Illuminating the need for inclusive design practices in game design and development at a large organization may not be easy for an individual, but there are few ways this can be approached.
young gamers using adaptive controllers | ablegamers charity
games are for everyone
As Steve Spohn from AbleGamers explains, enabling play for gamers with disabilities is instrumental in combating social isolation, fostering social communities and improving quality of life. These factors are fundamental driving forces behind the games industry, and differently abled players should not be excluded from its benefits.
Better UX for all
Accessibility features often improve the overall user experience for all players, not just those with disabilities. For examples, subtitles customization and font sizes may address specific contextual or environmental constraints like device sizes and lighting.
more = merrier!
Making games accessible opens them up to a larger audience, including millions of players with disabilities. America and Canada may have up to 50 million potential players with disabilities alone.
Morgan Baker in her
Gamer Developer article offers an insightful way to address situations where stakeholders may pushback on implementing particular accessibility features, arguing that it could change the game that was not part of the original vision.
She introduces the concept of “Fundamental Alteration” (significant changes that change the core aspect of the game). It may be effective to use the term in framing questions that help facilitate further discussions like:
- What are our games’ fundamentals?
- Does adding accessibility fundamentally alter the nature of the game?
- And if accessibility would hinder core components, is there a middle ground?
When it comes to iterative improvements, prioritization frameworks help facilitate collaboration across departments. A good framework usually addresses parameters like impact and effort when it comes to creating priorities, and standards like WCAG also contextualize this kind of priority providing levels of compliance.
left: WCAG compliance levels Right: Game accessibility guidelines categories
And thanks to the incredible people at Game Accessibility Guidelines (GAG), each recommendation falls under one of three categories (Basic, Intermediate, and Advanced) based on impact and effort required. For a more robust approach in this case study, I've used a combination of the Game Accessibility Guidelines + along with recommendations for best practices from the XBOX Accessibility Guidelines.
While guidelines are crucial first step to build towards more inclusive design practices, they should not be treated as the end-all be-all for accessibility. Many of the recommendations made in this case study would not have been possible with a simple audit using guidelines, but the incredible work done by accessibility advocates like
Steve Saylor and
Magpie Gaming. Moreover, the development pipeline for every game is different! Some features may be easier to implement for some games rather than others based on the project's particular development constraints.
So don't just follow guidelines. Listen to your players — they are the true experts on their needs. Listen to your developers — they are the true experts on development constraints.
This is how we make the journey!
