[games_access] Accessible Menus

[Eleanor Robinson]

In addition, If the game is computer based, make sure the menus are 
accessible to screen readers .  If a menu is in a Dbox structure, it is 
not accessible to screen readers.  They can just see the title of the Dbox.

Eleanor Robinson
7-128 Software

On 6/26/2012 4:45 PM, Barrie Ellis wrote:

> Really good points on watering down, and also issues on overly complex 

> menus. I'd love to see some deeper guidance written up to help people 

> with menus. I get the feeling that a lot of people hate creating menus 

> for games, so some good guidance would help a lot. A few wishes...

> 1. The menu can be navigated using the gameplay controls. Nothing 

> extra needed.

> 2. Option to have a simplified menu system. (Not seen much evidence of 

> this, but SAAB did with a "Night Panel" button, and I remember 

> removing the ability to quit).

> 3. Icons/symbols to represent key options (avoid pure text).

> 4. Spoken menus option.

> 5. Digital controls a possibility.

> 6. Alternative controller access to menus.

> Something a number of players have issues with is in starting games, 

> getting lost in menus and quitting accidentally. Always good to give 

> people protection from this when possible. Especially with one-switch 

> games from experience.

> Barrie

>

> *From:* Ian Hamilton <mailto:i_h at hotmail.com>

> *Sent:* Tuesday, June 26, 2012 12:05 PM

> *To:* games_access at igda.org <mailto:games_access at igda.org>

> *Subject:* Re: [games_access] Game Accessibility - How to we get 

> there?(Dimitris Grammenos)

>

> Elusive business case - it's immensely simple to achieve. Record the 

> cost of feature development, attach analytics to features, compare 

> cost of development to usage and player value. Obviously it only 

> applies to features that are controlled by options and only apples to 

> features that have a significant impact on being able to play, but if 

> all of us push for them in any games work we're associated with then 

> we'll get some useful aggregate data pretty quickly.

>

>

> Every one of those things (tracking costs, analytics, player value) is 

> already standard practice.

>

>

> Homogenizing and watering down - Dimitris, I've dropped you an email 

> separately about having a proper chat as I've been putting your 

> universally accessible game design principled into practice 

> (referenced here: 

> http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/bbcinternet/2011/10/something_special_makaton_out_about_universal.html ). 

> I'm not permitted to share stats unfortunately but the end result 

> produced some really quite astonishing statistics proving conclusively 

> that the addition of the options produced something that was massively 

> more popular for the entire audience, rather than diluting it.

>

>

> There is a balance to be had between number of options and complexity 

> of interface (presets / advanced helps greatly with this), but in 

> general it just means providing a means to remove barriers that cause 

> difficultly for a great many people, disabled or otherwise, and not 

> removing fun or gameplay.

>

>

> > Message: 2

> > Date: Tue, 26 Jun 2012 12:25:39 +0300

> > From: "Dimitris Grammenos" <gramenos at ics.forth.gr>

> > Subject: Re: [games_access] Game Accessibility - How to we get there?

> > To: "'IGDA Games Accessibility SIG Mailing List'"

> > <games_access at igda.org>

> > Message-ID: <001b01cd537d$a7ef55f0$f7ce01d0$@ics.forth.gr>

> > Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"

> >

> > First of all let me express my great pleasure of seeing such a vivid

> > conversation taking place again in our list!

> >

> > Now, I'll try to be brief - honestly.

> >

> > 1) Standardising information and symbols related to accessibility is 

> a good

> > thing - But I think using the wheelchair icon is a little bit 

> misleading, as

> > well as not very "sexy" from a marketing point of you. Why not using a

> > symbol that focuses on the fact that this game has extra 

> capabilities - use

> > a highly positive sign? E.g. have you seen all those labels on food 

> products

> > that have extra vitamins, minerals, etc? They are full of colorful plus

> > signs. I think accessibility capabilities should be advertised 

> similarly.

> > For example, you have "Football game" and "Football game++". The 

> notion is

> > that you get more for what you pay. "Play anyway you like" - I guess 

> you get

> > the idea. Else, game developers might be afraid that buyers will wrongly

> > perceive that their game is targeted to people with specific 

> disabilities.

> >

> > 2) In this respect, I agree with Richard's approach, that if we want to

> > "mainstream" accessibility then we need to see it from a game

> > features/capabilities perspective and not from a disabilities point 

> of view.

> > I believe for example that many people would like to know if a game 

> can be

> > played using an alternative controller, if it supports scalable 

> difficulty,

> > subtitles, etc.

> >

> > 3) I don't believe that legislation is the answer to game accessibility.

> > Obviously, finding that "elusive" business case would be the best. 

> So, one

> > thing we can do, and now it seems that we are many, we can try to 

> look for

> > it, or collaboratively build it up.

> >

> > 4) Ablegames and Gamebase are already doing a great job regarding game

> > reviews. I do not know if it would be possible to access mainstream game

> > magazines and offer to write for them a condensed version of your

> > accessibility reviews using less disability-oriented terminology, so 

> that

> > gradually accessibility gets mainstream in practice, but most 

> importantly

> > becomes integral part of their readers' "game culture".

> >

> > 5) It seems that there is a fundamental misunderstanding among people in

> > this list that game accessibility is about "homogenizing", "watering 

> down",

> > "lowest common denominators", etc. This - to some extent - may be 

> true for

> > the "real world" due to physical constraints, but in the digital 

> world it is

> > the exact opposite. Game accessibility is about freedom, diversity and

> > multiplicity of choices. It is about playing a game the way you like and

> > prefer, not about everyone playing the game exactly the same way 

> (what is

> > the current situation). It is about adapting to the player. So, 

> unless this

> > is completely made clear, then just like in our list, people who are 

> fully

> > supporting game accessibility, maybe skeptical about the extent to 

> which it

> > can and should be pursued. If you have some time you can have a look at

> > these:

> > - Unified Design of Universally Accessible Games (Say What?). URL:

> > http://www.gamasutra.com/features/20061207/grammenos_01.shtml

> > - The Theory of Parallel Game Universes: A Paradigm Shift in Multiplayer

> > Gaming and Game Accessibility. URL:

> > http://www.gamasutra.com/features/20060817/grammenos_01.shtml

> > - Universally Accessible Games & Parallel Game Universes" (206 

> slides) PDF

> > format(15MB)

> > 

> http://www.ics.forth.gr/hci/ua-games/docs/DGrammenos_Universally_Accessible_

> > Games_and_Parallel_Game_Universes.pdf

> >

> >

> > I'll be back for more :-)

> >

> > Dimitris

> >

>

> ------------------------------------------------------------------------

> _______________________________________________

> 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

>

>

> _______________________________________________

> 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

>

>

> No virus found in this message.

> Checked by AVG - www.avg.com <http://www.avg.com>

> Version: 2012.0.2180 / Virus Database: 2437/5096 - Release Date: 06/27/12

>


-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://seven.pairlist.net/pipermail/games_access/attachments/20120627/0e7d8c5f/attachment.htm>