racing games where important information can get lost against fast-moving backgrounds. This feature helps ensure that vital information remains legible throughout gameplay – and let's be real, fast-paced racing is a lot to focus on!

Furthermore, players can also toggle the cockpit drift camera on or off, when using one of the in-car cameras, and can adjust sensitivity, look speed, and range of motion.

Auditory Accessibility and Language Support

Forza Horizon 5 includes thoughtfully designed and well-implemented support for Deaf and hard-of-hearing players. We were honestly super impressed by this, so bravo to the Playground Games team!

Sign Language Support

One standout and genuinely innovative accessibility feature in the game is support for American Sign Language (ASL) and British Sign Language (BSL) during the cinematics. Added in a big post-launch update, this refreshing feature works by using a picture-in-picture display of an ASL or BSL interpreter during cinematic game scenes. Players can also change where the interpreter appears on screen, and can adjust the background color to their preference.

This groundbreaking feature was so revolutionary that Forza Horizon 5 won the Innovation in Accessibility Award at The Game Awards, as it was the first triple-A release to include this specific type of support. We're hopeful that this well-celebrated milestone inspires other developers to include similar support.

Subtitle Options

Forza Horizon 5 has great subtitle accessibility that includes labels for the speakers, font size sliders, and adjustable background opacity. There's also an option to highlight keywords, such as important context in the world. These comprehensive subtitle options ensure that dialogue and important audio cues are accessible to deaf and hard-of-hearing players.

Screen Reader

Players can enable Screen Reader directly in Forza Horizon 5 through the Accessibility menu, which can read text, buttons, and other elements out loud. This feature is vital for blind and low-vision players to navigate menus and access information.

Motor Accessibility Features

Racing games often require quick reflexes and precise inputs, but Forza Horizon 5 introduces several features that make the racing experience more accessible to players with motor disabilities:

Game Speed Modification

Forza Horizon 5 empowers players to directly alter the game speed – a feature we always love to see deeply integrated into a game's design. Physics are preserved, but everything plays out slower, giving more reaction time. This innovative feature allows players to reduce the offline game speed if they find the standard speed too fast and would benefit from more time to react.

By default, the game is set to 100% speed, but players can reduce this to as low as 40%, which gives them more time to react while still allowing cars to travel at their maximum speed. This feature is particularly beneficial for players with motor limitations or those who need additional time to process and respond to the fast-paced racing environment.

We were impressed to see how the game's feeling of speed and momentum were still preserved at adjusted gameplay speeds, with dust, sparks, and debris still feeling cinematic and satisfying during races.

Driving Assists and Difficulty Options

Tourist mode is a new difficulty setting that ensures players can progress without having to worry about getting the fastest times or placing first in races. This mode creates a more relaxed experience. where if you crash into a wall or miss a checkpoint, the AI will actually slow down adaptively and wait for you to catch up. We felt the adaptive AI in Tourist mode did a great job of allowing for player comebacks, while still not feeling contrived or immersion-breaking.

Within the game's Difficulty settings, there is a wide range of settings, controls, and options to offer a customized experience. Players can select a Driving Assists Preset, with options including Assisted Braking, Traction Control, and even Auto-steering. We love this approach because it lets players tailor their experience to their own needs, which we believe is the overall best, most holistic approach to accessibility.

Control Remapping and Customization

Controls are completely customizable, and players can remap any of the buttons in any way they see fit. This includes changing rapid taps to holds. There are multiple controller layouts to choose from, making it possible for most players to find or create a control scheme that works for their needs.

Even More Quality Of Life Features

Forza Horizon 5 includes several features that, in our opinion, take the game to new heights.

Customizable HUD and UI

Players can also adjust the HUD and change how the car's instruments (speedometer, tachometer, etc) are displayed on-screen, including options to show analogue or digital versions, and to change how they appear on-screen. These options help reduce visual clutter and allow players to focus on the most important information.

Especially in a racing game, when there's so much information to handle at any given time, having the option to customize your HUD can be the difference between having a fun, successful race, or spinning out.

Forza Link

The new Forza Link feature acts as an AI assistant that tracks the current statuses of players, helping them to link with other players online and play together. This system makes multiplayer interactions more accessible by streamlining communication.

Overall Build Quality

One thing rarely mentioned in the context of accessibility is how bug-free games are, as a result of overall build quality, more accessible. Testing the 2021 title in 2025, a few years after the game's initial release, we were delighted to see how incredibly well-built the game felt. Everything felt optimized, and with patches still happening in Q4 of 2024, we shouldn't be surprised. This game has been a labor of love from the talented development team, and it really shows.

The Vibrant World of Mexico

Going beyond accessibility, Forza Horizon 5's incredibly realized depiction of Mexico provides an incredible backdrop for racing adventures. The game features the largest, most detailed, and most diverse map in the series to date, with environments ranging from active volcanoes and lush jungles to historic cities and stunning beaches.

The developers worked to authentically represent Mexican culture, collaborating with Mexican artists for in-game murals and hiring cultural consultants to ensure an accurate portrayal of Mexico's rich heritage. This attention to detail extends to the game's soundtrack, which features a diverse mix of artists including Mexican musicians.

Looking Ahead

Let's say it boldly and proudly: Forza Horizon 5 is hands-down the most accessible Forza Horizon game to date. It's abundantly clear that accessibility took a more critical role during production. Playground Games' commitment to constantly listening to the community to make Forza Horizon 5 an inclusive experience for everyone to enjoy suggests that we may see even more accessibility improvements in future updates.

The game demonstrates that high-speed racing action and accessibility can go hand in hand. With its comprehensive suite of accessibility features, the game opens up the thrill of racing through Mexico's diverse landscapes to a wider audience than ever before.

Whether you're a seasoned racing veteran or new to the genre, Forza Horizon 5's accessibility options ensure that everyone can tailor the experience to their needs and abilities. It's a shining example of how games can be both visually stunning and widely accessible.

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