Accessibility in gaming is a “must”

Kellie Dingwall is one of a growing number of visually impaired people taking up online gaming.

“One of my best friends and I became closer through playing online games, and it became a weekly activity,” she told BBC Scotland.

“It’s now a small community of blind players.”

Video game studios are increasingly thinking about issues like vision loss and motor skills problems as they open up games to a whole new audience.

Disabled gamers have highlighted a cultural shift in game development, with features now being built in “from the start”.

Kellie explains that changes can be as simple as increasing the size of writing on the screen for people with partial vision loss or providing better colour contrast options.

Other games have more personalized elements.

“The other day I discovered a game that allowed me to use text-to-speech and read out letters or options in conversations, for example,” Kellie said.

Despite the move toward accessibility, Kellie says she can be hesitant when trying new games.

“I tend to read reviews before I buy,” she said.

“I generally prefer not to pre-order games because I don’t know what the accessibility features will look like.”

James Kyle, who works for RNIB Scotland, runs a playgroup for visually impaired people like himself.

“There is no reason why blind people should be left behind,” he said.

One of the styles of gameplay it promotes is audio gaming, where players wear headphones and navigate a 3D audio world, guided by sound effects and audio descriptions.

James said his blind user playgroup included people from Scotland, Northern Ireland, England and other parts of the world.

Video game development is estimated to be worth £350 million a year to the Scottish economy, and developers are becoming more aware of their markets.

Dundee has a long association with games development and Abertay University within the city says ensuring accessibility is at the heart of what it teaches.

Dr Lynsay Shepherd from the university said: “Disabled gamers have been left behind for too long.

“Steps must be taken to ensure that everyone can enjoy the pleasure of playing games.”

She said accessibility was “instilled” in students from day one.

“We make sure that all of that is discussed throughout the process, as well as the challenges that arise as well,” she said.

Dr Shepherd says growth in accessibility has been “massive” in recent years, and she believes eye tracking for people with physical limitations could be the next area of ​​focus.

“Webcams on laptops have become very high quality,” she said.

“They can be used to capture eyes to control the machine, and this can be integrated into games.

“It’s going to become much more accessible to a wider range of people very soon.”

Opening up the gaming market to people with complex physical needs is also being considered in Dundee.

Konglomerate Games has designed a game to help young people with cystic fibrosis.

It uses the player’s breath to control mini-games, such as shooting darts at balloons.

The idea is that they have fun while performing the necessary breathing exercises.

“We’re trying to bring games to people with different disabilities or conditions, so they can improve their lives,” said CEO Jamie Bankhead.

“The market is huge. If kids can play games and get something beneficial out of it, that’s great.”

Mr Bankhead said developers needed to be aware of people’s motor abilities and consider whether physically holding a controller might be off-putting or whether its vibrations might be uncomfortable.

He said accessibility features were “becoming more and more of a must-have, not just a nice-to-have.”

“People are starting to actively refuse to play games that don’t have the bare minimum and this is only going to become more prevalent across all games,” he said.