Game accessibility

The field of game accessibility deals with the "accessibility" of electronic games ("computer games", "console games", etc.) for disabled gamers. The Game Accessibility Special Interest Group of International Game Developers Association (IGDA) suggested that “Game Accessibility can be defined as the ability to play a game even when functioning under limiting conditions. Limiting conditions can be functional limitations, or disabilities — such as blindness, deafness, or mobility limitations.”

Introduction

Unfortunately, the vast majority of modern computer games does not meet the needs of gamers who function under limiting conditions. The Game Accessibility Special Interest Group (GA-SIG) writes in their publication [http://www.igda.org/accessibility/IGDA_Accessibility_WhitePaper.pdf Accessibility in Games: Motivations and Approaches (.PDF)] (2004) that "between 10% and 20% of the people in a country can be considered disabled." Information from the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) seems to confirm this conclusion. Unfortunately, there are no exact figures that describe the scope of the target group.

Over the past few years several initiatives were launched to improve the accessibility of games. Several academies and universities have shown their interest by using the subject of game accessibility in student projects. The limitations of the target group make such projects interesting, instructive and challenging for students. Small companies and hobby-developers started to develop special games, such as "audio games" (games without visuals that only consist of sound and therefore very accessible for visually impaired gamers) and "one-switch games" (also known as "single switch games"), games that can be controlled by a single button. These are not only great examples of accessible games, but also of innovative game design.

In 2003, the International Game Developers Association (IGDA) introduced the [http://www.igda.org/accessibility/ Game Accessibility Special Interest Group] , founded by Thomas Westin and currently chaired by Michelle Hinn. In 2006, the [http://www.accessibility.nl/ Bartiméus Accessibility foundation] initiated the [http://www.gameaccessibility.com/ Game Accessibility project] , a project which focuses on creating awareness and providing information for game developers, researchers and gamers with disabilities, led by Richard Van Tol. These two major groups work together as advocates within the game industry for increasing the accessibility of video games for gamers with disabilities.

Despite these initiatives, the situation is far from perfect: accessibility is hardly applied to games and the gap between accessible games and mainstream games becomes bigger every day. Most game developers are still very much unaware of game accessibility. Developers who acknowledge the importance of game accessibility and want to use it in their designs often don't know where to start. Games developed in research-projects usually consist of small demos ("proofs of concept") which lack the quality and (re)playability of mainstream games. This is usually also the case with games that have been developed by the small companies and hobbyists. Knowledge about accessible game design that is gained in projects often failed to get documented. Overall, there are too little resources on the subject.

External links

* [http://www.gameaccessibility.com Game Accessibility Project Website] , website of the Game Accessibility project
* [http://www.igda.org/accessibility IGDA Game Accessibility SIG] , special interest group formed to help the game community strive towards creating mainstream games that are universally accessible to all, regardless of disability
* [http://www.accessibility.nl Bartiméus Accessibility foundation] , initiator of the Game Accessibility project and participant in projects such as Drive (racing game for the blind) and Demor (3D GPS location-based audio shooter game for the blind)
* [http://www.audiogames.net AudioGames.net] , an online research and community website which hosts the biggest online archive of audio games
* [http://www.oneswitch.org.uk/ OneSwitch.org.uk] , Switch gaming resources, including free games, hardware and advice.
* [http://gamescc.rbkdesign.com/ Games(CC)] , a dedicated group of captioners, translators, artists and programmers who mod existing games by adding closed captioning and other features
* [http://www.ics.forth.gr/hci/ua-games/index.html Universally Accessible Games] , research project about the possibilities of designing "Universally Accessible" games that can be played by people with physical, sensory or mental disabilities.
* [http://www.deafgamers.com/ Deaf Gamers - Reviews on the accessibility of games to deaf persons]
* [http://www.pininteractive.com Pin Interactive (PIN)] , the company which developed Terraformers, an Award Winning 3D game which can be played by both sighted and blind. Thomas Westin at PIN started the IGDA Game Accessibility SIG in 2003.
* [http://www.helpyouplay.com/ helpyouplay: Interaction Design Patterns in Games] - a useful design reposity for game developer describing solutions using interaction design pattern to common accessibility problems in games.
* [http://www.retroremakes.com/forum2/forumdisplay.php?f=84 RetroRemakes.org Accessibility Forum] , aimed at programmers interested in implementing accessibility features.

Accessible Gaming Links in other Languages

* [http://www.gamereactor.dk/texter/?id=61266 Danish] "GameReactor.dk" article on one-switch gaming.
* [http://www.igda.org/Forums/showthread.php?s=b983d48709c5a8998214f8bd28ef8ebf&threadid=19358 Japanese] Various links.
* [http://hustle-club.com/rt/rt_hustle.html Japanese] NAMCO "Re-habilitainment" web-site.
* [http://www.gameland.ru//magazine/si/192/092/1.asp Russian] "Gameland.ru" accessible gaming article.