Introduction
Video games are a staple of modern-day culture. They provide entertainment, connect communities, and foster shared experiences. When accessibility efforts are intentionally included throughout the entire gaming development process, more players can enjoy these experiences.
Consider the following scenario: You're a member of a new development team that wants to create experiences that are as accessible as possible for more players. Accessibility is an established core priority, but your team has little experience in the game accessibility space. They're unsure where to start. They want an approachable way to establish a foundational knowledge of accessible game, platform, and hardware development.
Your team wants to understand the following concepts:
- How can they approach game play and development through accessibility?
- What are the unintentional barriers to access? How do common game elements introduce these barriers to players?
- How do game play experiences differ among players with different and similar disabilities?
In this module, you're introduced to foundational concepts about game accessibility. Specifically, this module focuses on vision, audio, cognition, and input-related aspects of game accessibility to build your foundational knowledge.
Note
Vision, hearing, cognitive, and mobility-based elements are addressed in this introductory module. Many other game elements also affect accessibility.
These elements are related to:
- Speech and communication
- Sensory demands
- Mental health and more
For more information about these player experiences, see the summary and resources unit of this module.
Learning objectives
After you complete this module, you'll be able to:
- Discuss the relationship between vision, audio, cognition, and input and gaming.
- Identify common visual, hearing, cognitive, and input-based elements within gaming experiences that can introduce unintentional barriers for players.
- Describe the concept of diverse player experiences and the importance of considering these experiences in gaming accessibility.