Implement best practice etiquette
After you've established a way to engage with members of the disability community, start inviting these community members to provide accessibility feedback. Shortly after, you can start hosting these collaborative sessions online or at your studio.
This unit provides best practices that you can follow throughout the processes of invitation and active collaboration. These best practices can help ensure that the players you work with have an accessible and enjoyable experience.
Set clear participant expectations
Potential participants need detailed information on what they can expect before the research study or collaborative session. Provide this information ahead of time to help ensure that a player can make an informed decision on their ability or willingness to work with your team.
The following video outlines the key information that you should include in invitations. It also gives insights on the importance of providing this information.
Provide accessible accommodations
Ensuring that participants can access the physical space, hardware, virtual meeting platforms, and surveys in feedback sessions is another critical part of partnering with the disability community.
Physical spaces
For in-person sessions, the physical spaces that participants use must be accessible. Questions to consider when you're assessing the accessibility of your study or play test location include:
- Are all pathways between the parking lot and the building accessible?
- Are all entrances of buildings accessible for wheelchair users?
- Are participants required to use stairs or elevators?
- Are restrooms accessible?
- Are the rooms that you're using for the study accessible and comfortable for participants? For example, a wheelchair user might have trouble maneuvering in a small conference room that has minimal space around the table and chairs.
Tip
Give participants an opportunity to request more accommodations before agreeing to the collaborative session if needed.
Online platforms
Ensure that any virtual meeting platforms, survey platforms, and forms are accessible. For example, participants who are d/Deaf or hard of hearing might need live transcription of what's being said in the meeting. If the virtual meeting platform doesn't provide that capability, that participant is unable to participate.
Make sure that online documents and survey platforms comply with WCAG 2.1 web accessibility standards. Example considerations include:
- Is all text in a survey accessible for people who use a screen reader?
- Do the images provide proper alternative text (alt text) descriptions?
- Can users who are using only a keyboard for the survey access all mechanisms and question types?
Note
Common inaccessible survey mechanisms include questions where participants are asked to drag and drop elements to rank a list of items, along with dropdown lists.
Follow best practices for language and disability etiquette
Language and actions that a participant doesn't welcome can negatively affect their experience. High-level guidance includes:
Use inclusive language: Microsoft recommends person-first language such as "a person with a visual disability." This language differs from identity-first language, in which someone might be described as "a visually impaired person."
Some people prefer to use identity-first language to describe themselves, such as "I'm an autistic person" or "I'm a d/Deaf person." If you're not sure which language to use, it's OK to ask.
Practice inclusive etiquette: Speak directly to the person you're talking to. Individuals might have a sign-language interpreter accompanying them. It's important to speak directly to the individual and not the interpreter.
Ask before doing. Individuals might have assistive tools such as wheelchairs, canes, guide dogs, or hardware. Ask participants if they need assistance before you touch any of these tools.