Daniel Hawkins
You may be familiar with the game Forza Motorsports, which received the award for 的nnovation in Accessibility at the 2023 Gaming Awards. Hearing about the release of a video game made accessible for Blind players was very exciting to me. However, I found out I was unable to play it due to the combination of my blindness and hearing loss. In searching the web for any information on accessible games for those who are deaf-blind, I was not able to find anything. There are many games accessible for people who are deaf or people who are blind, but not for those who are both deaf and blind.
Maybe that seems to make sense at first. You might think that switching between visual cues and audio cues is all it takes to make a game accessible to either party. So what would a game for the DeafBlind even look like?
Let's dive into what DeafBlindness is, what is required to make games accessible, and then investigate suggestions and examples on accessible video games.
What is DeafBlindness?
DeafBlindness is a disability with dual sensory loss. Both vision and hearing loss affect how a person interacts with their surroundings. Many people believe that you can take the skills and resources of Blind individuals and Deaf individuals and combine that, and you get DeafBlind. Yes, but no. It is much more than that.
There are many skills and resources that a DeafBlind individual can utilize from both the Blind community and the Deaf community, but often, changes are also needed to better accommodate the DeafBlind. For example, a phone call. A blind person can hear the person on the phone just fine. A deaf person can use text or a TTY, or sign over a video call. A deafblind person cannot hear a voice call and cannot read print to text; they must use braille and braille only.
But hearing and vision are also spectrums. To understand how to create a fully accessible experience, we must know the different types of DeafBlindness and what features and adjustments they may benefit from.
Total Vision Loss With Some Hearing Loss
As the writer of this article, I am in this particular category. I have total vision loss with profound hearing loss. This means as a player, I will not be able to see the game, but can hear some of it. I only have one good ear that uses a hearing aid. Individuals with this vision and hearing loss combination may use most resources and skills utilized by the Blind.
An example of accessible technology is using a screen reader where the voices can be adjusted for speech rate, pitch change, and volume. With limited hearing, some users may still hear sounds, but special sounds like sound effects, background music, spatial sounds, etc., will not be helpful. If the game is utilizing text to speech to convey useful information, background music or decorative sounds may interfere with gameplay. Braille display support will also be helpful in gameplay, but may also slow down reading text, which means games that have a timer or require quick responses will not be accessible.
Helpful Design Suggestions
- All aspects of the gameplay should be supported by a screen reader that is keyboard or controller accessible.
- Ability to change sounds, increase/decrease screen reader speech rate, pitch, and ability to raise or lower speech sound should be implemented.
- Ability to designate mono sound as opposed to stereo should be implemented. Including an option to choose which speaker will play game sound and music is also helpful. Optimally, the player should have the option to hear the screen reader in one ear and gameplay in another.
- Ability to increase/decrease and/or activate/deactivate background music or sound effects should be implemented. To have a command or button to stop or start these sounds during gameplay is even more desirable.
- Spatial sounds will be difficult for users who have hearing loss, or the use of only one ear. Add an ability to have an extra input to replace special sound using haptic feedback on the controller, wrist, or the body.
- All screen reader feedback must also be displayed on the player's braille display.
Total Hearing Loss with Low Vision
Individuals with total hearing loss with low vision may see some of the game but will not hear it. Games that rely on sound for gameplay will not be accessible. If the game does not have good color contrast or large print, or have quick action motion, users may not be able to play. Low vision users may need the ability to have all text displayed in large print with high color contrast.
Helpful Design Suggestions
- All spoken words need to be displayed as text.
- Any meaningful sound that aids a player will also need a visual indication.
- If there is a certain object that needs to be indicated in a grouping, have a high color contrast pointer or a method to indicate the object. For example, when playing a football game, have a large arrow indicating the avatar with the ball.
- There should be ways to adjust color contrast and resize text and game objects. For example, resizing maps, indication bars, etc.
- Reduce clutter on screen. If a player has low vision, their ability to distinguish visual stimuli and keep track of information may be at a disadvantage. Use other methods to convey information, like controller vibration or haptic feedback.
Total Hearing and Vision Loss
Individuals with both total hearing and vision loss, as might seem evident, cannot see or hear. They may rely on American Sign Language in tactile format, or when interacting with technology, Braille displays. If there is no screen reader support that also supports Braille displays, there is no way for the total DeafBlind individual to interact with a video game. Games that rely on sound will not be useful due to the user's hearing loss. Games that require quick turnaround and fast action may not be feasible due to the slower reading speed most Braille readers read.
Helpful Design Suggestions
- All games must be supported via braille feedback, from starting screen to end screen, and all gameplay in between. The game must also have feedback clues on key elements that give the user competitive advantage.
- All sounds also must have an indicator that also can be displayed in Braille.
- Use haptic feedback when possible to reduce information clutter displayed via braille.
- The most accessible games will have to be turn-based, to give time for the player to read the messages, then press the right command for the next move.
- All text that is displayed must also be readable via Braille.
Accessible Game Ideas for the DeafBlind
It can be overwhelming to come up with a fully accessible video game that can be played by everyone. Granted, not all video games will ever be fully accessible due to specific concepts or the nature and sheer variety of games, but there are many out there right now that can be made accessible with some thought and feature fixes. Below are a few video game examples that can be made accessible.
Checkers or Chess
Checkers or Chess are a great example of turn-based video games that can be made accessible and enjoyed by everyone. Since this is a turn-based game, it gives each player time and control to read what is on the board, decide what to do, and then make a move. To make it accessible for DeafBlind players, all aspects of the game must be fully accessible with a screen reader that is also translated to Braille. Since both Checkers and Chess are laid out in a grid-like pattern, a screen reader can navigate a grid very easily. If there are labels for rows and columns calling out moves, any player will know which position is which. A DeafBlind player also can have a physical board next to them so they can feel physically the position of each game piece. There should be status messages that also announce when a player moves a piece and the outcome of said move. With these accessibility considerations in mind, the DeafBlind can easily play Checkers or Chess online.
Turn-based games
Any turn based game that can output to a braille display has the possibility of being fully accessible. This requires that other aspects of the game aren't inaccessible; for example, most traditional role-playing games have turn-based combat, but also require that the player navigate the game world in real time where audio cues would most likely be necessary for full access. Even with this taken into account, many turn-based games are candidates for accessibility. Most traditional games would be accessible if braille support is included, this could be anything from traditional card games to board games such as chess and monopoly.
Considering that the player must read all game information in braille, games that limit a player's turn based on time may make games less accessible. For example, the game Hearthstone, which we have discussed in the past for its accessibility for those who are blind or have low vision, would be accessible in regards to game output but may be difficult for some due to the limited time available to take turns.
Racing Games
Racing games can be difficult for a DeafBlind person to play, and tricky to make accessible. It is a good example of how substituting visual and auditory cues can make something accessible for the Blind or for the Deaf. For this situation to be made accessible for DeafBlind users, information must be conveyed in another format. Messages can be displayed on Braille displays, but haptic feedback can be used for different vibrations on the left or right side of a controller, for example. Since this is not a turn-based game, it relies on hand-to-eye coordination. In this case, it would be physical feedback-to-hand coordination for DeafBlind users.
Text Based Games
Before video games came to be as we know them, basic computers would have text-based games. In these games, all game information was provided through text and the player would type commands to interact with the game environment. There are (modern) text-based games today, and they can easily be made fully accessible for everyone: make sure proper systematic structure and headings are in place, that proper focus order is followed, and everything appears to a screen reader & braille display, and the game should be fully accessible in the majority of cases. In this case, no timing or quick action is required. No accessibility features need to be created, since those standards already exist and are commonplace.
Conclusion
With these considerations in mind, we can start thinking of more all-inclusive video games that everyone can play. Granted, there may be some limitations on how the game is played, creativity might be needed to make accessible adjustments. But the tradeoff is that everyone can play! Something made more accessible to some makes it more usable to all, regardless of if they have vision or hearing loss. Feel free to reach out to your local DeafBlind community and meet different individuals that have various degrees of vision and hearing loss, and learn how they interact with video games!
