Good point on the colorblind mode, I'll make sure and add that in. The colors for the race-neutral stuff is already all colorblind-friendly, but obviously with the race colors we use the full spectrum.
Adding gamepad support might be interesting, but I'm not sure how well it would work or if it would fit into the current timeframe.
Bear in mind I was playing on Normal difficulty mode, and there are also Hard and Misery above that. The default is supposed to be relatively easy, at least in the first couple of fights (I mean, killing players right away is hugely demoralizing, and I showed you two fights at the very start of the game).
Getting rid of speed settings would get my lynched, sorry.
There are already assassins and AFA ships that the races can send after you, and will, later in the game. You'll like that, I suspect.