#GAConf Celebrates Progress Toward Accessible Gaming

Inclusive video games are in! Accessibility in video gamesis attracting attention from developers ranging from tiny indie companies tobehemoths like Microsoft’s Xbox.

This cheery takeaway was just one message of #GAConf, the first-ever IGDA Game Accessibility SIG (specialinterest group) conference, on February 27 in San Francisco. If they’d tried tohave a conference on creating inclusive, accessible games two years ago, “Itwould probably have been just the two of us,” conference organizer Tara Voelkertold the diverse crowd of about 80, mostly game developers with a sprinkling ofgamers and accessibility advocates.

Her co-organizer, Ian Hamilton, opened the day with a strongstatement about why inclusiveness—and a focus on accessibility—matters. “Amedical condition is not a disability,” Hamilton said. “A wheelchair isassistive technology,” not a marker of disability. The disability is created bya barrier. Commenting on a photo of a wheelchair user next to a flight ofstairs, Hamilton emphasized his point: The person is “disabled” by the steps,which are a manufactured barrier. Hamilton then pointed out that gaming issimilar, in that many of the barriers that prevent some would-be players fromparticipating are created—and can be removed or avoided—by game designers anddevelopers.

Why should people care about avoiding those barriers?Several speakers mentioned the size of the potential market—about 22 percent ofthe adult population has at least one disability, according to some measures;the number is larger if barriers like color blindness, low literacy, andtemporary or situational barriers are considered. But nearly all the presentersfocused more on a philosophical approach: Creating inclusive games is the rightthing to do.

Conceding that the idealistic argument doesn’t win over manypotential funders, some speakers described the feedback and media attentiontheir inclusive games have garnered. For example, when “Hue”—a game that isentirely about color—released a version in August 2016 that color-blind playerscould access, Hamilton said, nearly every review highlighted that fact—eventhough the feature was mentioned only in a single bullet point in the pressrelease.

Bryce Johnson, an Xbox designer, took pains to emphasizethat removing barriers does not mean simplifying a game or making it lesschallenging. “Friction can be a barrier,” he acknowledged, but “challenge iswhy we play games.”

Johnson said that “great games don’t remove friction; theyhave the best friction in the best possible places.” He explained that lookingat potential barriers as “variables” that can be adjusted to increase ordecrease “friction” can also increase or decrease the difficulty level for allplayers.

For example, a key area where players encounter accessissues is brightness and contrast. “Contrast and brightness are peanut butterand jelly,” he said, explaining that these aspects “go together” and aresomething that players often request control over. Allowing all players toadjust brightness can factor into the difficulty level of gameplay.

Common themes

Conference sessions addressed various aspects ofinclusiveness in creating games: appealing to older gamers; performing qualitycontrol on games for children; best practices for subtitling games; includinglow-vision or blind players by improving game audio. In all of these talks, fivecommon themes emerged:

• “Adjust the interface, not the challenge.” Thismantra, from Bob De Schutter’s talk about encouraging older players’ interestin gaming, applies across the board. Gamers, even those who have disabilities,don’t want the games to be easier or to reduce other gamers’ experience.Instead, they want to be able to participate in that experience. If developersmake games usable to a broader range of gamers, the players will persist untilthey master the challenge.
• If you do it right, no one notices,according to Brian Van Buren, whose talk about accessibility and virtualreality underscored the value of universal design. Features that might be added as a way to reduce barriers to playmight not be regarded as “accessibility” features; they are just cool featuresof the game. Van Buren also emphasized that the possibilities of VR games letdesigners create an environment that is better than reality, where players have“superpowers” that they can use to avoid or mitigate barriers.
• Plan ahead. Several speakers sharedexperiences of trying to retrofit games or “fix” barriers; anticipating anddesigning for inclusiveness is more efficient and more likely to succeed thantrying to tweak a completed or nearly completed game. “Almost any game can bemade accessible to the blind,” said accessibility advocate and blind gamerBrandon Cole. “It has to be done early, but it can be done.”
• Bring in gamers frequently—and early—to test.In a similar vein to planning inclusiveness from the design phase, user testingis not something to leave until late in development. Bring in users to testearly, and include gamers with a large variety of disabilities. While it mightbe possible to “fake” some barriers to access, a sighted or hearing developercan never mimic the experience of a blind or deaf player. Watching peopleinteract with the games provides invaluable insight, according to speakersSiobhán Thomas and Nathan Fouts.
• Toot your own horn. Once you’vedemolished barriers to access and created an inclusive game that is accessible,tell people. Announcing accessible features to players of Evolve generated a lot of positive feedback, according to Voelker,and led to a half-hour livestreamed conversation on accessibility. Which—youguessed it—led to more feedback, more positive attention, and additionalimprovements.

No longer “preaching to the choir”

Voelker was pleased with the attendance at the conference.She said the number of participants shows that accessibility advocates are“past the point of preaching to the choir” and are now reaching people who arenot already committed to and “doing” inclusiveness. “We’re almost at thetipping point” where it’s no longer necessary to tell people why theyneed to create accessible games, and the Game Accessibility SIG can move on toexplaining what it means to be inclusive and how to do it, she said.