by Brannon Zahand, Software Test Engineer Lead
XNA Game Quality (XGQ)
August 2006
Introduction
Game publishers and developers love to focus on features that will get their titles
noticed by the mainstream gaming community, such as graphics and audio. But
there is another audience, eager to take part in these games as well. These gamers
come from the accessibility community — a community of people with disabilities, as
well as those who care about their welfare.
This paper is for game content developers and producers who want to reach this
market by adding basic accessibility features to help people with disabilities or
impairments. The following topics will be discussed:
What is Accessibility?
Often, when people think of accessibility, they think of things like wheelchair ramps
and closed captioning on television. This is because these sorts of accessibility
features stand out and are used by those with obvious disabilities. However,
accessibility features aren't designed just for those with the most severe disabilities.
Among US computer users who range from 18 to 64 years old, 57% (74.2 million)
are likely to benefit from the use of accessible technology due to disabilities and
impairments that may impact computer use. ("The Market for Accessible Technology: The Wide Range of Abilities and Its Impact on Computer Use," Microsoft Corporation) Being able to turn up a payphone's
volume allows people with mild hearing loss to use them. A hand rail on a flight of
stairs allows a mobility-impaired person to climb them more easily.
Sometimes, regular features of a product end up being features that can help people
with impairments. For instance, someone with a visual impairment can use the
contrast settings on a television to make the screen easier to see. A person with
Parkinson's disease can use one touch dialing to make it easier to make a telephone
call.
Accessibility features generally tend to serve one of five types of disabilities:
Vision - Blindness, inability to distinguish colors, blurred Vision, etc.
Hearing - Hard-of-hearing, deafness.
Speech - Speech impairments, language differences.
Mobility - Wrist, arm, leg, and hand impairments.
Cognitive - Learning impairments and reasoning challenges, including dyslexia.
In the context of video games, adding accessibility means making a title usable to
someone with one of these disabilities.
Why is Accessibility Important?
There are both social and financial reasons why game developers should think about
making their products accessible.
For children and young adults who have disabilities that range from mild to severe,
video games can offer a number of benefits. Researchers at the Wheeling Jesuit
University recently discovered that playing sports games or fighting games helps
distract children and young adults suffering from chronic pain (The Edmonton Journal, Feb 13th 2006). Furthermore, video
games have been proven to help children facing surgery more effectively-and with
fewer side effects-than tranquilizers (The Associated Press, Dec 19th 2004). Games are even being used for cancer
treatment; exercise, vitally important to recovery after chemotherapy, has been
encouraged through the use of games such as Dance Dance Revolution(c) when
children refuse to participate in other forms of physical activity.
In addition, allowing people with impairments (especially children) to participate in
activities that most individuals enjoy and take for granted can help reduce emotional
pain and the feeling of being an outsider.
Social reasons aren't the only reasons why game developers should introduce
accessibility features into their titles. Accessibility features can increase sales by
encouraging people with disabilities to buy an accessible title. Increased sales can
also come from gamers who want to support a company that supports the
accessibility community. And finally, the positive P.R. from the media as well as
accessibility advocacy groups provides free advertising.
The demand for accessibility will continue to grow as the gaming population ages. As
people grow older, mild impairments can become more severe. Also, people are
likely to develop new difficulties and impairments as they age. Adding basic
accessibility features to titles can help publishers and developers continue to draw
revenue from these customers.
The State of Accessibility in the Games Industry
For most of the games industry, accessibility in video games is a low priority. One
reason is because of a lack of awareness among developers about accessibility
issues-developers who are not disabled might not be aware of the ways that they
can make a title more accessible to people with disabilities or impairments.
Another reason is that developers have limited amounts of time and resources. Cost-benefit analyses often conclude that accessibility issues aren't worth the attention
and investment of the games industry because of assumptions like:
These assumptions are faulty. Making games accessible is well worth the investment.
The Need for Accessible Games
In 2003, Microsoft Corporation commissioned Forrester Research, Inc., to conduct a
comprehensive study to measure the current and potential market of accessible
technology in the United States and understand how accessible technology is being
used today. The study determined that 57% of computer users are likely or very
likely to benefit from the use of accessible technology. And the future demand for
accessibility is only projected to grow ("Accessible Technology in Computing: Examining Awareness, Use, and Future Potential," Microsoft Corporation).
Figure 1. Predicted Growth in Number of Accessible Technology Users from 2003 to 2010
.gif)
The study also determined that the use of accessibility features was not restricted to
people with disabilities. Among computer users who use built-in accessibility options
and utilities:
Empirical observation suggests this is not just a trend limited to PCs. Accessibility
features are often used by people without any disability just to improve their game
experience. For instance, a gamer could be compensating for a temporary disability
(like a broken thumb), environmental issues (such as background noise), or other
situational factors.
Given the potential increase in the use of accessibility technology, it is crucial to
educate management, designers, developers, and testers. Many companies are
looking for ways to expand into new markets outside of the 18-32 male
demographic. While publishers mull over how to convince little Suzy to play games
or Grandma and Grandpa to pick up a controller, there is a market comprised of
people who want desperately to play mainstream games that is going unnoticed. The
potential revenue to be gained from a relatively small amount of effort providing
basic accessibility features in a title is very tangible.
Including basic accessibility features in a title can increase sales through a "domino
effect"-for example, by reaching gamers who would normally be unable to play the
title or would have their experience significantly diminished. By reaching these
gamers, you also reach the accessibility community (which is known for a rapid
sharing of information on accessible products and its loyal support of businesses that
promote accessibility). By extension, businesses that take an active role in this
community benefit from positive media exposure.
By not including accessibility features, you run the risk of potential boycotts and
lawsuits-and the resulting loss of sales. Many retailers and airlines have been sued
for lack of accessibility, and in the technology sector, the blind community boycotted
Internet Explorer 4 for its lack of accessibility.
Below are different categories of disabilities. Each category includes some relatively
easy-to-implement suggestions that can make a title accessible to a wider audience.
Visual Impairments
"My presentation was followed by a lively question and answer session, and one
notable moment occurred when one of the staffers asked a question about
accessibility in [our] games... this 28-year-old staffer is an avid gamer who used to
play [our game] with a wide circle of friends. Because he is color blind, however, it
was hard for him to tell the good guys from the bad guys and the game finally
became too frustrating. When the new version... came out and [we] hadn't fixed the
problem, he and his friends all decided to buy a competitor's game instead."—an
anonymous industry executive
The term "visual impairment" often brings to mind someone who is completely blind.
However, it is startling to know that 8.7% of the male population is affected by some
level of color blindness ("How do people inherit colorblindness? How often?," WebExhibits.org). Another 1.2% of individuals are affected by more severe
forms of visual impairment ("Disability Info: Visual Impairments Fact Sheet," National Dissemination Center for Children with
Disabilities). That means almost one out of every ten potential
gamers have issues affecting their eyesight that can impact their gaming experience.
To help you understand visual impairment issues, imagine that:
| You Are A Gamer
| And You Are In This Scenario
|
|---|
With normal vision
| It is bright and sunny so you can't see dark
objects on your screen.
|
|
| You have an old television set so you can't
see small objects and text because of poor
picture quality.
|
With impaired vision
| Some game text is so small you can't read it.
|
|
| You are color blind so you don't know which
button to press when the game tells you to
press the red button.
|
With a few simple steps and features, you can address these issues and improve the
gaming experience for both gamers with normal vision and gamers with a visual
impairment.
Test titles on black and white televisions. Note any instances where items,
players, objectives, and commands can't be distinguished and adjust your
color palette accordingly.
Give gamers an option to increase the size of text on their screen. Also
provide the capability to change the scrolling rate of text. It is important to
remember that the console experience is 10-foot, not the 2-foot gaming
experience many PC developers are used to. Even for gamers with no vision
problems, small UI and text can be difficult to read at long distances.
Provide text-to-speech features that can voice all game text, including game
menus that track focus on buttons. Allow the user to control the speed, pitch,
and gender of the voice. To help prevent text-to-speech from being drowned
out by other game noises, give users the ability to adjust the volume of
speech, ambient noise, active game sounds, and music. Also, include the
option to play distinct sounds when transitioning through menu items and
over buttons.
Finally, give gamers the option to change brightness and contrast settings in-
game. Provide users with the ability to choose their own custom color
schemes so that text, background, and HUD colors can be custom configured
to suit an individual's needs.
Auditory Impairments
"Memories of Half-Life return to haunt us as yet another technological masterpiece
[Halo] is useless to the deaf gamer... Let's hope, no pray! that if Halo 2 ever sees
the light of day that it will be fully subtitled."—www.DeafGamers.com
The next most prevalent form of impairments that can affect game play is auditory impairments. ("UCSF: Disabilities Statistics Center," Abstract 5, University of California, San Francisco). In the U.S.
alone, over 28 million people are affected by some sort of hearing impairment.
While hearing impairments are often associated with age, 17 out of every 1,000
children under the age of 18 are affected with a hearing impairment ("Statistics about Hearing Disorders, Ear Infections, and Deafness," National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders). When one
considers that the gamers of today are getting older and losing their hearing at an
ever-increasing rate, it is clear that demand for audio accessibility will only grow.
To help you understand auditory impairment issues, imagine that:
| You Are A Gamer
| And You Are In This Scenario
|
|---|
With normal hearing
| You don't want to disturb anyone so you
play with the sound muted but you can't
play the game because the directions are
only given in audio.
|
|
| You are gaming at a loud party but you
can't tell that you are under fire because
you can't hear the gun shots.
|
With a hearing impairment
| The game has a lot of ambient noise and
you can't hear the verbal instructions given
to you.
|
|
| The audio commentary is so soft, you can't
hear it, even in a quiet room.
|
Who is deaf
| All of your objectives are given to you in
audio and you can't determine what you
are supposed to do.
|
|
| All of the storyline is given verbally, and
you can't follow along.
|
With some relatively minor work, you can make your game usable and enjoyable for
gamers with normal hearing and for gamers who have an auditory impairment.
Close caption all dialogs. This includes in-game content and cinematics. Give
the gamer the ability to turn these captions on and off.
When a sound effect delivers vital information, provide a textual or tactile
(vibration) mechanism for feedback as well. For example, if normally a bomb
in your game makes a faster beeping noise close to its explosion, provide a
visual indicator (such as a time bar) that also allows the gamer to know how
much time is left before the explosion.
If your game supports online play, give gamers the option to send text
messages as well as use their voice to deliver information amongst team
members and other online players. A headset is not useful to an individual
who can't hear and, more and more, players are looking to play with other
individuals with whom they can communicate and strategize online.
Mobility Impairments
"Videogames offer people with disabilities the opportunity to reconnect with their
peers and abilities that have been lost or never had. My personal experience comes
from being paralyzed at the age of 14 years old and visiting the recreational center
in the hospital and the only interest I had to break out of my depression was to play
the videogame system. I quickly lost interest when I learned I could not play
them..."—Robert Florio
Mobility impairments are perhaps the hardest of the various impairments to get firm
statistics on. This is primarily due to the fact that these impairments can be caused
by disease, neurological disorders, loss of limbs/digits, paralysis, etc. which each can
have a varying degree of impact on a video gamer's experience. These impairments
may be congenital, or may occur later in life.
To help you understand auditory impairment issues, imagine that:
| You Are A Gamer
| And You Are In This Scenario
|
|---|
With no mobility impairment
| The game controller has so many buttons,
you (as a casual gamer) are intimidated and
you don't want to learn how to use it.
|
With a temporary mobility
impairment
| You have a broken thumb so you can't use
the thumbstick on your controller.
|
|
| You have a broken leg so you can't use the dance pad for a dancing title.
|
With a permanent and severe
mobility impairment
| You have lost an arm so you cannot use a
two handed controller.
|
|
|
You have Parkinson's disease, your hands
shake, and that makes you accidentally
trigger buttons on the controller.
|
|
|
You are paralyzed from the neck down so
you cannot use a standard game controller at
all.
|
Thinking about accommodating all these gamers 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.
This is particularly useful for individuals who may be missing digits or a hand.
It is also useful for paralyzed individuals who use custom controllers.
Allow gamers to customize their controller configuration and
button/thumbstick sensitivity. This will allow individuals who have fine motor
skills problems customize the controller to minimize the impact their disability
has on game play. It also allows for better support of custom controllers for
people with disabilities.
If your game utilizes a specific type of peripheral (dance pad, light gun, etc.),
allow other controllers to perform the same functions. For instance, a game
such as Dance Dance Revolution(c) allows even wheelchair-restricted
individuals to play along with their friends through the use of a regular hand-
held controller.
Vocal Impairments
Vocal impairments make up a relatively small percentage of the disability
community. Specific statistics are hard to come by, but evidence shows that a
majority of vocal impairments are linked to other disabilities (such as motor or
hearing impairments). However, as more game publishers begin to explore making
use of voice conferencing and speech recognition in their titles, people with vocal
impairments will begin to see the quality of their gaming experience decline. To
counter this, there are basic accessibility features that can be implemented.
To help you understand auditory impairment issues, imagine that:
| You Are A Gamer
| And You Are In This Scenario
|
|---|
With no vocal impairment
|
You are playing a game that requires
spoken commands to control your
characters and you can't play because you
don't have a microphone.
|
|
| You are playing late at night and you don't
want to disturb anyone so you can't use
your communicator.
|
Who has a speech impairment
|
You are playing a game that requires
spoken commands to control your
characters and you can't play because the
game can't recognize what you are saying.
|
Who is unable to speak
|
The game you are playing requires speech
input so you are unable to play.
|
|
| The online game you're playing expects
you to coordinate strategy via the
communicator so you cannot play
effectively.
|
Fortunately, there are some easy fixes that can make your game usable and
enjoyable for these gamers.
If a game uses speech recognition, provide gamers with an option to choose
commands from a menu or button combination.
If your title also supports online multiplayer, give gamers the option of a
customizable macro with either audio messages or (even better for those with
hearing impairments) text messages. Providing keyboard support for chat is
also an option.
Conclusion
At this point, you might be thinking that you couldn't possibly accommodate all of
these gamers in all of these scenarios. And even if you were to implement every
suggestion in this paper, you couldn't ensure that a title would be completely
accessible to everyone. But by following these accessibility guidelines, you can make
your title much more appealing to the accessibility community. And that can only
increase sales.
To make a title more accessible, developers and publishers need to find people with
various types of disabilities to usability test their games. This approach provides
first-hand information about whether or not a game is accessible for a certain
audience. As an added benefit, having diverse development and testing resources
can offer additional insights that can improve game play for all gamers.
Most importantly, engage the accessibility community and get to know these
potential customers. Hold a game bash for your title at a local deaf service center,
children's hospital, or veteran's center. Encourage developers and testers to
volunteer with local organizations that work with people with disabilities, to take a sign
language class, or to sign up for accessibility-related newsletters to keep up with the
community. Solicit feedback on previous titles from disabled-gamers at local schools
and colleges.
No one likes feeling an outsider. By including the accessibility community in game
testing and design, you will be able to market your title to a much wider audience
and do the right thing for the community and your bottom line.
More Resources
There are a number of web resources available that discuss video game accessibility,
as well as a number of companies that focus on disabled gamers. In addition, the
Accessible Technology Group at Microsoft can be contacted with PC-related
accessibility questions at: ablecat@microsoft.com.
Xbox-related accessibility questions can be sent to: xaccess@microsoft.com
General Disability sites:
Auditory Impairment Sites:
Visual Impairment Sites:
Mobility impairment Sites:
Speech Impairment Sites: