Game Design and Accessibility

A case study using Stem Stumper

Who Am I?

• Born and Raised The Bronx, NY• CMU SCS 2008• Interned at EALA on MOH:Airborne• Demiurge Studios – Engineer• Founded Ananse Productions

November 2010

What I’m Playing

Portal 2, Mass Effect and Bejewled!

Stem Stumper

Sonar Mode

Accessibility versus Usability

• Accessibility: Taking into account physical and mental impairments

• Usability: Making interaction with the game as intuitive as possible

Accessibility leads to Usability

• A lot of overlap

Starts with Design• Needs to be a priority from the start

Overview

• Hearing• Touch and Mobility• Sight• Screen Readers• Resources

Hearing

• Approximately 36 million (17%) US adults report a form of hearing loss (NIDCD)

• Uncharted 2 sales = 3.8 million worldwide

• Includes unilateral hearing loss (loss of hearing in a single ear)

Hearing – Visual Cues

• Using multiple channels for information reinforces it

• Mobile players aren’t always listening to your game

Hearing – Stereo

• Papa Sangre uses binaural audio– Have to hear with both ears!

• Avoided stereo on Stem Stumper

Touch and Mobility

• 14.5 million (7.1%) of Americans report a severe motion impairing disability

• Modern Warfare 2 Sales = 10 million US

• Interesting repercussions for motion gaming

Touch and Motion – Time

• Allowing playing at own pace

Touch and Motion - Controls

• Chording: require multiple button presses at the same time– Virtual D-pads– Stem Stumper only requires one finger!

• Beware of time-sensitive controls!– Double tapping, not in Stem Stumper*

• Remapping wasn’t an issue for Stem Stumper

Sight

• 25 million Americans with serious vision loss (AFB)

• Gears of War 2 Sales = 2 million worldwide

• Only 10% are completely blind!

• Biggest concern on Stem Stumper

Sight - Symbols

• Helps children, those with reading disabilities, and can be more intuitive overall

• Still need text substitute for screen readers. Not a localization sliver bullet.

Sight – Legible Text

• Make sure font is always easily distinguishable from background

• In Stem Stumper we created a black outline around text to help it pop out.

Sight - Colorblind

• 10% of US men are red-green color blind (rare amongst women)

• Photoshop magic versus silhouettes and texturing

Screen Readers

• New to gaming

• Not supported on any console!

• Apple has VoiceOver built in to newer iOS models

VoiceOver

• Captures and preprocess input• Requires multiple taps with

multiple fingers• Handy API

UI With Screen Readers

• Don’t make items disappear

UI With Screen Readers

• Stick with conventions

UI With Screen Readers

• Information (like a meter) isn’t instantly visible!

Test, Test, Test!

• Find testers in your target group and test

• Also great for building buzz!

Resources

• www.blindcomputergames.com– 7-128 worked with audio gamers to

come up with clear guidelines to present developers

• IGDA GASIG– A lot of high level things to keep in

mind• WCAG 2.0– Web standard for accessibility that

covers more impairments