[games_access] games_access Digest, Vol 163, Issue 6
Chad Philip Johnson
chad at anacronist.com
Sun Mar 12 00:40:54 EST 2017
So it sounds like one direction that could be taken with online
accessibility resources is to provide simple tools for developers to use
to gauge how accessible their games are in certain areas, such as the
auditory experience. Luke, according to your research, maybe these
tools wouldn't be able to provide in depth feedback, but they could
touch on the major hotspots and offer basic suggestions and/or
additional resources to devs.
Also, the table graphic in your email didn't come through for me. Would
you mind attempting to post it again, or send it to me directly?
Chad Philip Johnson
Anacronist Software
On 03/09/2017 05:13 PM, Luke BROOK wrote:
> Hi all,
>
> Its interesting this has come up- and I’d like to contribute to the
> discussion if that’s ok.
>
> I’ve recently completed my PhD research, which focused on identifying
> a means of facilitating the development of accessible games for the
> deaf and hard of hearing. I’ve spoken to Ian previously about my
> research, which involved the development of a web-based accessibility
> feedback tool similar to what you have discussed below.
>
> My thinking was along the lines of providing an automated tool to aid
> in assessing hearing accessibility, and provide a report of potential
> solutions based upon the results of the assessment.
>
> To develop the tool, I first developed a means of identifying and
> classifying the individual visual and audio feedback elements in
> games- which was a mammoth task given the various genres, platforms,
> design choices etc. The reason for this was that while while the GAG
> and Includification guidelines do provide excellent generalised
> recommendations for using alternative forms of feedback to audio, they
> don’t describe technical implementation (nor were they ever intended to).
>
> By reviewing numerous games, and identifying the various forms of
> audiovisual feedback, we were able to identify commonly used visual
> feedback elements used to complement specific categories of audio
> feedback. For example-
>
>
> The above is a small snippet of a much larger table, which encompasses
> several categories. The table classifies the various forms of visual
> and auditory feedback used in games, and common methods for technical
> implementation. Each is accompanied with descriptive examples for
> implementation in different genres.
>
> Using these results, we developed a web-based accessibility feedback
> tool, specifically for assessing and gauging the level of hearing
> accessibility in games. The tool included:
>
> * A front end web-form with questions related to the design of the game
> * A DB populated with the findings of the audio/visual feedback data
> * A reporting system which produced a document with recommendations
> for visual elements which could be implemented to complement
> specific forms of audio feedback
>
>
> The questions for the form were derived directly from guidelines and
> previous academic research. The questions used were fairly low level.
> For example, the first question was based upon Includification's
> baby-friendly test:
> 1. /Does the game use audio feedback? /
> /1.1 IF no End/
> /1.2 ELSE continue /
> /2. Can the game be played by the intended target audience, with the
> audio muted, with no adverse impact on gameplay or user experience? /
> /3. Is audio feedback used for X category of game sound?/
> /4. Is the audio feedback represented in an alternative form of visual
> feedback?/
> /etc./
> /
> /
> The web-tool went through several iterations, and we had varied levels
> of success.
>
> From the findings, we found that an automated approach could be used
> to provide a basic level of assessment. However, the tool lacked
> specificity and flexibility. For example, there are certain aspects
> which cannot be currently simulated which are critical to assessing
> accessibility, such as user testing to gauge the impact of specific
> game sounds on user experience. In addition, the person conducting the
> test would need to have some underlying knowledge of the target
> audience’s needs and (dis)abilities (i.e. textual feedback is
> unsuitable for young children, especially considering the symptomatic
> delay in expressive and communication skills, which often extends to
> reading comprehension).
>
> Based on these findings, we ended up developing a new game assessment
> framework instead. The iterative framework is a three-step process,
> which can be integrated into both prescriptive design approaches and
> adaptive/iterative design approaches (to accommodate both mainstream
> development and indie development). The framework can be used during
> development, or to assess a completed game, and includes user testing
> to evaluate the impact of game sounds.
>
> I’d be happy to share my findings if it will help with the development
> of your own tool? My thesis is currently undergoing examination, and I
> should be able to share the final publication with you in the next
> couple of months if that suits.
>
> Thanks,
>
> Luke
>
> Luke Brook
> PhD Candidate | Lecturer Games & Interactivity
> School of Arts and Humanities | Edith Cowan University
> 2 Bradford Street, Mt Lawley, Western Australia - 6050
> Phone: (+61) 401 904 671 | Email: l.brook at ecu.edu.au
> <mailto:l.brook at ecu.edu.au>
>
>> On 10 Mar 2017, at 5:54 am, Ian Hamilton <i_h at hotmail.com
>> <mailto:i_h at hotmail.com>> wrote:
>>
>> How about just a third party tool as an initial MVP to test the
>> waters with - e.g. google form+sheet?
>>
>> Still need to get the round tablers who wanted email sign-up added to
>> the system, would definitely be worth bringing up again once both
>> Karen and James are on the list as they both seemed pretty keen.
>>
>> Ian
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> On Thu, Mar 9, 2017 at 9:25 PM +0000, "Mathias Nordvall"
>> <mathias.nordvall at liu.se <mailto:mathias.nordvall at liu.se>> wrote:
>>
>> If this gets formulated in such a way that it could somehow also
>> be used for research as well I'm sure that a university, for
>> example mine, could host it on our servers
>>
>> On Thu, 9 Mar 2017 at 22:09, <games_access-request at igda.org
>> <mailto:games_access-request at igda.org>> wrote:
>>
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>> When replying, please edit your Subject line so it is more
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>>
>>
>> Today's Topics:
>>
>> 1. Accessibility Feedback Tool (Gemma Thomson)
>> 2. Re: Accessibility Feedback Tool (Chad Philip Johnson)
>>
>>
>> ----------------------------------------------------------------------
>>
>> Message: 1
>> Date: Thu, 9 Mar 2017 16:13:44 +0100
>> From: "Gemma Thomson" <gemma at kaludoscope.com
>> <mailto:gemma at kaludoscope.com>>
>> To: <games_access at igda.org <mailto:games_access at igda.org>>
>> Subject: [games_access] Accessibility Feedback Tool
>> Message-ID: <006f01d298e7$bee3e780$3cabb680$@kaludoscope.com
>> <http://kaludoscope.com/>>
>> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
>>
>> Hello all,
>>
>>
>>
>> Further to the SIG roundtable at GDC (and in the sincere
>> hopes I'm not
>> jumping any guns here), I'd like to follow up in regard to
>> the notion of an
>> accessibility feedback tool. For those who weren't present: a
>> few of us got
>> to talking about a feedback form and/or database of
>> accessibility feedback,
>> flowing from game players to game developers and publishers.
>> A few ideas
>> flew around, such as:
>>
>>
>>
>> * having said database hosted by this SIG, in the
>> interest of sharing
>> knowledge amongst industry;
>> * keeping the tool open for indies and large studios
>> alike by way of
>> an easy deployment tool (examples might include presskit()
>> <http://dopresskit.com/> or distribute()
>> <https://dodistribute.com/> ,
>> primarily from Vlambeer)
>> * having this start as a relatively small-scale
>> project, not least to
>> ascertain how much work it would actually take to maintain.
>>
>>
>>
>> As a relative newcomer to the SIG and this mailing list I'm
>> not entirely
>> sure how these things are usually done, but if there's a
>> project team to be
>> made then I'd like to help where I can, and lend some 'indie'
>> input! Perhaps
>> a bunch of us could get together in a Slack channel or something?
>>
>>
>>
>> Also as I say, I apologise if I've jumped a gun and there are
>> perhaps
>> minutes from the roundtable yet to come.
>>
>>
>>
>> Thanks!
>>
>> ~ Gemma
>>
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>>
>> Message: 2
>> Date: Thu, 9 Mar 2017 13:08:43 -0800
>> From: Chad Philip Johnson <chad at anacronist.com
>> <mailto:chad at anacronist.com>>
>> To: IGDA Games Accessibility SIG Mailing List
>> <games_access at igda.org <mailto:games_access at igda.org>>
>> Subject: Re: [games_access] Accessibility Feedback Tool
>> Message-ID:
>> <fceaaf5b-971c-0a8f-8db0-99f2c52df4dd at anacronist.com
>> <mailto:fceaaf5b-971c-0a8f-8db0-99f2c52df4dd at anacronist.com>>
>> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="windows-1252"; Format="flowed"
>>
>> Hi Gemma,
>>
>> Most people at the roundtable seemed to be in support of this
>> idea, so
>> it's great that you brought it up on the mailing list.
>>
>> As I see it, the main hurdles seem to be: 1) finding (or possibly
>> developing) web software that would serve this purpose, 2)
>> infrastructure, and 3) having somebody to service requests
>> and perform
>> ongoing maintenance. Assuming we would eventually get past
>> hurdles 1
>> and 2, it's the day to day stuff that is probably the biggest
>> concern.
>>
>> It might be possible to design the system in a way where minimal
>> oversight is required. For example, developers and
>> publishers request
>> an account and then maintain all of their own feedback. If done a
>> certain way, this wouldn't create a great deal of additional
>> work for
>> the SIG and its members.
>>
>> Regarding infrastructure, we are in the process of moving
>> igda-gasig.org <http://igda-gasig.org/>
>> to the IGDA servers. While the available resources will be
>> greater than
>> what we currently have, I don't really know about the bandwidth,
>> software packages, hosting options, etc. that will be
>> available to us.
>> Ian, Thomas and I were discussing this somewhat recently.
>> There is an
>> additional difficulty in that we must make all technical
>> requests to the
>> person who administers the IGDA servers, which means that we
>> don't have
>> direct access to this infrastructure. So hopefully there are
>> some gains
>> to be made here. I will send off an email tonight to stir up
>> some
>> dialog (I've been meaning to do it anyway).
>>
>> Beyond all of that, we would just need to come up with an
>> overall design
>> for this feedback tool that would be reasonable and also
>> serve its
>> intended purpose. As you mentioned, scheduling an online
>> chat and
>> hammering out some of the details may be a good place to start.
>>
>> Chad Philip Johnson
>> Anacronist Software
>>
>> On 03/09/2017 07:13 AM, Gemma Thomson wrote:
>> >
>> > Hello all,
>> >
>> > Further to the SIG roundtable at GDC (and in the sincere
>> hopes I?m not
>> > jumping any guns here), I?d like to follow up in regard to
>> the notion
>> > of an accessibility feedback tool. For those who weren?t
>> present: a
>> > few of us got to talking about a feedback form and/or
>> database of
>> > accessibility feedback, flowing from game players to game
>> developers
>> > and publishers. A few ideas flew around, such as:
>> >
>> > * having said database hosted by this SIG, in the interest of
>> > sharing knowledge amongst industry;
>> > * keeping the tool open for indies and large studios
>> alike by way of
>> > an easy deployment tool (examples might include presskit()
>> > <http://dopresskit.com/> or distribute()
>> > <https://dodistribute.com/>, primarily from Vlambeer)
>> > * having this start as a relatively small-scale project,
>> not least
>> > to ascertain how much work it would actually take to
>> maintain.
>> >
>> > As a relative newcomer to the SIG and this mailing list I?m not
>> > entirely sure how these things are usually done, but if
>> there?s a
>> > project team to be made then I?d like to help where I can,
>> and lend
>> > some ?indie? input! Perhaps a bunch of us could get
>> together in a
>> > Slack channel or something?
>> >
>> > Also as I say, I apologise if I?ve jumped a gun and there
>> are perhaps
>> > minutes from the roundtable yet to come.
>> >
>> > Thanks!
>> >
>> > ~ Gemma
>> >
>> >
>> >
>> > _______________________________________________
>> > games_access mailing list
>> > games_access at igda.org <mailto:games_access at igda.org>
>> > https://pairlist7.pair.net/mailman/listinfo/games_access
>> > The main SIG website page is http://igda-gasig.org
>> <http://igda-gasig.org/>
>>
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