How family video game night became a global accessibility platform

Nadia Hamilton's introduction to accessibility began at home with her younger brother, Troy, who is autistic. In the 1990s, societal awareness and understanding of autism was limited.

To their Toronto-area neighbours, Troy's reactions to certain noises, touch, and sunlight may have been hard to understand, but to Nadia's family, they knew the slightest change in environment could be overwhelming.

"I knew from a young age that he was experiencing the world in ways I never could," Hamilton said. "And it opened my eyes to a whole dimension of human experience that existed out there."

That growing sense of understanding ultimately changed the course of Hamilton’s life and set her down a path towards making society more accessible.

The family that games together

The Hamiltons often organized their routines around Troy’s needs and the family of seven worked hard to make sure that he found joy in as many places and activities as possible.

One of these activities was playing video games. For the Hamiltons, video games became more than entertainment, they became a shared language. "Troy was mostly non-verbal, so playing video games together was one of the ways we built our relationship," said Hamilton.

For "King Troy" (Hamilton’s affectionate nickname for her brother), many of his favourite games were two-player games where the main character has the help of a trusty sidekick.

Looking back, Hamilton sees a connection between these games and the role she played in Troy's life, "because these sidekicks, or helpers, were playable characters, video games became a means for us to communicate and connect," she said.

Building a life skills library

Hamilton soon realized Troy would not touch the controller before he had thoroughly read a game's official strategy guide—a visual step-by-step booklet of every stage of a game.

"I think this helped him cope with the unpredictability of the game," Hamilton noted. "He needed to make sure he didn’t miss one treasure chest. These guides gave him the structure he needed to participate and play with us."

The challenge wasn’t capability; it was having the right tools.

This observation sparked the creative idea that would eventually become a successful international business. Armed with a pen and paper, Hamilton began drawing her own versions of strategy guides for her brother, but instead of navigating castles and jungles, these guides would help Troy with daily routines: brushing his teeth, getting dressed, and preparing snacks, all by himself. The results were immediate.

"The guides transformed our lives. He was able to do things without waiting for our help and without anxiety that he would do it wrong or miss a step," Hamilton said.

As they got older, she realized that the experience reached beyond her brother: the world was not designed for people who learned visually and processed information differently.

Everyday activities, such as taking public transit, banking, and grocery shopping presented barriers.

"I had every opportunity in the world to do whatever I wanted after university," Hamilton said. "But my brother was struggling to order food at a restaurant. He literally graduated to the couch. Accessibility shouldn’t depend on families creating their own solutions."

Impatient for someone else to solve this broader problem and with funding from winning a social business competition grand prize in 2011, Hamilton created Magnusmode®, hired developers, wrote all the specifications herself, and launched the first version of MagnusCards® in 2013—an app with digital guidebooks, or Card Decks, to create the structure necessary for autistic and neurodivergent people to navigate daily life more confidently and independently.

Card Decks are step-by-step visual, audio, and text guides that walk the user through real-world experiences, like going to a restaurant, taking public transit, or using an ATM machine at their local branch.

A legacy of inclusion

Through an innovative business model called Inclusion Partners, Magnusmode’s business has grown. Companies fund the creation of bespoke Card Decks that guide the users through their unique services and products.

Today, Magnusmode offers more than 1,800 Card Decks in 13 languages, which also help many Canadian newcomers. The company has more than 40 inclusion partners across North America and has reached and benefitted hundreds of thousands of people.

In 2026, TD worked with Magnusmode to create 10 Card Decks to help TD clients of all abilities use TD ATMs.

“At TD, we believe accessibility is fundamental to creating banking experiences that help our clients participate with confidence, independence and choice,” said John Capozzolo, Senior Vice President, Branch Banking Delivery Excellence, TD.

“Our ATMs are an important element of the branch ecosystem, especially as our clients look for more speed and simplicity through digital options. Our relationship with Magnusmode allows us to bring TD’s commitment to making banking inclusive and remarkably human into a practical, everyday moment. By adding step-by-step TD ATM guidance to MagnusCards, we are helping remove barriers and making this TD channel clearer, more accessible and easier to navigate for the communities we serve,” said Capozzolo.

According to Shannon Yeoman, Vice President, Branch Banking Customer Experience & Delivery Excellence, TD, what makes this work meaningful is that it meets our clients where they are.

“For our clients who benefit from visual, audio and step-by-step support, the TD ATM Card Deck can help reduce uncertainty and make everyday banking at TD feel more approachable. It is a simple example of inclusive design creating a more welcoming experience,” said Yeoman.

Additionally, the TD ATM Card Deck offers users an inconspicuous way for learning while doing without signaling to others they are looking for help.

"This element of safety is very important when you're at an ATM," said Hamilton. "It's an unstigmatized approach to learning, practicing, and mastering money skills."

"Money management is the building block of independence," said Hamilton. "With the help of MagnusCards, TD is striving to meet neurodivergent people the way they think and learn. That's not just accessibility, it's empowerment, one TD ATM Card Deck at a time."

Money, Matters

Each Card Deck is also designed with feedback from those with lived experience. Toronto's Geneva Centre for Autism has collaborated with Magnusmode since 2013, when they helped with the app's original beta testing.

According to Shelley Brazier, Program Director at Geneva Centre, MagnusCards has become a valuable resource for individuals learning to navigate daily activities that people may take for granted.

"It has really allowed many people we work with to be as independent as possible," said Brazier.

"One of our community members used MagnusCards to learn how to access her money and manage how much she planned to spend each week," said Brazier.

"She was able to independently go to her branch, determine how much per week she was going to spend on her treats, get that money, go to the store and purchase those sweets."

The achievement may seem simple, but for her and her family, it was transformative.

"Beyond teaching a banking task. The app gave the individual greater control over her daily life while providing relief for her caregiver," Brazier said.

A world of choice

MagnusCards is more than an app, it's a specialized guidebook to the world. "Some of the video games we played as kids started with a blacked-out world map with only your character on it," said Hamilton. "As you explored, you unmasked the map of the world. And that's what the vision for Magnusmode as a business has always been: enabling people to chart their own path and participate in the world in ways that are meaningful to them.”