Blind and Visually Impaired Community
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Developing a game designed for the visually impaired - Could use advice! (self.Blind)
submitted by MadeofMint
Hello!!
My partner and I want to develop a game that's designed for people who are visually impaired. Being that both of us are sighted individuals, we definitely want to put in a good deal of effort at researching the experience.
At the moment, we're looking at a mechanic involving a protagonist that's had an injury and is completely blind. However, in my research I have come to understand that most blind people aren't completely blind and do have some form of visual cues.
I guess it would be really helpful for us to talk to people that are visually impaired so that we approach it in the best way possible. For me, the key thing would be creating something that is actually accessible to people that are visually impaired in a way that isn't offensive or performative.
We would love and appreciate any suggestions, from what the most accessible platforms would be (mobile, PC or otherwise), to what mechanics would be most accessible to use.
Thank you :D
My partner and I want to develop a game that's designed for people who are visually impaired. Being that both of us are sighted individuals, we definitely want to put in a good deal of effort at researching the experience.
At the moment, we're looking at a mechanic involving a protagonist that's had an injury and is completely blind. However, in my research I have come to understand that most blind people aren't completely blind and do have some form of visual cues.
I guess it would be really helpful for us to talk to people that are visually impaired so that we approach it in the best way possible. For me, the key thing would be creating something that is actually accessible to people that are visually impaired in a way that isn't offensive or performative.
We would love and appreciate any suggestions, from what the most accessible platforms would be (mobile, PC or otherwise), to what mechanics would be most accessible to use.
Thank you :D
Mitmee_pie 1 points 2y ago
It is great to hear about a game developer wanting to include those of us who are blind and visually impaired. I can tell you this. There are already numerous games where the protagonist is totally blind. Some of those games are OK, but unfortunately, I'm starting to hear quite a bit of complaining that the genre has been done to death when I visit sites such as Applevis. I like the idea that you were trying to accommodate for people who have at least some usable vision. Not sure how much that would work, though. Myself, I have light and color perception in one eye, so I'm not sure how helpful that would be in a game. There are some really great audio games for the PC. Not so many for Mac. There are quite a few iOS games, but I have almost always preferred to play games on the computer. The only iOS game I really loved that wasn't text base was called Solara, and it was a sad day when that disappeared. It was kind of an RPG thing, but it was just really neat and well done. I don't want to speak for anyone else, but I would love to see accessible equivalent of main stream games like candy crush or some of the word games. It's really frustrating when my friend tells me about a game she is enjoying, and then I discovered that there's no way at all that I could ever play it.
LyingSlider7 1 points 2y ago
You are definitely right about mobile being the most accessible platform I also like the concept of an AI guiding the player do you the levels the only advice that I can give is to obviously focus a lot on the audio use it to help the player navigate to the levels such as may be putting specific sounds near the exit or making the players footsteps have sound to help them stay on the path the only game that I can think of to use as an example is the night jar you should check it out unfortunately it is no longer on the App Store but you can still see gameplay on YouTube
Agreeable_Morning_60 1 points 2y ago
If you want to message me with specific questions, Ill answer as many as I can!
MadeofMint [OP] 1 points 2y ago
Thanks a ton! I'll shoot you a message shortly :)
zersiax 1 points 2y ago
Interesting proposal. It's hard to really give you much to go on given how little we have to go off of here :)
What made you want to create a game for the visually impaired, as opposed to a game that can be played by both sighted gamers as well as visually impaired ones? What kind of game will it be, e.g. arcade, story-driven, RPG? Why is the protagonist blind? What does the protagonist need to do in this game? Is it multiplayer, singleplayer ... the questions here are endless :)
What made you want to create a game for the visually impaired, as opposed to a game that can be played by both sighted gamers as well as visually impaired ones? What kind of game will it be, e.g. arcade, story-driven, RPG? Why is the protagonist blind? What does the protagonist need to do in this game? Is it multiplayer, singleplayer ... the questions here are endless :)
MadeofMint [OP] 1 points 2y ago
Totally! I understand that :) we are in super early stages of development so honestly there's a lot we still have to consider and look into. Ideally, the game would be playable for both sighted and the visually impaired but the focus would be creating an experience that is accessible to those that aren't impaired.
We are thinking of going the story driven route, something maybe more sci-fi themed with an AI that guides the player auditorily through the levels. We are focused on a single player experience at the moment and are leaning towards mobile as a more accessible platform for most people.
Really, what I'm looking for is suggestions for things that might be useful to those that are visually impaired. Along with ensuring that whatever we do is a good experience for them and essentially not just turning blindness into a game mechanic.
We are thinking of going the story driven route, something maybe more sci-fi themed with an AI that guides the player auditorily through the levels. We are focused on a single player experience at the moment and are leaning towards mobile as a more accessible platform for most people.
Really, what I'm looking for is suggestions for things that might be useful to those that are visually impaired. Along with ensuring that whatever we do is a good experience for them and essentially not just turning blindness into a game mechanic.
bradley22 1 points 2y ago
Applevis.com/developers might be worth looking at :)
MadeofMint [OP] 1 points 2y ago
Experience for those that are impaired**
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