Developing For Different Types of Disabilities

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There are a number of different types of disabilities that can affect your users. Some basic tips are provided here for developing with each type in mind. More resources can be found here.

• Auditory
• Visual
• Vocal
• Dexterity

Auditory

When it comes to audio accessibility, there are three types of users:

• Hearing
• Hard-of-Hearing
• Deaf

Accessibility can provide a better user experience for all three.

Below are some common scenarios where audio issues might affect all three groups.

• Hearing
  • Imagine it is late at night and you want to play your game in your bedroom, but your spouse is sleeping. You need to play on mute, but can't understand where you are supposed to go because the directions are only given in audio.
  • You are playing with some of your friends at a loud party. You can't tell you're being shot at because you can't hear the gun shots.
  • Take a game like Halo(TM), where the audio commentary for certain characters is so soft that is often makes hearing it difficult even when there isn't a lot of other noise in the room.
• Hard-of-Hearing
  • The game you are playing has a lot of ambient noise. Since you already have a hard time hearing, all the extra noise cancels out the audio-only directions given to you.
  • The dialog or sound effects in a particular game are so soft (for instance, the sound of enemy footbeats approaching you) that if you turn up the volume loud, you still can't hear them as they are drowned out by other noise.
• Deaf
  • You are playing a game where all your objectives are only given to you in audio. You have no idea where you are supposed to go or what you are supposed to do.
  • You are playing a game where you are unable to understand the story because it is also given verbally.

With some relatively minor work, you can make your game usable and enjoyable for someone with an audio impairment, as well as for your regular users!

• Close Caption all dialog (give the user the ability to turn captions on and off), both in-game and during cinematics.
  • Example: "Halo" cinematics/directions are only in audio. These should have had accompanying text.
  • Example: "007: Everything or Nothing" hints for completing mission objectives are only provided through audio.
• If a sound effect delivers vital information, provide a textual or tactile (vibration) mechanism for feedback as well.
  • Example: Defusing bombs in "Counter Strike" is done by navigating by a "beeping" sound. Provide some sort of on-screen indicator for those who can't hear.
• If your game supports online play, give users the option to send text messages as well as use their voice to deliver information.
  • Example: "Phantasy Star Online" for the Xbox is able to send both text and voice messages.

Visual

When it comes to users in this category, there are many kinds:

• Normal Vision
• Visually Impaired
  • Color Blind
  • Far Sighted
  • Near Sighted
  • Tunnel Vision
• Blind

Accessibility can provide a better user experience for all of these users.

Below are some common scenarios where visual issues might affect these groups.

• Normal Vision
  • You are playing your favorite game, but it is sunny out and the glare off your screen makes dark objects hard to see.
  • You are a poor college student and are playing on an older television set. It is grainy and fuzzy, and hard to make out small objects and text.
• Visually Impaired
  • You can see larger objects on the screen, but small objects are hard to distinguish.
  • The game tells you to push the red button... but the all the buttons appear to be the same color to you.
• Blind
  • Almost all video game consoles are completely useless to you.

With a few simple steps and features, you can make your game usable and enjoyable for someone with a visual impairment, as well as for your regular users!

• Have testers play the game on black and white televisions. Note any instances where items / players / objectives / commands can't be distinguished and adjust your color palette accordingly.
• Give users an option to increase the size of text on the screen as well as change the scrolling rate of text.
• Give users the option to change brightness and contrast settings in-game.

Vocal

When it comes to vocal accessibility, there are three types of users:

• Normal Speech
• Slurred / Soft Speech
• Mute

Accessibility can provide a better user experience for all three.

Below are some common scenarios where speech issues might affect all three groups.

• Normal Speech
  • You are playing a game that requires you to speak commands to control your characters, but you've lost your microphone.
  • You talk to your friends while playing your game because it is late at night and you need to be quiet so as not to wake your spouse.
• Slurred / Soft Speech
  • You are playing a game that requires you to speak command to control your characters, but it can't recognize your words.
• Mute
  • Games requiring speech input are completely useless.
  • You want to play online with your friends, but can't communicate strategy with them because only vocal messaging is supported.

With some relatively minor work, you can make your game usable and enjoyable for all your users!

• If your game utilizes Speech Recognition, also provide users with an option to choose voice commands from a menu or with a button combination.
• If your game supports online play, give users the option of a customizable-macro with either audio messages or (even better for hard of hearing/deaf players) text messages.

Dexterity

When it comes to physical abilities, there are three types of users:

• No Impairment
• Temporarily Impaired
• Permanently Impaired

Accessibility can provide a better user experience for all three.

Below are some common scenarios where dexterity issues might affect all three groups.

• No Impairment
  • The 22 buttons on your game controller are way to complicated for your friends who don't normally game.
• Temporarily Impaired
  • You break your thumb playing football and can't use the thumbstick on your controller.
• Permanently Impaired
  • You have lost an arm in a car accident, making holding/using two-handed controllers very difficult.
  • You have Parkinson's disease, and your hands shake so much that they accidentally trigger buttons on your controller.
  • You have been paralyzed from the neck down and a standard game controller is not an option for you at all.

Thinking about accommodating all these users is challenging, but there are some easy things you can keep in mind when developing your games:

• Minimize button use and think more about menu interfaces for commands.
• Allow users to customize their controller configuration and button/thumbstick sensitivity.
• If your game utilizes a specific type of peripheral (dance pad, light gun, etc.), allow other controllers to perform the same functions.

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