Blind and Visually Impaired Community
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rant about video games (self.Blind)
submitted by BlindWizard
So I'm feeling a little frustrated and I thought I would share just to get it out.
There is a video game that was just released called Stray. Inset game you play a cat, The game was first announced in 2015. I was excited then an interested and I had more usable vision back in those days. But it was recently released just a couple of weeks ago and my vision now is light perception with some perceivable color differential but nothing particularly usable.
The game itself though. Talking with family and friends and listening to YouTube reviews has a lot of areas that are dark or low contrast and all speech is garbled with subtitles because there is a robot population. Yeah, interesting game. Basically, you're a cat in a dystopian future full of robots.
My frustration is they don't offer an option that reads the subtitles at the very least and I've never figured out why they don't have an audio description for video games. I'm sure sometime in the future such a thing will exist but it's not now. So just a little sad that this game is not accessible to me.
Anyways, rant over
There is a video game that was just released called Stray. Inset game you play a cat, The game was first announced in 2015. I was excited then an interested and I had more usable vision back in those days. But it was recently released just a couple of weeks ago and my vision now is light perception with some perceivable color differential but nothing particularly usable.
The game itself though. Talking with family and friends and listening to YouTube reviews has a lot of areas that are dark or low contrast and all speech is garbled with subtitles because there is a robot population. Yeah, interesting game. Basically, you're a cat in a dystopian future full of robots.
My frustration is they don't offer an option that reads the subtitles at the very least and I've never figured out why they don't have an audio description for video games. I'm sure sometime in the future such a thing will exist but it's not now. So just a little sad that this game is not accessible to me.
Anyways, rant over
[deleted] 5 points 11m ago
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ginsenshi 1 points 11m ago
Wish something like this was available for VoiceOver on Mac similar to iPhone and iPad
[deleted] 1 points 11m ago
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ginsenshi 1 points 11m ago
I personally like my MacBook Air M1, with the new update coming out in fall it should be more responsive
Remy_C 1 points 11m ago
'Lion IS very good, and is a fantastic idea. My only issue with it is figuring out how to configure it so you only have relevent text read to you, instead of other static text which might be on screen, such as hud, elements. I also find it actually misses some words of a text box, or even whole words, even when I have it configured correctly. Love the idea, but find it still not quite as useful as the regular recognize text. I also wish its activation key was configurable. being able to activate it with one hand would be nice. Still, it's a great idea, and I wish it was still being actively worked on.
[deleted] 1 points 11m ago
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Remy_C 1 points 11m ago
'I've noticed you need to actually restart NVDA for the settings to take effect. Ever since I learned that, it's been better. certainly a great deal faster than NVDA+R every time you want to read a text box.
Daniel6Skins 1 points 11m ago
So I've tested some OCR options on Mac and I got semi-decent results. The first options is an app from the Mac App Store called Assist Eye Speak. And what this app does is read text from a screenshot. I used this with another app called Keyboard maestro which lets you make custom commands to take screenshots of specific areas of the screen. So, lets say I have one command which is Command shift D, which will screenshot the bottom portion o the screen where dialogue usually appears, and I have another keyboard command, command shift G, which will screenshot the top right of the screen, where status text might appear.
I tried this for the game Persona 5, which was connected to my computer via an Elgato capture card. It worked really well for reading out the dialogue on the bottom of the screen but the problem was the dialogue that would appear on the top right was sometimes too stylized for the OCR to read it properly.
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The other option is an app called VOCR, which can either OCR and read what's under the VoiceOver cursor, or OCR and read the front most window. I just downloaded it last night and haven't gotten to test it fully, but a benefit to this solution is that after it OCRs something, you can then navigate the text elements to read each of them as you like, and the cursor follows as you read them so you would be able to click on them.
Edit: I forgot to add that VOCR will also only read updated text elements if you decide to OCR the same area again, so that way only the changes are scanned and not the everything it scanned previously.
I tried this for the game Persona 5, which was connected to my computer via an Elgato capture card. It worked really well for reading out the dialogue on the bottom of the screen but the problem was the dialogue that would appear on the top right was sometimes too stylized for the OCR to read it properly.
​
The other option is an app called VOCR, which can either OCR and read what's under the VoiceOver cursor, or OCR and read the front most window. I just downloaded it last night and haven't gotten to test it fully, but a benefit to this solution is that after it OCRs something, you can then navigate the text elements to read each of them as you like, and the cursor follows as you read them so you would be able to click on them.
Edit: I forgot to add that VOCR will also only read updated text elements if you decide to OCR the same area again, so that way only the changes are scanned and not the everything it scanned previously.
Unlikely-Database-27 1 points 11m ago
Can second VOCR. Haven't used the other app you mentioned, though.
[deleted] 1 points 11m ago
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SightlessKombat 3 points 11m ago
Audio description will be featured, for the first time, in The Last Of Us Part I, releasing in September. I will be covering it on my YouTube and Twitch channels as an accessibility consultant and gamer without sight myself if you'd like to see it before purchasing. The Last Of Us part II is also accessible and, depending on how much team work you don't mind, Sea Of Thieves and Gears 5 are accessible to varying degrees too, along with the newly released As Dusk Falls.
Key thing to look at really is the development timeline - this game's been under development long before accessibility became the talking point it is now. Given it's harder to implement post-launch than it is to integrate at the beginning and some teams just don't know accessibility is something to look at/include, it's not a surprise to me that Stray isn't accessible. Being a cat person myself, I'd love this to have been playable.
Just want you to know that you are not alone in this.
Key thing to look at really is the development timeline - this game's been under development long before accessibility became the talking point it is now. Given it's harder to implement post-launch than it is to integrate at the beginning and some teams just don't know accessibility is something to look at/include, it's not a surprise to me that Stray isn't accessible. Being a cat person myself, I'd love this to have been playable.
Just want you to know that you are not alone in this.
Gavin_Runeblade 1 points 11m ago
There was a great company called Infocom that used to make text games. Zork, Enchanter, Planetfall, Wishbringer, A Mind Forever Voyaging, are a few of their titles. Wonderful interactive puzzle games with deep stories and narrative. No graphics, purely text, won boatloads of awards.
There were also online mmorpgs with no graphics called MUDs or MUSHs. Gemstone, Amber, Multi-User Middle Earth, etc were the big ones. Some still exist but they have drifted I we the years and now they use text for graphics, and the communities have become insular and revolve around the developers giving preferential treatment to friends. Kinda sad.
These were amazing games that people had fun playing. They weren't specifically made for the blind, they just had a form of interface that happens to be perfect for screen readers. I've always wanted them to make a comeback.
You can track some of them down on Gog.com at least.
There were also online mmorpgs with no graphics called MUDs or MUSHs. Gemstone, Amber, Multi-User Middle Earth, etc were the big ones. Some still exist but they have drifted I we the years and now they use text for graphics, and the communities have become insular and revolve around the developers giving preferential treatment to friends. Kinda sad.
These were amazing games that people had fun playing. They weren't specifically made for the blind, they just had a form of interface that happens to be perfect for screen readers. I've always wanted them to make a comeback.
You can track some of them down on Gog.com at least.
Florentinepotion 1 points 11m ago
I think the problem with audio description for games is that the visuals aren't statick and linear like for movies and tv shows. The players actions and randomization change what's on the screen each time the game is played. Another issue I see is that a lot of things in games don't happen slow enough for spoken description.
Remy_C 1 points 11m ago
Garbled text with subtitles is an instant "no" for me. It's actually worse than no voice acting. Its the one reason I never played Shadow of the Colossus which, if it is to be believed based on practically everybody’s opinion, is a masterpiece.
stwoberri 1 points 11m ago
Hi, there is a new Czech studio developing games for blind people! It is called Kikiriki Games, check it out.
bradley22 1 points 11m ago
Yeah, one thing I found very strange was that the last of us to is fully accessible for the blind, apart from one thing… There’s no audio description! it’s gonna be the same with the last of us one remake and yet nd will still get all the accolades.
SightlessKombat 3 points 11m ago
Not true, AD will be in the remake. The released a $1 showing it off just the other day!
bradley22 1 points 11m ago
Oh wow! They actually did it!
Thanks for letting me know. I’ve never been so glad to be wrong in my life.
Thanks for letting me know. I’ve never been so glad to be wrong in my life.
SightlessKombat 2 points 11m ago
I know right. :)
bradley22 1 points 11m ago
I’m definitely buying a ps5 for this :)
Remy_C 2 points 11m ago
And they should get them. They're the only company I've encountered who has ever even tried to my knowledge.
SightlessKombat 1 points 11m ago
The Coalition, Rare, Turn 10/PlayGround Games, Interior/Night, just to name a few form the Microsoft side of things who have all worked on accessibility features for gamers without sight.
bradley22 1 points 11m ago
I don’t think so. Don’t get me wrong what they did x amount of years ago was great, but they need to upgrade it, it needs to change, they need to impress people like me and others so that they deserve more accolades. Just tying in the library to the first game won’t do it for me anymore.
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