The following is a letter to Blizzard Entertainment, written by Shaylynn Hayes-Raymond:
Dear Blizzard Accessibility and Development Teams,
I hope this message finds you well.
I’m writing to raise awareness about the accessibility needs of individuals with sensory processing disorders, including conditions such as misophonia, autism spectrum disorders, and vestibular disorders. While Blizzard has made many strides toward accessibility, there are still specific visual and auditory elements in your games and platforms—particularly World of Warcraft and the Battle.net app—that can be significantly triggering for people with sensory challenges.
Some of the most common triggers include:
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Spell Effects: Repetitive or explosive visual spell effects, especially in crowded areas, can be overwhelming and distressing.
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Loading Spinners/Animations: Constant or rapidly looping UI animations such as spinners can be distracting or triggering.
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Extreme Motion/Camera Shake: Fast camera movement, screen shaking, or high-motion sequences can induce nausea, dizziness, or sensory overload.
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Quest Icons and Overhead Effects: Persistent quest icons above characters’ heads and visual effects such as the spinning elemental animations around shaman characters can create continuous motion in the visual field, which may be overstimulating or disorienting for some players.
I’d like to suggest a few improvements that would make a major difference:
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A Universal Option to Disable Spell Effects: While there are some in-game options already, a more thorough, accessible toggle to completely disable or significantly reduce all visual spell effects—both for the player and others—would be very helpful.
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An Option to Hide Other Players Entirely: On RP and PvE servers in particular, the ability to hide all other players (or at least their animations/effects and overhead indicators like quest icons) would drastically reduce visual noise and allow for a more focused, inclusive gameplay experience.
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UI Motion Reduction: Implementing a setting similar to “Reduce Motion” in operating systems that limits unnecessary animations across the Battle.net app and in-game menus would benefit many players.
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Toggle for Overhead Effects: Providing an option to disable non-essential floating icons and spinning effects (such as quest markers or shaman totems/elements) would significantly ease the experience for those sensitive to persistent movement or visual clutter.
These changes would go a long way toward making Blizzard’s experiences more inclusive for players with sensory processing needs, allowing them to enjoy your games without physical or emotional discomfort.
Thank you for considering these suggestions. I’d be happy to provide more context or connect you with individuals from the sensory disorder community if needed.
On behalf of The International Misophonia Foundation,
Shaylynn Hayes-Raymond
Director, The IMF