Accessible Hobbies: Playing Minecraft as a Deafblind Gamer

Promotional-style Minecraft image showing a block landscape with characters, animals, and terrain at sunset.

I don’t play that many games — but the ones I do, I play a lot of.

That isn’t because I don’t enjoy gaming. It’s because accessibility requires consideration, and that consideration is often missing. The games that work for me are predictable, visually flexible, and calm, while still offering enough variation that they don’t become boring. If a game relies heavily on constant audio cues, fast reactions, or overwhelming visuals, it quickly becomes exhausting and turns into a hard no.

Minecraft is one of the rare exceptions. It hits a sweet spot — not because it’s perfect out of the box, but because I’ve been able to shape it around my personal accessibility needs.

This isn’t a universal guide. It’s simply how I play Minecraft as a deafblind gamer with some remaining vision, and the key things that make it accessible enough for me to remain a genuinely loved hobby.

How I Play

Most of the time, I play Java Edition on my PC, though I do occasionally play Bedrock as well. Sometimes I’m in single-player on my own long-running world; other times I’ll play with friends. I usually stick to a standard Survival world on normal difficulty, or switch to Creative mode when I want to test ideas or build without pressure.

My goal isn’t to rush towards beating the Ender Dragon. I play to explore, build, and enjoy the process. Stretching out in-game goals is probably why I still actively play on worlds that are over two years old.

Gaming sessions vary depending on energy levels — sometimes an hour, sometimes a full evening instead of reading or watching TV. Minecraft slots neatly into my day and often becomes a gentle fallback after long or demanding days, especially when watching TV feels too overwhelming.

How I use Sound

Sound is part of how I play, but it isn’t something I rely on in isolation.

I mainly use audio cues for orientation — to support my awareness of what’s happening around me — while adapted visual cues, spatial awareness, and familiarity back that information up. Together, these form a cohesive system that works for my current needs.

I’ve tried using the in-game narrator, but I find it becomes tiring and distracting over longer sessions, so it isn’t part of my setup. Redundancy matters more to me than replacement: having information supported in more than one way is what makes gameplay sustainable.

The In-Game Settings I Always Change

Before I even consider modpacks, I start with Minecraft’s built-in accessibility and visual settings. Many of these options directly address my main access barriers, and once they’re enabled, the game becomes significantly more comfortable to play.

Rather than thinking in terms of individual toggles, I group settings by the problem they solve.

Text and UI Readability

This group focuses on making text stable, high-contrast, and consistently readable, regardless of what’s happening behind it.

I aim for:

  • Clear separation between text and background
  • Consistent sizing across menus
  • No blur or transparency that reduces legibility

Settings I use:

  • High Contrast — ON
  • GUI Scale — 4
  • Text Background — Everywhere
  • Text Background Opacity — 100%
  • Text Background Blur — OFF
  • Line Spacing — 15%
  • Subtitles — ON (used as visual indicators rather than captions)

World Visual Stability

This section reduces sudden contrast shifts and disruptive visual effects within the game world.

I aim for:

  • Fewer harsh lighting changes
  • Predictable visuals in darker areas
  • No sudden flashes or pulses

Settings I use:

  • High Contrast block Outlines — ON
  • Darkness Pulsing — 50%
  • Weather Flashes — OFF
  • Field of View (FOV) — adjusted to reduce distortion and eye strain

Motion and Visual Noise Reduction

Minecraft can be visually busy, particularly during movement, effects, or animations. This group is about keeping the screen calm and interpretable.

I aim for:

  • Fewer moving elements competing for attention
  • Clear visual cues rather than decorative effects

Settings I use:

  • Particle effects reduced
  • Motion effects minimised
  • Enchanted item animations adjusted so they’re quicker and easier to distinguish from standard items
  • Anything that flashes, shakes, or pulses unnecessarily is turned down or disabled

Chat Clarity

Chat is still information, so it needs the same visual treatment as menus and UI.

I aim for:

  • Strong contrast
  • Enough time and space to process messages

Settings I use:

  • Chat Text Background — 100%
  • Chat Text Size — 100%

Why These Features Matter

Making these changes solves one core problem: eye strain.

This isn’t about making Minecraft easier — it’s about making it sustainable. When visual load is controlled and information is presented clearly, I can play for longer periods without fatigue, frustration, or shutdown.

That’s what turns Minecraft from a “sometimes” game into a reliable, accessible hobby.

Mods Making a Quiet Difference for Me

Honestly, once the in-game accessibility and visual settings are configured properly, I barely need additional modpacks. Most of the heavy lifting is already done.

The one mod I consistently rely on is intentionally small and focused — it does one thing, and it does it well.

Dark Mode (UI)

Minecraft interface with a dark mode UI mod enabled, showing inventory, chest, and upgrade menus with reduced glare and higher contrast compared to the default light interface.
Examples of key in game menus with the Dark Mode modpack enabled

What I’m solving: glare and menu fatigue.

This mod replaces the standard white and grey interface elements with a darker, higher-contrast palette. The result is immediate: menus feel calmer, text is clearer, and navigating the inventory becomes far less visually exhausting.

With glare removed, I can identify blocks and items much more quickly, without needing to run my cursor over every slot just to confirm what’s there. That reduction in scanning effort makes a noticeable difference, especially during longer play sessions.

I don’t use dark mode to make Minecraft look different.
I use it to make Minecraft usable for longer periods of time.

An added benefit is slightly smoother performance — fewer visual effects and lighter interfaces mean less data being processed to access the same information.

Why I Stop There

I deliberately avoid piling on mods. More features don’t automatically mean better accessibility — consistency does. Every extra visual layer risks adding noise, unpredictability, or cognitive load.

For me, accessibility isn’t about maximising options.
It’s about removing friction.

Final Thoughts

Minecraft works for me because it allows adaptation. It lets me shape the experience around my access needs rather than forcing me to fight the interface just to enjoy myself.

Accessible hobbies don’t have to be loud or impressive. Sometimes they’re quiet, familiar, and deeply personal. For me, Minecraft is exactly that — a space I can return to on both good days and hard ones, knowing it will meet me where I am.

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