[games_access] Query about font size for subtitles in games

[Barrie Ellis]

Hello Carme,

Obviously with fonts, resizable is the ultimate, but of course this isn't always practicable to provide within a game. So hopefully this will help too:

http://www.rnib.org.uk/professionals/accessibleinformation/text/Pages/fonts.aspx  - some basic guidance for fonts in general from the RNIB (Royal National Institute for the Blind - UK).

and this might be of help from the BBC: http://www.bbc.co.uk/guidelines/futuremedia/accessibility/games.shtml 

Cribbed below:

Making games accessible to players with vision related disabilities means avoiding reliance on colour or small text and considering the size of icons and text.

4.1 You MUST comply fully with the Use of Colour and Colour-Contrast standard (http://www.bbc.co.uk/guidelines/futuremedia/accessibility/colour_contrast.shtml). In particular:

4.1.1 You MUST ensure that all colour contrast registers as AA via this tool: snook.ca (http://snook.ca/technical/colour_contrast/colour.html); this is essential for all text, icons and critical gameplay elements.

4.1.2 You MUST NOT convey key information by colour alone. Colour MAY be used only to reinforce other methods, for example use a green tick rather than just the colour green to signify a correct answer.

4.1.3 You MUST NOT convey key information by reference to colour, for example 'click on the red button to continue'.

4.2 If using a technology that does not take into account browser font preferences, such as Flash or Unity, text MUST be at least 13px (13pt in Flash).


And personally, I'm a big fan of colour-coding text to link to characters (something teletext subtitles did in the UK for many year on the 888 service), but bear in mind legibility and colour-blindness issues. If it helps, a small photo/icon to denote who/what is speaking can aid comprehension further still as can arrows / speech bubbles etc.

Best wishes

Barrie
www.OneSwitch.org.uk

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From: "Carme Mangiron" <cmangiron at gmail.com>
Sent: Thursday, April 28, 2011 12:42 PM
To: "IGDA Games Accessibility SIG Mailing List" <games_access at igda.org>
Subject: [games_access] Query about font size for subtitles in games

> Hello everybody,
> 
> I'm currently doing some research on  game subtitling practices and 
> accessibility related issues for deaf and hard of hearing players and I 
> am trying to find information about the font size(s) that is/are more 
> commonly used and also if there is any information about what font size 
> would be recommended.
> 
> I know that in some cases te font is usually too small and hard to read, 
> especially on standard definition TV sets, but I would like to have some 
> more concrete data. What would be a font size that is used and is 
> difficult to read? What font size would be recommended? Those of you who 
> design games, what font do you usually use for subtiles for cutscenes 
> and in-game dialogue?
> 
> Any information would be really helpful.
> 
> Many thanks in advance,
> 
> Carmen
> _______________________________________________
> games_access mailing list
> games_access at igda.org
> http://seven.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/games_access
> The main SIG website page is http://igda-gasig.org
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