Address resource and timeline considerations

Completed

The developer in the introductory scenario didn't engage the disability community during the development process. The developer might be unsure of where to start, or have concerns about launch timelines and bandwidth.

In this unit, learn foundational concepts for community engagement that address these concerns. These concepts include:

• Approaches that can streamline disability feedback into existing feedback loops.
• The importance of engaging diverse users and perspectives.
• Potential ways to gather feedback regardless of where your team is in the development cycle.

Embed accessibility feedback into existing feedback processes

If your team is new to accessibility, gathering disability perspectives might seem overwhelming but it doesn't have to be. Think about the standard processes that your team or organization follows when gathering general user feedback or conducting user research outside accessibility.

For example, your team might already send surveys, conduct regular research studies, or run play tests for all products in development. If so, one way to begin gathering disability feedback without creating entirely new processes or programs is simply ensuring that players with disabilities are included in these existing participant pools.

Note

We recommend partnering with your user research team for these engagements if possible. These teams have training and expertise in how to pose meaningful questions and analyze data. If you don't have user research resources available, you can still explore efforts to embed accessibility perspectives into feedback loops.

Include diverse users and perspectives

Before you get started, you might have questions like:

• "How many players with disabilities should be included in a feedback session?"
• "How do I know that the feedback from one player represents the feedback of other players with similar disabilities?"

Although there's no definitive answer or guideline, it's important to note that the experience of one player with a disability can widely differ from another.

Consider including a diverse set of users and perspectives. For example, if you're looking for feedback on the visual accessibility of your game's UI, you should consider feedback from multiple players who have different types of visual disabilities.

Gather feedback across development timelines

It's also important to remember that accessibility feedback can, and should, be gathered throughout all points of the development process. This collaboration ideally starts with planning and goal-setting stages. When you consider accessibility from the beginning, you avoid situations where accessibility features are added as last-minute efforts.

Last-minute efforts to implement accessibility solutions aren't effectively integrated within a game's design. They're unlikely to provide players with the same support and effectiveness that you achieve when you prioritize accessibility consistently from start to finish.

The following information outlines potential ways to gather feedback at various points in development:

• Pre-development: Even if your team has yet to begin formal planning or development, there are still opportunities to engage the disability community. Consider using this time to gather foundational insights from players about barriers they experienced in the past while playing other games of similar genres to what your team develops. An awareness of these barriers before development can help you avoid introducing them in your game altogether.

• Early planning and goal setting: After you establish early planning and goals, use this information to source feedback. Players can improve accessible development by identifying potential barriers that the anticipated settings, mechanics, and other design elements might pose. They can also provide valuable feedback on your proposed accessibility goals and your plans to achieve them.

• Prototype testing: After working prototypes or game builds are available, consider providing hands-on opportunities for players to provide feedback through play tests or user research studies. These hands-on interactions are crucial to informing suggestions for improvement within the context of your specific game.

  As the experience or device goes through reiteration, continue to involve players with disabilities in testing. This involvement can ensure that future design iterations continue to provide effective and usable solutions for these players.

  Important

  It can be tempting to wait until playable prototypes are available to begin engaging the community. However, it's important to think about all of the potential barriers that these players identified in earlier development stages. Without this feedback, your team might include inaccessible experiences in the prototype that they were unaware of.

  At this point in development, it might be too late to tackle a long list of identified issues that cause inaccessible experiences at launch. Collaboration throughout development can reduce the chances that major barriers to access will appear in a prototype.

Check your knowledge

1.

There's a common misconception that gathering disability feedback requires a significant amount of resources and funding. How can teams with limited resources include perspectives from the disability community without the creation of extra programs or workstreams?

Assess existing feedback mechanisms and ensure that players with disabilities are represented in participant pools.

Generate the feedback data by analyzing online articles and forum posts written about players with disabilities.

Replace collaborative feedback sessions by consulting with a single subject matter expert. They can speak to the experiences of all players with disabilities to cut costs and save time.

2.

Your team is set to begin early planning and development of a new platform game. The team hopes to consult with the disability community as soon as possible despite not having any formal design plans or accessibility goals. How can your team collaborate with the disability community at this early point in product development?

Your team can identify players with disabilities at this preliminary stage to ensure that these players are available after the team has a testable prototype.

Your team can delay collaboration initiatives with the disability community for now, because they don't have any meaningful information to share with the community about the desired outcome of their new game.

Your team can gather foundational insights on the players' experiences by asking about existing products or experiences that contain similar game elements and mechanics.

You must answer all questions before checking your work.