Accessibility in Video Games

My personal journey

I've had a long relationship with video games, despite having a visual impairment. All the barriers I face are related to my low vision. My gaming journey started with the Super Nintendo, playing classics like Super Mario World and Donkey Kong. Back then, my sight was better, but it has deteriorated as I've gotten older. Now, gaming for me means sitting close to a big screen, relying heavily on trial and error to figure out where to go.

The first time I experienced any form of accessibility in gaming was with Assassin's Creed 2 on the PlayStation 3. This is a prime example of game design leading to accidental accessibility. Assassin's Creed is a third-person open-world action game, meaning the camera is positioned behind the character you control, allowing you to see the character's body and surroundings. In this game, a mechanic called 'Eagle Vision' allows the player to enter a state where the surroundings go dark, and points of interest, like targets, enemies, and interactable objects, are highlighted in bright colors. This was a game changer for me. Missions in Assassin's Creed often involve tracking down and 'assassinating' targets using the environment to get close to them undetected. With 'Eagle Vision,' I could highlight targets in bright white against a black background, eliminating the barrier of spotting the target and allowing me to enjoy this part of the game without any issues.

The game also featured another mechanic that inadvertently helped with accessibility. This mechanic allowed the player to lock onto a target by pressing a button, centering the target on the screen and having the camera automatically follow them as they moved. This made certain missions, where I had to follow or chase a target, much easier since I didn’t have to constantly focus on where the target was, just on moving my character.

Other games have also included mechanics that unintentionally improved accessibility. The Batman Arkham series had a Detective Mode similar to Eagle Vision, and the Grand Theft Auto games have long featured Auto-Aim, which automatically targets enemies. These features weren't originally designed as accessibility tools, but they paved the way for accessibility to become more mainstream. Nowadays, mechanics like Eagle Vision and Detective Mode fall under the High Contrast section of Vision Accessibility and are implemented more effectively. For example, The Last of Us games offer a High Contrast mode, and Marvel’s Spider-Man games let players fully customize the High Contrast mode by choosing different colors for enemy types, friends, interactable items, and collectibles. This customization is extremely beneficial for gamers with low vision, allowing them to tailor the display to their needs and remove barriers within the games.

However, these features alone don't make a game fully accessible for players with no useful sight at all. Blind gamers still face significant barriers and often can't play most games independently. For a long time, blind gamers could only play text-based games using screen readers. The first fully accessible game I encountered, and arguably the first made by a mainstream first-party studio, was The Last of Us Part 2. This game introduced two crucial features for totally blind gamers: a Screen Reader and a Navigational Assist feature.

Assistive technologies in gaming

A Screen Reader is straightforward—it reads out the menu options, allowing players to navigate game menus independently. The Last of Us Part 2 has one of the most comprehensive screen readers in any game. It reads the entire main menu, all subsequent menus, items in the player's inventory, crafting menus, and any artifacts, materials, and letters found in the game. This feature enables players to not only start the game independently but also customize it to their liking.

Navigation Assistance is a bit more complex. It helps blind gamers navigate the game world using audio cues and automatic camera adjustments. In The Last of Us Part 2, this feature works by using beacons coded into the game to guide the player from their current location to the objective. Pressing a button reorients the camera toward the nearest beacon, which emits a beep. When the player reaches the beacon, another beep indicates their arrival. This process is repeated until they reach their objective. Players can also change the beacon to point to the nearest enemy or item, allowing them to navigate the map and locate enemies and collectibles. The implementation of Navigation Assist has revolutionized accessibility for low vision and blind gamers, enabling them to independently navigate games that include this feature.

With the release of The Last of Us Part 2, Naughty Dog Studios demonstrated one of the most important principles behind effective accessibility design: integrating accessibility considerations throughout every stage of development. When accessibility is woven into the design process from the beginning, the resulting game is far more seamless and inclusive. On the other hand, adding accessibility features at the end of development or as an afterthought can lead to a less integrated and more cumbersome experience.

There are many games where it's clear that accessibility was not a priority from the start. One recent example is "Another Crab’s Treasure." This game took a very different approach to accessibility, and while some features do make the game more accessible, they also highlight some fundamental misconceptions about accessibility.

"Another Crab’s Treasure" is a 'Soulslike' RPG. The Soulslike genre, pioneered by FromSoftware with games like Demon’s Souls and Dark Souls, is known for its challenging gameplay. Players navigate through zones, defeat enemies, and progress from checkpoint to checkpoint. Killing enemies grants resources that can be used to improve stats like strength, defence, and health. At the end of each zone, a tough boss awaits. The catch is that if the player dies, they are sent back to the previous checkpoint and lose all the resources they gained. The difficulty of these games is a major selling point and a hot topic of debate among gamers.

The debate centers around whether Soulslike games are inherently inaccessible due to their difficulty and whether adding a lower difficulty mode would make them more inclusive for players with disabilities.

"Another Crab’s Treasure" attempts to address this by including accessibility options that make the player invincible, increase damage to enemies, prevent the loss of resources upon death, and even add a one-hit-kill feature. While these efforts are well-intentioned, I believe this approach is flawed. Lowering the difficulty and removing core features can make the game less engaging and, ultimately, boring.

A better approach is to provide 'Information Parity.' This concept involves delivering information through multiple senses, ensuring that all players have the same opportunities to respond to in-game events. For example, Ghost of Tsushima does this exceptionally well. In this game, you play as a samurai and engage in sword fights against multiple enemies. Different audio cues indicate when to block or dodge attacks, and audio cues also alert players to incoming arrows. These cues come in the form of enemies shouting warnings, giving players enough time to react.

In "Another Crab’s Treasure," instead of making the game easier and the player invincible, the developers could have included audio cues for dodging, parrying, and blocking, as well as audio cues indicating the direction of the next objective. With these audio and navigational aids, disabled players would be able to enjoy the game on equal footing with others, without the need to reduce the difficulty and compromise the experience.

Progress over the last 5 years

In the past five years, we've seen remarkable progress in game accessibility. Developers are increasingly aware of the need to include features that make games playable for everyone, regardless of their physical abilities. This shift has resulted in more inclusive gaming experiences, with titles like The Last of Us Part 2 and Ghost of Tsushima setting new standards for accessibility.

However, despite these advancements, there is still a long way to go. True progress can only be achieved through the direct involvement of disabled gamers. It's crucial for developers to engage with the disabled community, listening to their firsthand experiences and insights. This collaboration is essential because only those who live with disabilities can truly understand the challenges and needs they face in gaming.

Final thoughts

Disabled gamers need to share their experiences and make their voices heard. Their firsthand accounts are the most valuable resources developers can access to improve game accessibility. By involving disabled gamers in the design process from the very beginning, developers can ensure they are taking the right steps to create inclusive and enjoyable gaming experiences.

Ultimately, we are the experts of our own needs, and our input is crucial for developers to understand how to make their games accessible. By fostering a collaborative relationship with the disabled community, the gaming industry can continue to evolve and break down barriers, making gaming a more inclusive space for everyone.

Article by : Agon Klinaku Low Vision Analyst at the DAC.