Cognitive accessibility fundamentals
As discussed in our model of how games are played, players use information provided by the game through sensory channels to inform their next steps. Players can also experience unintentional barriers during this decision-making progress.
In this unit, learn about the relationship between cognition and gaming. You also learn how to identify unintentional barriers that might be in common game elements and how they can negatively affect player experiences.
Cognition and gaming
After players receive information provided by the game, they must then decide how they want to use this information to proceed. Players might need to:
- Maintain close attention to the cues and information the game provides to ensure no key information is missed.
- Memorize this information over prolonged periods of time, such as throughout the course of a mission or in between play periods.
- Recall memorized information to assess what the information implies in the context of the task or objective at hand.
These cognitive processes might be more difficult for players with learning, attention, or memory-related disabilities. When accessibility supports and features that address these cognitive demands aren't provided, these players can experience unintentional barriers.
In the following video, learn how to identify common cognitive elements that can pose these barriers.
Important
The concept of cognitive accessibility is complex. It involves a broader scope of functional tasks and accessibility considerations than those introduced in this module. The concepts introduced in this module serve as a starting point for building your cognitive accessibility subject matter expertise.
Cognition and disability
Cognition is another area influenced by many factors. The primary aspects of cognition discussed in this module include how to:
- Maintain attention to game information provided despite the presence of distraction.
- Memorize information provided by games to inform future actions.
- Assess all information provided to make the correct decision on how to proceed in the game.
Cognitive, learning, or other disabilities that contribute to a player's ability to perform the actions previously mentioned can affect player experiences in different ways.
Situational circumstances like being tired, stressed, or sick while gaming can also make it difficult to maintain attention, memorize and recall information, and make appropriate decisions for next steps.
Consult with an array of players with cognitive disabilities to inform effective solutions that address each of these unique experiences.
Attention and gaming
A range of sensory stimuli can affect attention. For example, some individuals can easily ignore an incoming text notification on their phone while they play. But other players might find it difficult to sustain attention with environmental and in-game distractions.
Players with disabilities that affect attention might experience barriers when gaming experiences include lots of visual and audio stimuli. These stimuli can be notifications from the game or platform, animated backgrounds behind the text, and "loud" or "busy" user interfaces.
In general, the following supports can help players eliminate distractions that can detract from game experiences:
- The ability to customize or disable background animations or moving content that appears onscreen as players attempt to read static text
- The ability to adjust the length and presence of notifications
Memory and gaming
Navigating through gaming experiences often requires players to recall past information to inform future decisions. This information can include things like the control scheme for the game, events that happened in the storyline, and important locations in the game and how to get to them.
In general, the following supports can help decrease the cognitive demands placed on players to memorize and recall important game information:
- A list of past and current objective tasks that can be referenced at any time
- A way to reference the game's control scheme
- A means of freely practicing these controls in an isolated environment
- Maps, waypoint markers, and other directional supports that eliminate the need for players to recall important game locations and how to find them
Learning, cognitive processing, and gaming
Players are often given complex objectives or tasks that gate progress until they're solved. The way to complete some of these tasks might be easily understood. Other solutions can require players to piece together subtle cues from the game that aren't clearly obvious.
For example, let's say a player meets a locked door that blocks the entrance to the game's next level. Despite circling around for a long time, the player can't determine what's needed to unlock the door.
The game might have provided subtle cues that led up to this experience, like the presence of a random altar in a previous game area. Ideally, the player was supposed to have placed a gem they received on the altar as they passed it so that the door unlocked when they approached.
Unfortunately, the player was unable to deduce this information. As a result, they were blocked from moving forward. In these types of situations, general approaches that can support players include:
- The option to enable hints when the game senses a player is stuck.
- The ability to bypass certain types of challenges if they can't be unlocked.
- Providing the references outlined in the previous section, like objective logs, maps, and a list of collected items, so players have opportunities to review what's happened to improve their chances of piecing together the information.