[games_access] Query about font size for subtitles in games

[Carme Mangiron]

Thanks a million, Barrie, Tara and Sandra for your e-mails and really 
useful information. I will definitely include all this in my research.

Thanks again!

Carme

On 28/04/2011 18:44, Barrie Ellis wrote:
> 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 <http://www.OneSwitch.org.uk>
>
> --------------------------------------------------
> 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

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <https://pairlist7.pair.net/pipermail/games_access/attachments/20110428/9887cbd3/attachment.htm>