scapism – the ability to forget about the ordinary or unpleasant realities of life in favor of a preferable experience – is considered one of the chief reasons gamers indulge in their hobby. The longing to encounter things unobtainable in real life is hard to ignore once your imagination has been unleashed for the first time. In the virtual realm, we can be who we want despite real-world limitations. We can defy the laws of physics and ignore the technological confines of our greater culture. We can create new universes, new worlds and new life. We can make the rules and mold societies to follow our philosophies. In the world of video games, nothing is impossible. Escaping for even a minimal amount of time through a digital experience can engage our imagination, elevate our moods and chase away the mundane realities of everyday life. Sounds good, right?

Role playing games are great examples of titles that facilitate escapism.

The practice of escapism intuitively becomes even more important to an individual who is disabled by society or their surroundings. Whether the individual has a physical, auditory or cognitive impairment, the video-game experience in theory should act as a great equalizer. In the world of video games, anything is possible  if the capacity to engage in these experiences is not denied to us. What if a physical limitation leaves a gamer unable to use a standard console controller? What if the lack of subtitles prohibits the entire deaf community from experiencing a blockbuster title? The bottom line is that the majority of video-game hardware, software and peripherals are unnecessarily inaccessible to many gamers with disabilities.

Through simple lack of awareness or an intentional marginalization of their demographic, disabled gamers routinely take the backseat in the game-development process. There is no denying that the vast range and degrees of disabilities makes the situation complicated, however, there are simple steps developers can take to improve the accessibility of their titles. By studying the basics of accessibility and usability, fostering an awareness of common disabilities and how they affect gameplay, and giving disabled gamers a voice through participation in game testing – the current situation can be vastly improved. 

Accessibility And Usability: How Are They Connected?

So what is accessibility? How does it relate to usability and improving the gaming experience? While the most visible applications of accessibility are elements such as brail signs or handicapped-parking spots, accessibility refers to features integrated into daily life that make things more easily understood, accessed or available for all members of society. The majority of accessibility features are designed with the disabled community in mind, nonetheless, they are more often than not used equally by the “able bodied” community. Closed captioning makes understanding the news easier in a loud bar after work. Wheelchair ramps help travelers with luggage avoid breaking their backs by taking the stairs. In gaming, adjusting in-game text size can compensate for a couch several feet back from the TV screen, or having the ability to customize your controller can counteract a temporarily broken finger. This is where the benefit of developing games for all facets of society becomes clear. Similar to the examples above, the whole gaming community can benefit from additional accessibility features in video games because we are never fully in control of our environment, and our physical and mental capabilities vary through the span of our lives.

So how does accessibility relate to usability? High levels of accessibility go hand in hand with high levels of usability. Usability is defined by the dictionary as “The effectiveness, efficiency and satisfaction with which users can achieve tasks in a particular environment of a product. High usability means a system is: easy to learn and remember; efficient, visually pleasing and fun to use.” By definition then, usability is one of the constant goals game developers hope to achieve in their games. If accessibility features make gameplay more efficient and ultimately increase the satisfaction levels in playing the title, it then increases usability and meets an important development goal.

Barrie Ellis, creator of OneSwitch.org and member of the International Game Developers Association's Game Accessibility Special Interest Group, helped to further clarify how creating accessible games ultimately leads to more usability.

“Well, it’s a fact that your gaming abilities do not remain the same throughout your life, linked to your physical and mental health,” Ellis says. “For everyone, when they are very young, they would likely struggle to use a standard joypad controller aimed at adults. I remember being unable to play Atari’s BattleZone in arcades because I was too short to peer through the viewing slot. I also couldn’t cope with Williams’ Defender, as the buttons were too far apart and the game much too hard.

“There’s a line of thought that all non-disabled people are ‘TABs’ – Temporarily Able Bodied. Everyone’s abilities will lessen with time, either due to accident, illness or age.

“If designers can give some thought to implementing this, then we might start to see main-stream games featuring options for very wide difficulty levels, highly reconfigurable controls, closed-captioning (full subtitles of dialogue and sound), and visibility options and so on. If this happens, you might have a chance of continuing to play your games no matter what happens to you though out your life. The other beautiful effect of adding these types of options is that they can open a game up to a person whom might otherwise be too disabled to play at all.”

Accessible technology can counteract the restrictions we face in youth. The average gamer will use accessibility features to compensate for a dynamic environment and ultimately minor impairments that grow with aging. Companies who consider accessibly in their titles often develop a following in the accessibility community and avoid backlash for not considering the needs of the diverse audience itching to play their games (example: missing subtitles in the original Halo release left the deaf community feeling slighted). The industry as a whole will benefit from implementing accessible technology by enlarging the audience of gamers able and willing to play their games. The increase in audience is clearly demonstrated by the Nintendo Wii – a system friendly to one-handed gamers  – whose intuitive controls and simple interfaces proved to appeal additionally to throngs of non-gamers. While not perfect, the Wii is a fantastic example of accessibility and usability complementing each other. In the end the members of society with disabilities who have been routinely left behind are the group that will most benefit from the added effort.

Want proof that ignoring accessibility and usability features makes for a bad game? Try playing the “universally inaccessible” title Game Over. Co-created by game academic Dr. Dimitris Grammenos, Game Over was designed to be used as a tool to help developers understand the frustration disabled gamers face when playing games with low accessibility levels. The game is broken down into 21 virtually unbeatable levels, each supplemented with a description of the accessibility feature violated in that particular stage.

In this particular level of Game Over, the user must shoot only the “blue” ships. See the problem?