Making games for Disabled gamers

 Over 20% of gamers have issues that prevent them from fully enjoying the current and best games. Gamer disabilitys can range from deafness to partial blindness to any other number of issues that disabled and handicapped gamers need to deal with. Finally the game industry has taken note of these issues and established guidelines for programmers to use in their games to allow everybody , irrespective of their physical condition to enjoy games.

 www.gameaccessibilityguidelines.com has been created by a group of developers and experts, coordinated by Ian Hamilton, an accessibility and usability specialist with a background in game development. 

The website gives  developers guidelines on the simple changes that games need to have to make them more accessible for  gamers with a range of visual, hearing, speech, learning and motor conditions. 

How many gamers have an impairment?
 Recent research by PopCapshowed that as many as 20% of gamers are disabled.  Often there are simple solutions such as combining colours with symbols, or allowing text to disappear on a button press rather than a timer. Many of these practices have already been implemented in the game industry in recent years. Now skippable cut scenes are a standard, and configurable controls almost a must (to the relief of many a left handed gamer)

This creation has taken Ian Hamilton six months , his main motivation has been to do something about the number of studios who unwittingly ignore the needs of players through a lack of knowledge about the barriers disabled gamers face when trying to play their favourite games.

“The guidelines started really a few years ago as a personal project triggered by work I did whilst at the BBC, which included creating games and products for disabled children. That expanded into advising internal teams and 3rd party game studios on game accessibility, which made me realise firstly to what degree gamers were unnecessarily being shut out by the games industry through lack of awareness, and secondly the huge value that games have: it’s not just about delivering access, it’s about entertainment, culture, socialising, the very things that are the difference between existing and living. Gaming really does have a huge impact on people’s lives,” said Ian.
These are some of the big names in gaming that helped Ian Hamilton with the accessibility project:  Blitz games studios, Headstrong Games, Aardman Digital, OneSwitch and Stockholm University. 

“Through the process we’ve spoken to developers around the world, from small indies to large triple-A studios, and the support has been fantastic. There are already several games in development that are using the guidelines to deliver the best possible experience to as many people as possible.”

One of the developers that the guidelines have already helped is Poland-basedVivid Games, who sought Ian’s help when creating a PC version of its recent mobile and PS3 game, Speedball 2: evolution.

“When we were developing the mobile version of Speedball 2 we included a special mode for colour blind gamers, which changed the palette and increased the contrast to ensure that all the on-screen action was still visible.” said Remi Koscielny, President of Vivid Games. “For the PC version we wanted to increase the accessibility of the game, so we worked closely with Ian to ensure that every part of the game was optimised for impaired gamers. Having learnt what a major difference can be made to so many people with just a little extra effort, we certainly hope that all developers take on board the fantastic work that Ian has done.”

www.gameaccessibilityguidelines.com is an open and free resource for anyone involved in the games industry around the world to use. It will continue to evolve, and feedback from developers is welcomed via the website.

Guidelines for Making Accessible Games for disabled gamers

General

Basic

Provide details of accessibility on web or packaging

Offer a choice of difficulty level

Ensure that all settings are saved/remembered

Intermediate

Allow difficulty level to be altered during gameplay, either through settings or adaptive difficulty

Include some people with impairments amongst play-testing participants

Offer a means to bypass gameplay elements that aren’t part of the core mechanic, via settings or in-game skip option

Include assist modes such as auto-aim and assisted steering

Provide a manual save feature

Provide an autosave feature

Allow a preference to be set for playing online multiplayer with/without others who are using accessibility features that could give a competitive advantage

Advanced

Include every relevant category of impairment (motor, cognitive etc) amongst play-testing participants, in representative numbers based on age / demographic of target audience

Allow gameplay to be fine-tuned by exposing as many variables as possible

Allow settings to be saved to different profiles, at either game or platform level

Motor

(Control / mobility)

Basic

Allow controls to be remapped / reconfigured

Ensure that all areas of the user interface can be accessed using the same input method as the gameplay

Include an option to adjust the sensitivity of controls

Ensure controls are as simple as possible, or provide a simpler alternative

Intermediate

Ensure interactive elements / virtual controls are large and well spaced, particularly on small or touch screens

Support more than one input device

Make interactive elements that require accuracy (eg. cursor/touch controlled menu options) stationary

Ensure that multiple simultaneous actions (eg. click/drag or swipe) are not required, and included only as a supplementary / alternative input method

Ensure that all key actions can be carried out by digital controls (pad / keys / presses), with more complex input (eg. analogue, speech, gesture) not required, and included only as supplementary / alternative input methods

Include an option to adjust the game speed

Avoid repeated inputs (button-mashing/quick time events)

If producing a PC game, support windowed mode for compatibility with overlaid virtual keyboards

Advanced

Do not make precise timing essential to gameplay - offer alternatives, actions that can be carried out while paused, or a skip mechanism

Include a cool-down period (post acceptance delay) of 0.5 seconds between inputs

Provide very simple control schemes that are compatible with assistive technology devices, such as switch or eye tracking

Cognitive

(Thought / memory / processing information)

Basic

Allow the game to be started without the need to navigate through multiple levels of menus

Use an easily readable default font size

Use simple clear language

Use simple clear text formatting

Include tutorials

Intermediate

Include contextual in-game help/guidance/tips

Indicate / allow reminder of current objectives during gameplay

Include a map when using complex environments

Use step / pause / replay to allow progression at the player’s own pace through narrative or instructions

Include a means of practicing without failure, such as a practice level or sandbox mode

Employ a simple, clear narrative structure

If using a long overarching narrative, provide summaries of progress

Ensure no essential information (especially instructions) is conveyed by text alone, reinforce with visuals and/or speech

Give a clear indication that interactive elements are interactive

Provide an option to turn off / hide background movement

Support voice chat as well as text for multiplayer games

Provide gameplay thumbnails with game saves

Provide separate volume controls or mutes for effects, speech and background/music

Ensure sound / music choices for each key objects / events are distinct from each other

Include an option to adjust the game speed

Provide a choice of text colour, low/high contrast choice as a minimum

Advanced

Provide full internal self voicing for all text, including menus and installers

Avoid any sudden unexpected movement or events

Allow all narrative and instructions to be replayed

Use symbol-based chat (smileys etc)

Provide an option to turn off / hide all non interactive elements

Visual

Basic

Ensure no essential information is conveyed by a colour alone, reinforce with a symbol or offer a choice of alternative colours

If the game uses field of view (3D engine only), set an appropriate default for expected viewing environment (eg. 60 degrees for TV, 90 degrees for monitor)

Use an easily readable default font size

Use simple clear text formatting

Provide high contrast between text and background

Intermediate

If the game uses field of view (3D engine only), allow a means for it to be adjusted

Avoid (or provide option to disable) any difference between controller movement and camera movement, such as weapon/walk bobbing or mouse smoothing

Use surround sound

Provide an option to turn off / hide background animation

Provide an option to adjust contrast

Ensure sound / music choices for each key objects / events are distinct from each other

Provide a choice of cursor / crosshair colours / designs

Give a clear indication that interactive elements are interactive

Ensure manual / website are provided in a screenreader friendly format

Provide separate volume controls or mutes for effects, speech and background/music

Advanced

Allow the font size to be adjusted

Provide a pingable sonar-style audio map

Provide full internal sampled self-voicing for all text, including menus & installers

Provide a voiced GPS

Allow easy orientation to / movement along compass points

Ensure that all key actions can be carried out by digital controls (pads / keys / presses), with more complex input (eg. analogue, gesture) not required, and included only as supplement art / alternative input methods

Ensure screenreader support, including menus & installers

Use distinct sound / music design for all objects and events

Simulate binaural recording

Hearing

Basic

Provide separate volume controls or mutes for effects, speech and background / music

Ensure no essential information is conveyed by audio alone, reinforce with text / visuals

If any subtitles / captions are used, use an easily readable default font size, simple clear text formatting and provide high contrast between text and background

Intermediate

Keep background noise to minimum during speech

Provide a text alternative for all speech (subtitles / captions)

Allow text alternatives to be displayed before any sound is played

Provide a text description of narratively / atmospherically significant background noises

Provide a visual indication of who is currently speaking

Support text chat as well as voice for multiplayer

Support visual means of communicating in multiplayer

Allow a preference to be set for playing online multiplayer with players who will only play with / are willing to play without voice chat

Ensure that all important supplementary information (eg. the direction you are being shot from) conveyed by audio is replicated in text / visuals

Advanced

Ensure that subtitles/captions are cut down to and presented at an appropriate words-per-minute for the target age-group

Provide signing

Speech

Basic

Ensure that speech input is not required, and included only as a supplementary / alternative input method

Intermediate

Allow a preference to be set for playing online multiplayer with players who will only play with / are willing to play without voice chat

Support text chat as well as voice for online multiplayer

Support visual means of communicating in multiplayer

Base speech recognition on individual words from a small vocabulary (eg. ‘yes’ ‘no’ ‘open’) instead of long phrases or multi-syllable words

Advanced

Speech recognition based on a percentage