Throughout this ongoing, isolating pandemic, gamified social platforms, streaming festivals, and open-world galleries (that feel like MMOs) have sprung up to fill a social void. Remote virtual experiences like these have made art more or less accessible, depending on who you ask — homebound individuals may get a chance to participate in remote versions of events they didn’t have access to before, but many custom applications do not include or support basic assistive technology, like text-to-speech features for people who are visually impaired. Games and gamified virtual experiences face similar, easily addressable accessibility issues. Whether you are making games or curating them, consider implementing, looking for, or requiring these important considerations in game and interface design that can make gamified virtual platforms more accessible to all:

Text:

Closed Captioning that includes descriptive text Customizable fonts/text colors text-to-speech

Color:

For colorblind folks, a setting that alters red and green tints so they are more distinguishable

Physical Interactions:

PC and mobile games can include modes with much larger hit-boxes. Some gamers experience tremors. Controller or keyboard –

Motion Capture and VR:

For people with limited mobility, a setting that will prevent the game from ending if motion controls are not used with dexterity. Or, a setting that will re-route motion controls to a button-based controller

In AbleGamer’s 2012 accessibility guide, Includification, Steve Spohn (author, advocate, and COO of AbleGamers Charity) wrote, “Assistive technology is great, but its limitation is that the more buttons you program, the more complicated they are to use”. An accessible game doesn’t need to be stacked with built-in options — it should be at least playable with the fewest controls, or better yet, a few customizable controls. For example, some people will not be physically able to button mash. If this mechanic is the minimum requirement to play a game, an accessible version of the game could involve programming one button press to register 10 presses. Can this someday become a standard expectation for games on exhibition floors?

AbleGamers https://ablegamers.org/ founded in 2004 by Mark Barlet and Stephanie Walker

VR, Immersive Platforms, and Accessibility

Unfortunately, six degrees of freedom (6DoF) VR is still a generally inaccessible platform for many reasons. Headsets present physical and logistical problems in exhibition spaces — someone with a mobility impairment may not be comfortable standing for long periods of time or performing repetitive tasks, with the added emotional pressure that others may be queued and waiting for a turn.

Despite the ever-shrinking cost of new Oculus models, the price of a headset is still prohibitive for anyone interested in casually dropping in on your virtual exhibition in VR. Meanwhile, VR games for Rift or tethered Vive models will require a gaming machine. VR can have a serious dizzying effect on participants, and headsets may not accommodate all types of eyewear.

In her 2020 article for Medium’s Debugger publication, The Oculus Go Wasn’t Designed for Back Hair, Arwa Michelle Mboya describes her 220-participant study on the topic and delves into the problematic logistics of wearing Oculus straps (a design that has since carried over to the newer Oculus Quest II) over black hair. She also prototypes her own new design.

All things considered, it may be a while before it is safe to share forehead sweat with a stranger, too.

As much as I do love 6DoF VR, I believe that browser-based 360 video, AR, and “3DoF” VR for (cheap) Cardboard-style headsets deserve support. Seriously consider programming, making, or building virtual platforms for mobile devices! Browser-based collections like Radiance and with.in, or curated mobile VR applications like the 2017 New Museum x Rhizome project, Artists’ VR are good inspiration—these implement technology that most people have in their pockets.

Jenna Caravello

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