Consultancy

Brandon speaking at Sony Headquarters during GAAD 2017

Photo Credit: Misty Rayburn

Welcome to Brandon Cole’s consultancy/speaking engagement page! Here, you will find all relevant information concerning Brandon’s work as an accessibility consultant and accessibility advocate. You will also find links to forms you can use to start the process of booking Brandon to speak at your next event, or provide accessibility consultation on your game or app!

Introduction and Explanation

Brandon has always been an avid gamer, but now seeks to help change the world by working to bring understanding to developers and gamers alike regarding accessibility. He does this through his consultancy work, his blog, his streams, and through the speeches he gives at game-related events. Even his social media is filled with posts regarding accessibility, often including comments with his thoughts on a topic. He can start a conversation at a moment’s notice, and talk about accessibility for hours on end.

Accessibility Consultancy

If you are in game or app development on any level, from newcomer to triple A, and you are at all interested in making your game or app accessible to the blind, Brandon wants to work with you. He can offer you outside the box thinking, and an unmatched dedication to ensuring that the goal of accessibility is reached without sacrificing too much of your personal vision for the product. While some change may be required in order to achieve this goal, Brandon knows that the blind primarily want as similar an experience to the one a sighted person gets, and integrates that into his thinking. Furthermore, no matter whether or not your game is one that Brandon would typically play, or whether or not your app is one he would typically use, you can rest assured that he will always take his work seriously, as the true goal is providing accessibility to as many people as possible, and giving those people all the options they could ask for. Brandon has consulted on Ready to Roll, an app created by Blind Sparrow Interactive, who have already hired him for their next project. He has also worked with Jackbox Games on the blind accessibility of their party pack series, specifically The Jackbox Party Pack 6. And perhaps most notably, he worked for 3 years with Naughty Dog in an official blind accessibility consultancy capacity, and is responsible for many of the blind accessibility features now contained in The Last of Us Part II. This last is his greatest work to date, as The Last of Us part II is the first ever triple A game to be fully blind accessible. Brandon continues to seek more work at all times, as he believes in bringing as much accessibility to the world as he can.

Consultancy Testimonials

Check out what others Brandon has worked with have to say about hiring him!
“We’ve gone on record saying that our first and best decision when starting up Blind Sparrow Interactive was approaching Brandon Cole to be our accessibility consultant. Brandon’s comprehensive and analytical knowledge of game design, his creative and solution-oriented approach, and his understanding of the needs of the blind community in terms of accessibility meant his input at every stage of development was invaluable. Brandon was tantamount to the successful design of our first project, and we’ve already asked him to continue working with us on future projects.”
Drew Taylor, Founder of Blind Sparrow Interactive

“Brandon is eager, focused, and has boundless insight when it comes to building your game with accessibility first. His expertise has helped us in every area of our project!”
Baz Hazard

Hiring

Interested in hiring Brandon to help make your product accessible? Just fill out this form to get the process started! Thank you for your interest!

Speaking Engagements

Brandon wants to promote the idea of accessibility in the mainstream to everyone he can, both developer and gamer. He has already begun doing this, having spoken at several events including the first ever Game Accessibility Conference, in 2017, and Microsoft’s Gaming and Accessibility Bootcamp in 2018. He has also spoken at GDC2014, and at Sony Headquarters during their Accessibility Day Celebration. Brandon is extremely passionate, and speaks directly from the heart while also keeping the crowd entertained with the occasional joke. He tends to steer away from traditional presentation formats, allowing his desire to continue to make accessibility a reality to shine through. His speeches have been called inspirational, and this is not a compliment he takes lightly. Booking Brandon at your next event guarantees an informative and entertaining discussion of accessibility, gaming, blindness, or any related topic. Furthermore, Brandon will work to create lasting relationships, as he sees opportunities to come back later as chances at further expansion of the overall message.

Speaking Testimonials

Check out what others have said about Brandon’s speaking ability!

“I met Brandon Cole at Game Developer’s Conference 2014, where he helped to host a panel on game design for the visually impaired. It was made clear very quickly that he is an eloquent speaker both in round-table discussions, and when fielding questions directly from an audience. His off-the-cuff banter is both well-spoken and thoughtful, and keeps the audience’s attention by including them in his questions and responses. Brandon doesn’t waste words or stumble over himself – he speaks with a steady and thoughtful tempo that underlines the fact that he knows precisely what he wants to say.”
Gerritt Dorland – Hobbiest Game Developer

“Brandon is an outstanding speaker – eloquent, funny, easy to work with. He has a rare talent for explaining complex concepts in a relateable and entertaining way.

I’ve had the pleasure of both speaking alongside him on a panel, which meant I was there to see him recieve a standing ovation, and also engaged him as a speaker for my own event. Whether for a conference an internal event or anything else I cannot recommend Brandon highly enough.”
Ian Hamilton – Accessibility Advocate and Cofounder of the Game Accessibility Conference

Booking

Interested in booking Brandon to speak at your event? Simply fill out this form to get the process started. Thank you so much for your interest!

Additional Information

To learn more about Brandon, what his passions are, what he cares about, check out this site’s front page, where you can begin browsing his blog. Or, if you’d like to get a better idea of Brandon’s media presence, you can take a look at his media page, which contains both articles and videos about Brandon as both a gamer and an accessibility advocate. Lastly, if you have any other questions that this page doesn’t cover, or if you would like to contact Brandon for any reason, please do so by sending an email to superblindman01@gmail.com and he will respond to you as soon as he possibly can. Thanks for stopping by, and continue to be awesome!