For those who don’t know, my partner is disabled. She can walk with assistance, but often we resort to her wheelchair when we go out because it’s just easier. The not so dark side to going anywhere with a disability is just because a building has a ramp to get in the door doesn’t equal accessibility. We often find that places like restaurants have their tables and chairs a little too close together. This makes it difficult to even roll through without having to be careful not to bump into other diners. We encounter things like this all the time. Bathrooms may have handrails, but if the door to get in won’t open all the way to fit the wheelchair through the door-what’s the point? It’s these small aggravations that make me light up when I discovered The D&D Kit For All.
Designed by producer, actor, tabletop gamer and disability advocate Jennifer Kretchmer, the D&D Kit For All aims to make D&D available to absolutely everyone. In an article on cbr.com they said, “Kretchmer spent approximately one year helping Wizards of the Coast (the company that own Dungeons & Dragons) develop the D&D For All Kit, working closely with company influencer manager Dixon Dubow.”
The D&D Kit For All is the most inclusive and accessible table top game of its kind. It’s easy to open and carry, has high contrast colors, includes braille, and is screen-reader friendly. The kit includes a D&D fidget toy for neurodivergent players, magnetic tokens, magnetic ball bearings, a 3-D pen and a screen light. All of these things come in easy to open velvet packs with Braille labels on them.
“The goal was to create as inclusive and accessible a kit for community members across as many access needs as possible. That meant that from the start, we needed to consider ensuring that things were high-contrast, textured, easy to open, etc. This informed EVERYTHING,” Kretchmer wrote. “It was also important that this wasn’t ‘the disabled kit,’ but rather a kit of fantastic, useful, cool items that ALSO were chosen and designed with access needs in mind. These are items everyone would enjoy, but that have been selected with care and access considerations.”
cbr.com
Kretchmer hopes this will start a conversation within companies large and small. She wants to inspire companies to think about how everyone can access their products. And hopes this line of thinking will go into how companies make products from this point on. “We ALL win when games are inclusive and accessible, whether we are creators, storytellers, players, collectors, or any other type of enthusiast, and considering how to ensure access makes the future of gaming even more exciting for everyone.”
At this time, they are considering wider distribution, but can’t say what that looks like at this time. See more photos and get more information via her Tweet thread where she shares more photos and breaks down the entire kit.