DOI: 10.5176/978-981-08-5480-5_033
Authors: Thomas Westin
Abstract:
Accessibility is about adapting the environment to fit individual needs, such as being able to interact with a computer game in a certain context. This paper investigates in what way if any, do non-disabled gamers experience games as inaccessible?
The background for this question is an indication about one publisher, who considered the disability group too small rather than the cost of implementation being too high. By investigating what game accessibility issues non-disabled gamers have, it is possible to argue that the target group is large enough to implement accessibility for those issues.
To answer the question above, a survey was sent to a mailing list for one of the world's largest computer games festivals, where the majority was non-disabled. Another survey was sent to a disability group mailing list for comparison. 500 answers were received which are analyzed in this paper.
The result is a sample of game accessibility and how it applies to non-disabled gamers. This sample may contribute to the creation of a census of game accessibility. Hopefully, this helps the game industry to better understand the market, based upon the scope and types of accessibility issues non-disabled gamers have. In the long run this may include more people to participate in digital culture.
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