A rather simple and old game design article from Gamasutra.com (6th July, 2005),“Improving Game Accessibility”
Though this article is pretty old, it does provide some useful information that should give a basic introduction to the subject. No frills and straight to the point. Takes just 5 minutes to read, but gives enough information to gain some awareness to this subject for game designers or developers.
Also, I’ve include a table below shows the major forms of disability that affects game play (extracted from the article), and I have included some suggested and game industry standard of overcoming these games accessibility issues.
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AUDITORY DISABILITY
– Deaf or Hard of Hearing |
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“Prevents gamer from following cut scenes that may contain plot information.”
TO OVERCOME:
- Close Captioning – describes all relevant and important audio information in the game, including sound and musics.
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“Could prevent gamer from receiving game cues such as footsteps or other sounds.”
TO OVERCOME:
- Game design to design for any game play relevant information to have both visual AND aural representation.
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VISUAL DISABILITY
– Blindness, Low Vision, or Color Blindness |
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“Color schemes may make it difficult for the color blind to see the game.”
TO OVERCOME:
- Customizable color shifts in the game for certain colors?
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“Small objects on the screen may not be visible to those with low vision.”
TO OVERCOME:
- A visual hint/cue system for low vision game player.
- Highlighting in-game objects of interest.
- Having “movement” in the form of (particles) effects.
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“Visually based games will not be accessible to the blind.”
TO OVERCOME:
- If thats by the game design of the game to be visually based, there could be more efforts done to explore and to create an aural landscape.
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MOBILITY DISABILITY
– problems moving a mouse or other input device |
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“Games that do not support alterative input devices may be inaccessible.”
TO OVERCOME:
- If the game has been designed in the first place with mobility disability in mind, the design of the controls and input system would play a part to help to alleviate some problems.
- Customizable Input configuration to help in those who use devices to simulate certain keypresses and configuration.
- The rest would be more specialized and custom solutions.
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“A lack of configurable difficulty levels could prevent gamers from being able to set a usable level.”
TO OVERCOME:
- Adjustments for difficulty level settings at any point of the game instead of only at the initial setup of the game.
- Having a dynamic difficulty level setting based on player’s action and result.
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COGNITIVE DISABILITY
– Dyslexia, ADD or ADHD, Asperger Syndrome, Memory loss |
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“Lack of a tutorial mode could be a problem for dyslexics.”
TO OVERCOME:
- Create short and simple tutorials for new game play mechanics, tested with dyslexics game testers.
- Simple gameplay mechanics in the game design.
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“A large printed manual may be useless for gamers with ADD or ADHD.”
TO OVERCOME: Let them learn by information presented on the fly when needed during the game. Tool tips, tips dialoges…
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“Games that require a lot of micro-management will be difficult for those with memory loss.”
TO OVERCOME:
- Design the game and interface to have some form of history management system that keep tracks and records the actions of the player during the game and allows the player access to it.
- Allow the player to input short notes as they play the game.
- Allowing for game pause to allow them to reorganize themselves.
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Tags: Game Design Theory
