[games_access] Future Play Poster 2006 and Top 10 List

Thu Sep 7 19:32:14 EDT 2006

Hi,

I think I was one of the people who said the list might benifit if we did an 
update and Eelke (Folmer) critisized the list during his Brighton 
presentation as well. The thing with it was that some things, but especially 
the audio guideline, were a bit too vague for a developer to really do 
something with (the sentence vs. a practical implementation). Actually I 
agree more with the top 10 list now than a year ago but I think we can still 
aprove it here and there. I personally would like to experiment a bit with 
Eelke's design patterns (see: 
http://www.eelke.com/research/IDP/accessibility.html ) and the top 10 list. 
The design pattern list consists of 6 points, which all relate to point in
the original top 10 list:

1. Allow all controls to be remapped >> 
http://eelke.com/wiki/index.php?Reconfigurable%20Buttons
2. Add closed-captioning to all dialog and important sound effects >> closed 
captions =  http://eelke.com/wiki/index.php?Closed%20Captioning
4. Provide assist modes such as auto-targeting, training options, etc. >> 
assist mode = http://eelke.com/wiki/index.php?Assist%20Mode
5. Provide a broad range of difficulty levels. >> adaptive difficulty level 
= http://eelke.com/wiki/index.php?Adaptive%20Difficulty%20Level
9. Allow for a varied range of control over play speed. >> slow = 
http://eelke.com/wiki/index.php?Slow

Eelke also had tutorial agent:
http://eelke.com/wiki/index.php?Tutorial%20Agent , which leaves:

3. Provide documentation in an accessible format such as HTML or plain text
6. Make interface fonts scalable.
7. Allow for high-contrast color-schemes.
8. Add audio tags to all significant elements including actors, doors, 
items, resulting actions, etc.
10. Announce accessibility features on the packaging.

I agree with every point above, except with point 8 since I don't believe 
that simply "adding audio tags" will make a game more accessible for the 
blind (which is how I interpreted this point). I guess point 1,2,4,5 and 9 
might make an excellent top 5. But compare point 7 next to this:

x. Allow for alternative color- and contrast schemes.

With the recent commotion about accessibility for color blind gamers 
(Rockstar's Table Tennis  - see www.game-accessibility.com) I guess that a 
guideline concerning colorblindess should definitely be in the top 10 
(quote: "Color blindness certainly isn't the only or the most problematic 
disability preventing people from getting enjoyment out of games, although 
it is possibly THE MOST WIDESPREAD.") .

And point 6:

x. Make the game scalable

Why only "interface fonts"? And what are interface fonts actually? Text in 
the head-up display (HUD)? Does this include all fonts (including the menu's 
and credits) or just the text during gameplay? And why not the icons in WoW?

I guess point 3 and 10 are kind of on the same level - it's the stuff 
*outside* of the game. Maybe it is possible to merge that into one point? I 
personally think the current point 10 doesn't really make a game more 
accessible and it is on a completely different level than the other 
points... although of course it would help our cause a great deal ;)

I would definately *NOT* refer to the top 10 list as a "list of guidelines" 
because using that term might open up a great deal of discussion. Instead I 
would refer to it as a Top 10 List of Things That Make Your Game More 
Accessible. What do we call it now by the way? Not guidelines, right? Just 
"The Top 10 List...".... ;) grin :) ???
And there should be a place somewhere (on the web > SIG-website + 
Game-Accessibility.com) where these guidelines are explained in detail so 
there is no room for interpretation (like there is now) - preferably with 
examples... (and I prefer the design pattern format above a W3C-like format 
like 'the other' guidelines although I'm open to any format anyone might 
think of).

K... gotta go to sleep now, this was just a first, hope we can conitnue this 
issue...

Oh, and I'd be happy to work on some artwork, including handout- and poster 
design if you want, Kevin...

Greets,

Richard

http://www.audiogames.net

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Reid Kimball" <rkimball at gmail.com>
To: "IGDA Games Accessibility SIG Mailing List" <games_access at igda.org>
Sent: Thursday, September 07, 2006 5:13 PM
Subject: Re: [games_access] Future Play Poster 2006 and Top 10 List

> The only thing that seems general to me is "Training options" and
> "broad range of difficulty levels".
>
> Is the term "Audio tags" merely to mean add sound effects for all the
> events of doors opening, etc?
>
> Other than that, the list is clear to me, but maybe I'm not the best
> judge being entrenched in this stuff for so long.
>
> -Reid
>
> On 9/6/06, Kevin J. Bierre <kjb at it.rit.edu> wrote:
>> I guess we're out of luck as far as a meeting goes. Based on prior email,
>> I thought there was one today.
>>
>> Since I have to get started on this poster for Future Play 2006, I'll
>> kick things off here on the list instead.
>>
>> I was planning to have the top 10 list as part of the poster. A comment
>> was made about updating the list (sorry, don't remember who said it)
>> because some of the advice was rather general. Any comments from others
>> about updating our top 10?
>>
>> Here's the current list:
>>
>> GA SIG Top 10 List
>> 1. Allow all controls to be remapped
>> 2. Add closed-captioning to all dialog and important sound effects
>> 3. Provide documentation in an accessible format such as HTML or plain
>> text
>> 4. Provide assist modes such as auto-targeting, training options, etc.
>> 5. Provide a broad range of difficulty levels.
>> 6. Make interface fonts scalable.
>> 7. Allow for high-contrast color-schemes.
>> 8. Add audio tags to all significant elements including actors, doors,
>> items, resulting actions, etc.
>> 9. Allow for a varied range of control over play speed.
>> 10. Announce accessibility features on the packaging.
>>
>> Kevin Bierre,  Assistant Professor
>> (kjb at it.rit.edu)
>> Information Technology,  Rochester Institute of Technology
>> 585-475-5358
>> 102 Lomb Memorial Drive
>> Bldg 70B-2637
>> Rochester, NY 14623
>>
>>
>> _______________________________________________
>> games_access mailing list
>> games_access at igda.org
>> http://seven.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/games_access
>>
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