Download Computer accessibility (1/2)

HY454 : ΤΕΧΝΟΛΟΓΙΑ ΑΝΑΠΤΥΞΗΣ ΕΥΦΥΩΝ,
ΚΙΝΗΤΩΝ ΚΑΙ ΠΟΛΥΜΕΣΙΚΩΝ ΔΙΕΠΑΦΩΝ
ΠΑΝΕΠΙΣΤΗΜΙΟ ΚΡΗΤΗΣ,
ΚΡΗΤΗΣ,
ΣΧΟΛΗ ΘΕΤΙΚΩΝ ΕΠΙΣΤΗΜΩΝ,
ΕΠΙΣΤΗΜΩΝ,
ΤΜΗΜΑ ΕΠΙΣΤΗΜΗΣ ΥΠΟΛΟΓΙΣΤΩΝ
ΠΟΛΥΜΕΣΙΚΕΣ ΔΙΕΠΑΦΕΣ,
ΔΙΕΠΑΦΕΣ,
Σύνολο διαλέξεων 8, Διάλεξη 7η
A ccessibility and G am es
ΔΙΔΑΣΚΩΝ
Αντώνιος Σαββίδης
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Δ. Γραμμένος, Α. Σαββίδης
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Computer accessibility (1/2)
Universally Accessible Games (UA-Games)
„ Computer accessibility is traditionally associated with
access to interactive computer-based systems by
people with physical, sensory or mental disabilities
„ However, there are several other user categories that
confront substantial barriers that may prevent them
from access to, and use of, such systems
z Elderly people
aging very often results in limitations in vision, hearing, memory, or
motor functions
z People with situational disabilities
due to the environment they operate in
z People with “technological disabilities”
due to the devices / software they use
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Computer accessibility (2/2)
Computer games
„ In the past few years, the accessibility of electronic
applications and services by elderly and disabled
users has become a topic of paramount importance
at an international level
„ Beyond working and independent living, another
basic need of most people is entertainment, and
presently, computer games constitute indisputably
one of the major related sources
z The world-wide computer game industry is vast and
comparable to that of books and music retail, the cinema
box office, and VHS/DVD rental
z Currently, there is a significant trend of employing games
for training and learning (game-based learning)
z Several governments and political bodies have adopted
legislative and policy measures towards ensuring (or even
enforcing) application software and Web accessibility
e.g. “Section 508” in the US, “eEurope 2005: An information
society for all” in Europe
University departments are gradually introducing computer games
in their curricula to support alternative learning styles, attract
student interest and help reinforcing learning objectives
z Games are also promoted now as policy education,
exploration, and management tools
e.g., the Serious Games Initiative
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Computer games accessibility (1/2)
Computer games accessibility (2/2)
z Currently there are no related official guidelines or
standards, nor any world-wide initiatives comparable to
W3C-WAI, and evidently no related governmental or
legislative actions
z These facts often render games inaccessible to a large percentage of
people with physical (or even situational) disabilities
„ So far, little attention has been paid to the development of
computer games that can be played by all players,
independently of their personal characteristics, requirements
or, (dis)abilities
„ As long as it concerns HCI issues, computer games have
fundamental differences from all the other types of software
applications for which accessibility guidelines and solutions
are already becoming widely available
Δ. Γραμμένος, Α. Σαββίδης
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„ In contrast to Web accessibility, relatively few efforts
have been devoted to game accessibility
„ Computer games are usually quite demanding in terms of
motor, sensor and mental skills needed for interaction
control, while they often require mastering inflexible, quite
complicated, input devices and techniques
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„ Mainly a concern of groups of disabled people or of
small companies producing related products
„ The only related organized effort is the Game
Accessibility Special Interest Group of the
International Game Developers Association (IGDA)
formed in 2003
z aiming “to develop methods of making all game genres
universally accessible to all, regardless of disability”
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A definition by GA-SIG
Background
„The Game Accessibility SIG defines game
accessibility as:
z“The ability to play a game even when
functioning under limiting conditions.
Limiting conditions can be functional limitations, or
disabilities - such as blindness, deafness, or mobility
limitations.”
in the White Paper: “Accessibility in Games: Motivations and Approaches”
http://www.igda.org/accessibility/IGDA_Accessibility_WhitePaper.pdf
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Disabilities affecting computer
accessibility
People with disabilities
„ Worldwide, at least one person out of ten is disabled
due to physical, mental or sensory impairments1
z More than 500 million people worldwide
„ Furthermore, there are around 600 million persons
aged 60 years and over2
z This number is estimated to double by the year 2025 and
reach 2 billion by 2050
z The number of “older” people playing computer games
also increases
In 2003, 41% of most frequent game players were over 35 years old3
1 United
Nations, 2004. World Programme of Action Concerning Disabled Persons: Current situation.
http://www.un.org/esa/socdev/enable/diswpa04.htm
2
Δ. Γραμμένος, Α. Σαββίδης
World Health Organisation, 2004. Department of Chronic Diseases and Health Promotion (CHP): About Ageing and Life Course.
http://www.who.int/hpr/ageing/index.htm
a. Visual impairments
b. Motor or dexterity impairments
c. Hearing disabilities
d. Cognitive disabilities
e. Speech impairments
f. Illiteracy
¨ Age-related disabilities are frequently referred to as a
separate category, but all related problems fall within the
above categories
3 Entertainment
Software Association, 2003. Demographic Information.
http://www.theesa.com/pressroom.html
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Overview of Accessibility Solutions
Indicative assistive technologies
„ Hardware
Devices that are suitable for,
or compensate to some extent
for a specific disability
Assistive
technologies
Access
User
Interaction
techniques
Software
Content
annotation &
adaptation
Appropriate for the disabled person’s
interaction capabilities and needs and
can work with, and take advantage of,
any available assistive technologies
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Special keyboards
Single finger or Head/Mouth stick keyboard (MALTRON)
http://www.maltron.com/
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z Screen magnifiers
z Screen readers
z Scanning software
z On-screen keyboards
z Alternative browsers
z Speech input
z Speech synthesis
z Visual sound notification
z Closed captioning
So that it can be rendered in a format
that can be optimally perceived and
used, through the employed assistive
technologies and interaction techniques
Δ. Γραμμένος, Α. Σαββίδης
BigKeys (Gerystone digital Inc.)
http://bigkeys.com/
„ Software
z Special keyboards
z Alternative mice,
joysticks, trackballs
z Switches
z Braille displays
z TTYs (teletypewriters)
z Special game controllers
z Trackers
z Brain technologies
Twiddler 2 (Handkey corporation)
http://www.handykey.com/
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Alternative mice, joysticks, trackballs
Vertical Mouse (IntelliTools)
http://www.intellitools.com/
BigTrack (Infogrip Inc.)
http://www.infogrip.com
IntegraMouse (LifeTool)
http://www.lifetool.at/
IntelliKeys (IntelliTools)
http://www.intellitools.com/
Half Keyboard (Matias corporation)
http://halfkeyboard.com/
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Headway (Esterline Corporation)
http://assistive.traxsys.com/
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Perific Dual Mouse (Perific)
http://www.perific.com
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SmartNAV EG (NaturalPoint)
http://www.naturalpoint.com/smartnav/
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Switches
Big Red (Don Johnston Inc.)
http://www.donjohnston.com/
Brain technologies
Mounting Switch (Don Johnston Inc.)
http://www.donjohnston.com/
Ribon switch (Tash)
http://www.tashinc.com/
Sensor Switch (Don Johnston Inc.)
http://www.donjohnston.com/
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Scatir (infrared) (Tash)
http://www.tashinc.com/
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Cyberlink (Brain Actuated Technologies, Inc.)
http://www.brainfingers.com
Pneumatic (sip/puff) (Tash)
http://www.tashinc.com/
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Mouth Controller for Playstation® 2 Video
Games (KY Enterprises)
Special game controllers
„ Mounts on a table or wheelchair
„ Has one mouthpiece, which operates as a joystick
„ Has 3 holes for "sip/puff" (6 switches) and 4 lip
buttons
„ “Start/select" is performed using a sip/puff switch
mounted on the side of the mouthpiece
„ Includes a toggle to designate whether the mouthjoystick is the "d" (digital) control
Team Xtreme for N64 (PDG, Inc.)
http://www.pathwaysdg.com/
Mouth Controller for Playstation® 2 Video
Games (KY Enterprises)
http://www.quadcontrol.com/joystick.htm
Ascii Grip V2 Controller for PS
http://www.consolesandgadgets.com
z another toggle to designate the left or right analog
control
z lip switches for the L3 & R3
z a toggle switch for turning on the microphone
„ If the player has arm control, s/he can use an
included modified PS2 game-pad in addition to the
mouth-joystick to access all functions
Glove Controller for PS (Reality Quest)
http://www.teamps2.com/teamps2/Hard_Rev.php/292
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Team Xtreme (PDG, Inc.)
Scanning software
„ Scanning is a technique that is mainly used for providing
computer access to people with hand-motor impairments
„ Allows a player with disabilities to
team-up with another person, who
assists using a standard game
controller
„ The basic idea of scanning is that a special “marker” (e.g., a
coloured frame) indicates the current focus
z Team Xtreme makes them look like one
player to the game system
z The player has full control over which
aspects of the character s/he is
controlling and which the team-mate is
controlling
„ The user can either move the focus marker or select whatever
is in focus by using any kind of switches
z e.g., keyboard keys, special switch hardware, voice
„ In cases where the user can use just a single switch, focus
movement can be automatically generated by the system at
constant time intervals
„ A hardware box in which 1 to 5
switches can be plugged to control
any keys of the game controller
z This variation of the technique is usually referred as “automatic
scanning”, while any other case is generically called “manual
scanning” (even if the hands are not used at all)
z A single switch can control 2 or more keys
at the same time
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Scanning software example:
ScanBuddy
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On-screen keyboard
„ Also called soft or software keyboard
„Emulates the mouse using 1 or 2 switches
„ A keyboard that is presented on the monitor and replaces the
hardware keyboard
„Supports alternative scanning strategies
zstandard line scanning
zfirst use section scanning to identify the general
area of the display where the target point is located
and then use line scanning to precisely position the
mouse
„ Keys are pressed by clicking on them with a mouse, tapping
on them (on a touch screen) or using switch-based scanning
„ On-screen keyboards are typically used to allow people with
disabilities or special needs to use computers but also in
public terminals (e.g., kiosks) and portable devices (PDAs)
that do not have a hardware keyboard).
„ The displayed keyboard can usually be moved and resized,
and generally can allow any input that the hardware version
does
ScanBuddy
http://www.ahf-net.com/Scanbuddy.htm
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On-screen keyboard example
Closed captioning
„ SwitchXS is a program for MAC that offers full mouse and
keyboard emulation
„ Used by heard of hearing & non-native speakers
„ Provides narrative
description of
dialogue, action,
sounds, and
other elements
„ Provides a number of predefined scanning panels that the
user can choose to move the cursor, click, and type into all
standard Mac applications
„ Features
z audio-cueing
z speech-cueing
z key repeat, scanning speed
and cycling
z mouse speed and movement
z the scanning panel can
become partially or fully
transparent when no scan
is taking place
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„ “Closed” means
they can be
turned on/off
SwitchXS (AssistiveWare)
http://www.assistiveware.com/switchaccess.php
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DOOM3[CC]
http://gamescc.rbkdesign.com/
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Screen magnifiers
Δ. Γραμμένος, Α. Σαββίδης
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Screen magnifier example (1/2)
„ Screen magnifiers are used by people with low vision
„ They magnify the contents of the screen
z Most such programs offer a maximum magnification to 16 times
„ The entire screen can be seen by scrolling using the mouse or
the keyboard
z While moving the mouse the information on the screen changes
„ Some programs can also:
z Perform color enhancements to improve screen clarity for easier
viewing and reduced eyestrain
z Enhance the mouse pointer and cursor to make it easy to locate and
follow them
„ Sometimes they are coupled with a screen reader
z echoes typing, reads information pointed to by the mouse, speaks
program events
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ZoomText (Ai Squared)
http://www.aisquared.com/
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Braille
Screen magnifier example (2/2)
„Braille is a system using 6 to 8 raised dots in
various patterns to represent letters and
numbers that can be read by the fingertips
„Braille systems vary greatly around the world
„An 8-dot version of Braille has been developed
to allow all ASCII characters to be represented
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Braille ASCII Chart
Δ. Γραμμένος, Α. Σαββίδης
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Braille example
D
im i t r i s
G r a mm e n o s
the very first dot is a "capital sign" showing that the first letter of the name is capitalized
http://www.afb.org/braillebug/thenamegame.asp
http://www.uronramp.net/~lizgray/ascii.html
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Refreshable Braille displays
Refreshable Braille displays examples
„ Refreshable Braille displays provide tactile output of
information represented on the computer screen
z A Braille "cell" is composed of a series
of dots
„ Refreshable Braille displays
mechanically lift small rounded
plastic or metal pins as needed
to form Braille characters
Refreshable Braille Displays (Focus )
http://www.synapseadaptive.com/focus/
focus_refreshable_braille_displays.htm
„ Users read the Braille letters with their fingers, and
after a line is read, they can refresh the display to
read the next line
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Braille Wave (Handy Tech Elektronik GmbH)
http://www.handytech.de/1/no/43/147//40/b/
s-index43.htm#Anker47
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Screen reader
Δ. Γραμμένος, Α. Σαββίδης
Screen reader example – WinBoard (1/2)
„ A software program used by people with visual
impairments
„ Using the arrow keys the
focus changes
z Uses synthetic speech to read a computer screen out loud
z Some programs can also provide tactile feedback on a
Braille display
z Read aloud and / or rendered
to Braille
„ Space bar is used to select
„ Using information made available by the application
and / or the operating system, it can read text, and
present the current focus, as well as interaction
objects and their state
„ Two popular screen reader programs are JAWS for
Windows by Freedom Scientific (www.hj.com) and
Window-Eyes from GW Micro (www.gwmicro.com)
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z Anything can be selected –
illegal selections are announced
„ Opponent’s moves are
announced
WinBoard for JAWS
ftp://ftp.freedomscientific.com/users/hj/winboard/WinBoard.exe
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„ Menu access using Alt &
arrow keys or shortcuts
Δ. Γραμμένος, Α. Σαββίδης
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Quality of interaction
Screen reader example – WinBoard (2/2)
„ Beyond providing accessibility an important issue, is
quality of interaction
„ Screen review options are
offered through a menu
z the extent to which the game meets the real world needs of
its intended users and the support it provides to achieve
their particular goals
„ Requiring provision of access is not enough,
especially in such an interaction-intensive domain as
computer games
WinBoard for JAWS
ftp://ftp.freedomscientific.com/users/hj/winboard/WinBoard.exe
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Quality of interaction example (1/5)
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Quality of interaction example (2/5)
Can I move there?
Selected piece
„ A chess game can be made accessible to a blind
person by simply providing an oral description of the
entire board and of the currently selected piece
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„ This means that every time this person wants to access even some simple
game-related information (e.g., find out if the selected piece can move to a
specific square), will first have to listen to the description of every square
on the board and then mentally isolate the desired piece of information
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Quality of interaction example (3/5)
Quality of interaction example (4/5)
„ Obviously, such an approach would create
unnecessary high mental workload and very
prolonged interaction times
Simple accessible audio interface:
Selected piece: D2 white pawn
Board contents:
A1: White rook
B1: White knight
C1: White bishop
D1: White queen
E1: White king
F1: White bishop
G1: White rook
H1: White knight
A2: White pawn
B2: White pawn
C2: White pawn
D2: White pawn
E2: Empty
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F2: Empty
G2: Empty
H2: Empty
A3: Empty
B3: Empty
C3: Empty
D3: Empty
E3: Empty
F3: White pawn
G3: Empty
H3: White pawn
A4: Empty
B4: Empty
C4: Empty
D4: Black pawn
E4: White pawn
F4: Empty
G4: White pawn
H4: Empty
A5: Empty
B5: Empty
C5: Empty
D5: Empty
E5: Empty
F5: Empty
G5: Black pawn
H5: Empty
A6: Empty
B6: Empty
C6: Empty
D6: Empty
E6: Black pawn
F6: Empty
G6: White pawn
H6: Empty
A7: Black pawn
B7: Black pawn
C7: Black pawn
D7: Empty
E7: Empty
F7: Empty
G7: Empty
H7: Black pawn
A8: Black rook
B8: Black knight
C8: Black bishop
D8: Black queen
E8: Black king
F8: Black bishop
G8: Black knight
H8: Black rook
Δ. Γραμμένος, Α. Σαββίδης
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¨Thus, beyond simple access, the player should also
be provided with augmented interaction capabilities
that meet personal characteristics, needs and
preferences
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Quality of interaction example (5/5)
Δ. Γραμμένος, Α. Σαββίδης
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Quality of interaction example 2 (1/7)
Last move
Opponent’s pieces
Selected move
Possible moves
Active player
„ The blind player should be able to quickly and easily access in a non-visual
format any piece of game-related information that sighted players can infer
just by looking at the visual interface
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„ A chess game can be made accessible to a hand
motor-impaired person through a switch-based
mouse emulation program
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Quality of interaction example 2 (2/7)
„ This means that a lot of time and switch clicks will be
required every time this person wants to select and
move a piece (e.g., move pawn from H2 to H4)
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Quality of interaction example 2 (4/7)
Quality of interaction example 2 (5/7)
„If no error is made in any click it would take
„Instead of using scanning for mouse
emulation, it is embedded in the application
z16 clicks
z~35 seconds
zonly the pieces that can move are scanned
interaction becomes much more efficient
„Furthermore, accessing the menus can be a
real challenge since they take very limited
screen estate and are quite hard to target
zWhen a menu is selected, the scanning frame
resets to the whole window
There is no way to directly scan the menu’s contents
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Quality of interaction example 2 (7/7)
„If no error is made in any click it takes
z3 clicks
z~15 seconds
using the same scanning speed as in the previous
example
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Approaches to Game Accessibility
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Technical approaches to Game Accessibility
„ From a technical point of view, two main
approaches have emerged:
1. Mainstream games are developed to be
compatible with the use of assistive technologies
z
such as screen readers, mouse emulators or, virtual
keyboards
2. Special-purpose games are created, optimally
designed for people with disabilities
z
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like audio-based games for the blind and switchbased games for the motor-impaired
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Example of the first approach (1/2)
Example of the first approach (2/2)
„ Any game that can be played by motor-impaired
people using switch-based mouse emulator
„WinBoard
z A free graphical chessboard that
can serve as a user interface for
GNU Chess or the Internet Chess
Server
can also be used to play out games
manually or for loading game files
z Fully keyboard-driven and adapted
for compatibility with the JAWS for
Windows screen-reader, through
which it can offer several screen
review options
ftp://ftp.freedomscientific.com/users/hj/winboard/WinBoard.exe
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First approach: Critique (1/3)
„ It is limited to reproducing the offered functionality,
instead of redesigning it to suit the particular user
needs
„ Longer interaction times are required
„ Extensive configuration of physical interaction
parameters is required in order to achieve usability
z because input and output are not optimised to fit the
devices and techniques used
„ Often only part of the full available functionality can
be made accessible
„ Error-prevention can not be supported and
interaction can be particularly error-prone
z e.g., mapping between the assistive technologies used and
the supported devices
„ Impassable implementation barriers can arise
z e.g., graphical images cannot be automatically reproduced
in a non-visual form
z e.g., when a mouse emulator is used selecting small areas
can be very difficult
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First approach: Critique (2/3)
„ Typically suffers from low interaction quality, and
achieves limited accessibility
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First approach: Critique (3/3)
Examples of the second approach (1/2)
„ Jetstream Trader by Brillsoft
„ Design conflicts may arise
z e.g., having to reproduce drag & drop dialogue technique
for blind players
„ Upward compatibility is not offered
z when a new version of a game is developed, the
accessibility adjustments will have to be reimplemented
z Single-switch game
z The player controls a hot air
balloon
z By pressing the switch the balloon
goes up
z Its direction is controlled by
entering different ‘jetstreams’
„ The game is quite simple and
consists of delivering cargo from
one end of the screen to the
other
http://www.brillsoft.com/Index_files/Page552.htm
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„ You use the enter key to serve the ball
„ When the ball is coming towards you, you must pan it to the centre of the
screen using left and right arrow keys
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Second approach: Critique
Examples of the second approach (2/2)
„ Super tennis by VIPGAMESZONE
Δ. Γραμμένος, Α. Σαββίδης
„ Though being the most promising from the quality
point of view, has two key drawbacks:
(a) the cost of developing high quality games is prohibitive
when the potential target group is limited
(b) there is an evident hazard of segregation between able
and disabled gamers, leading to potential social
exclusion
z Using down arrow key + left or right speeds up movement
„ To know were you are on the game field there is a left side, right side and
a middle of the game field sound
„ If the ball is right in front of you, you can return it
z Left ctrl key returns the ball from the left to the right
z Right ctrl key returns the ball from the right to the left
z Space bar returns the ball right back
„ Additional game info that can be accessed includes
z the current score in the current game / match / set
z set number, current game number and current serve
z spoken help
http://www.vipgameszone.com/supertennis/suptennis.php
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A more recent trend
A single player game for sighted & blind
„The development of games for both visuallyimpaired and fully sighted users
„ Terraformers by Pin
Interactive
z A visual / audio hybrid 3D game
that can be played with its visual
3D graphics layer on or off
z It is intended to support players
at all degrees of visual ability or
impairment with a sophisticated
sound interface
z Won the "Innovation in Audio
Award" at the GDC
Independent Games Festival
2003
„Games that can be played both with or
without graphics
„In some cases, some additional functionality
is offered to non-visual players
ze.g., sound-based navigation systems, full audio
descriptions of scenes
http://www.terraformers.nu
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Terraformers (Pin Interactive):
Accessibility features (1/2)
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Terraformers (Pin Interactive):
Accessibility features (2/2)
„ The accessibility features are provided through a
self-voiced PDA built-in the player’s suit
z Direct orientation
using the numeric keyboard, the gamer can orient the avatar
directly in 8 directions (north, northeast...).
z Sound Compass
z Game objects
a 3D sound represents north, and a rough 8 direction spoken
feedback is available by pressing a key on the numerical keyboard
(north, northwest...).
all game objects have voiced feedback and 3D sound icons
z Environments
z Sonar
3D graphics, ambients sounds, footstep sounds on different
ground materials and voiced descriptions of visual, as well as other
sensory input, contribute to environmental feedback
a 3D sound gives the gamer a rough perception of the distance to
objects in the direction the gamer is currently facing
by pressing a key, the gamer can also check what type of object it
is (door, wall, robot...)
enemies are automatically told by the PDA voice
z GPS
a global positioning system is used to get the exact positions of
objects in an area, as well as the position of the player
a voiced menu system provides an overview of nearby objects
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A multiplayer game for sighted & blind
„ All inPlay
Requirements towards a novel approach
„ Games should be inherently accessible to all the
potential user groups
z Online multiplayer card games that
can be played by blind, low vision,
and fully sighted
z without the need of further adjustments, or third-party
assistive software applications
„ Supported features
z Text-to-speech "reads" every move
„ The same game should be concurrently accessible
and playable, cooperatively or competitively, by
people with diverse abilities
z Special sound effects alert for several
events
z Support of keyboard operation
z The window can be resized and its
contents also work with screen
magnifiers
http://allinplay.com/
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Universally Accessible Games
Universally Accessible Games (UA-Games)
„ Follow the principles of Design for All
z being proactively designed to optimally fit and adapt to
different individual gamer characteristics without the need of
further adjustments or developments
„ Can be concurrently played among people with different
abilities
z ideally also when sharing the same computer
„ Can be played on alternative technological platforms
and contexts of use
z using a large variety of devices, including assistive technology
add-ons
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Universally Accessible Games: Vision
„ Through such games people will be able to have
fun and compete on an equal basis
¨ while interacting easily and effectively
z their individual characteristics
z the technology they use
z where they are
Δ. Γραμμένος, Α. Σαββίδης
„ They open up and enhance an entertaining social
experience that would otherwise be unavailable to a
significant percentage of people
„ They allow for social interaction among people who
may never have (or even could have) interacted with
each other
‹irrespective of:
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Universally Accessible Games: Impact
„ They considerably expand the size and composition
of the potential market of the computer games
industry
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About Games & Fun
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About Games & Challenge
„ Each and every game has one or more challenges
„ People play games to have fun
z They may be mental, physical, or both
z They can range from trivial to impossible, but this is
usually were fun comes from
„ But what is fun?
z “what provides amusement or enjoyment”
www.webster.com
Beating the clock, gaining money, capturing the flag, shooting all
the aliens, eating the dots, …
„ The important thing about having fun is that it is
highly subjective
z Some people may find the game of solitaire fun, while
others may have fun blasting hordes of gun-packed aliens
„ As in the case of fun, what constitutes a challenge is
also highly subjective
¨When designing a UA-game, you should keep in
mind that alternative levels (and types) of challenge
should be supported
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Diversity in game challenge
A note on UA-Games
„Different people may have a different view on
what is a challenging game
„Every part of the game – not just the
gameplay – must be accessible, using the
same interaction methods and devices as the
game
zincluding selection screens, options and any
additional functionality (e.g., pause, chat)
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Board games
Case Studies
„ Board games constitute a very fertile ground for developing
UA-Games, due to the following reasons:
z They have a small set of rules, which are simple, while not simplistic,
and easy to learn, understand, and memorize
z They are based on thinking, not on reflex-based reacting, a fact that
can compensate for physical disabilities and allows for longer
interaction times
z They are played in a well-defined, physically constrained, static game
world that allows to be rendered through alternative modalities
z They usually also exist in a physical form, implying that people can
also “physically” experience them
z They are turn-based and thus, when incarnated in an electronic
format, they can fully adapt to the active player’s profile
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UA-Chess
Interacting with UA-Chess
„ Fully-functional chess
game
„ Can be played through a
standard Web browser
„ Alternative input / output modalities & interaction
techniques
z that can co-exist and co-operate in the game’s user
interface
U A - C H E S S
„ Customizable player profiles
„ Fully accessible through:
„ Can be concurrently
played by people with
different abilities and
preferences, including
people with disabilities
z the mouse
z the keyboard
 or any type of switches emulating keystrokes
z speech recognition
z e.g., low-vision, blind and
hand-motor impaired
„ Self-voicing capabilities
z built-in screen reader that offers full auditory access to
every part of the game
„ Developed by the HCI Lab
of ICS-FORTH
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„ Can be sized and zoomed in and out at different
levels
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Abstract task analysis
Chess game
Designing UA-Chess
„ Unified Design method
Review
game board
1. Abstract task analysis
2. Mapping of abstract design elements to lowlevel, physical, interaction styles, meeting the
requirements of each target user group
Select
piece
contents
selected piece
player
possible moves
……..
Styles appropriateness matrix
z Compatibility matrix
z
Δ. Γραμμένος, Α. Σαββίδης
Undo / redo
move
Move
piece
Queen
Rook
King
Knight
Bishop
Pawn
Game-control tasks
(user)
Modify
game state
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Review
game history
Game-play tasks
(user)
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Configure
interaction
New
game
Save
game state
End
game
Restore
game state
Δ. Γραμμένος, Α. Σαββίδης
Choose
Profile
Input
Output
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Interaction styles appropriateness matrix
Mapping abstract tasks to interaction styles
i1
Input
Automated
control
User attributes
i2
Keyboard –
direct selection
Output
Visual
Keyboard –
direct selection
Keyboard –
browse & select
i2
Screen
i4
Mouse
Speech
Manual scanning
i3
i4
i5
i6
o1
=
=
=
=
=
=
9
9
9
Blind
9
Manual scanning
i5
9
9
i6
Speech
commands
9
Screen
i5
Speech
i6
Speech
commands
o2
=
9
=
9
=
9
9
Novice
9 : ideal
o1
9
9
=
Mild cognitive impairment
Expert
i3
9
o2
9
9
Uses multiple switches
Uses single switch
o2
i4
Mouse
i2
No hand-motor impairment
Aural
o1
Full vision
i1
Low vision
i3
Keyboard –
browse & select
Manual
control
i1
Automatic scanning
Interaction styles
Automatic scanning
Select
piece
: appropriate
: could be used
=
9 9
: inappropriate = : neutral
9 (ideal): Explicitly designed for this user attribute
Ç (appropriate): Suitable, but maybe not the best
È (could be used): If nothing else is available it can be used, though not recommended
r (inappropriate): Totally inappropriate, will result in an accessibility barrier
= (neutral): Does not have any effect on the particular user attribute
Interaction styles
User attributes
i1
i2
i3
i4
i5
i6
o1
o2
Low vision, novice, singleswitch
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Compatibility matrix
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Architecture
i1
Automatic scanning
Keyboard –
direct selection
Keyboard –
browse & select
Mouse
i2
i1
i3
i2
i4
Manual scanning
i5
i6
Speech
commands
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9
9
9
9
9
9
9 : compatible
i4
i5
9
9
9
9
9
9
9
9
9
9
i6
9
9
9
i5
i6
i3
9
i3
i4
i2
9
i1
9
9
9
: incompatible
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Technical info
DfA Award
„ Developed using Macromedia Flash MX
Professional 7
„ Nominated for the final
jury decision of the
European Design for
All Awards set by the
European Commission
„ On-line games using Macromedia Flash
Communication Server MX 1.5
z in the category
“AT/Culture, Leisure
and Sport”
¨ Flash does not support speech input / output
z SALT (Speech Application Language Tags ) was used
(http://www.saltforum.org)
 an emergent standard for developing voice-enabled applications
for the Web that extends existing markup languages, such as
HTML and XHTML
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Play UA-Chess
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Slide 86/116
Action games
„ Constitute a real challenge for Universal Access
„ You can play UA-Chess online at:
„ Have highly dynamic content comprising many
different moving objects with alternative
characteristics that appear and disappear
z www.ics.forth.gr/hci/ua-games/ua-chess
z e.g., the player’s character / ship, enemies, bullets, balls,
bonuses
„ Require complex controls
„ Are based on reflex-based reacting
„ The way that two players with different disabilities
can cooperatively play the same action game is
currently an open research issue
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Board vs. Action Games
Developing a “Simple” Action UA-Game
„A step by step example of
creating a remake of the
original Space Invaders©
game by Taito® that is
Universally Accessible
Content & rules
Accessibility
Physical
toys
Computer-based
action games
Computer-based
board games
User interface
„ A basic design differentiation between universally accessible board and
action games is the “degrees of freedom” along which the game can be
modified in order to become accessible
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A simple action game?
Δ. Γραμμένος, Α. Σαββίδης
Using 3 switches?
Í
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Î
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Using 2 switches?
Using 1 switch?
# ! Í
ÍÎ
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ÍÎ
Î
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Using 3 switches + the user cannot react
quickly
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The player has low vision?
„ Adjust
z the ship’s speed
+ the bullets’ speed
z the aliens’ speed
horizontal & vertical
z if / how often they fire
 + the bullets’ speed
z aliens’ spacing & layout
z mothership speed
Í
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Î
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The player is blind? (1/3)
The player is blind? (2/3)
„ Simplify the game
„ Making the game
harder
z Alien moves from top to
bottom
z Player moves freely left /
right
 stereo sound (left/ right)
which attenuates with
distance
 does not shoot
z Alien moves left / right
 stereo sound (left/ right)
z Player moves left / right in
discrete positions
z Alien drops a bomb
z The player has to move below
the alien and shoot it before it
reaches the ground
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 stereo sound (left/ right)
which attenuates with
distance
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The game is too difficult for the player?
The player is blind? (3/3)
„ Adjust
„ More options
z the aliens number
z Several aliens & of
different type
z the ship’s speed
z firepower
z if aliens move
z It is equipped with a radar
that notifies when directly
under alien / bomb
z
z
+ the bullets’ speed
z enlarge shields
z
z Score, lives & level are
read
Δ. Γραμμένος, Α. Σαββίδης
their speed
z if / how often they fire
z Sound cues when reaching
left / right end of screen
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allow the ship’s bullets to
pass through
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If the game is played on a PC…
Thus, making a UA-Game…
„ How would the user access the game menu or pause
the game?
z If there is no restriction on the keys/switches?
Easy: Could use an extra key/switch
z If only 2 or 3 keys/switches can be used?
Could use a combination of key presses
z If only 1 key/switch can be used?
(a) Wait until the game is over
(b) Keep the switch pressed for more than X secs
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?
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„ An accessible remake of the classic Space Invaders
game
„ Every aspect of the game’s functionality is fully
accessible through
„ Developed by the HCI Lab of ICS-FORTH in
close cooperation with the Centre for Universal
Access & Assistive Technologies
z the mouse
z the keyboard
z any type of switches
z the joystick
z in the context of our UA-Games Activity
„ Can be concurrently played
by people with different
abilities & preferences,
incl. people with disabilities
„ Non-visual (audio-based) gameplay is also
supported
z e.g., low-vision, blind &
hand-motor impaired
Δ. Γραμμένος, Α. Σαββίδης
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Interacting with Access Invad ers
Access Invad ers v .1.0
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z acoustic rendering of game information is provided
through the use of spatial audio and of a built-in
screen reader
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Configurability
Configuration options (1/2)
„ Highly customizable
z Supports the creation and use of unlimited user profiles
z Each game parameter can be adapted both based on the
player's profile and the current game level
D im ension
Param eters
Player's
spaceship
™ M ovem ent speed
™ B ullets (speed, auto-fire frequency, if they can pass through
shields)
™ A uto-m oving (the user can change m ovem ent direction)
™ N um ber ofhits it can take before being destroyed
™ N um ber of"lives"
™ Invincibility duration (after it has been destroyed)
™
W hat ki
nd
alien shi
ps be
theconcurrentl
specific player
can
dest
roy group
Several
al
ienofgroups
can
y acti
ve.
E ach
„ Multi-player games
A liens
z Unlimited number of concurrent players
z Each player can be using a different profile
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Δ. Γραμμένος, Α. Σαββίδης
can have a different configuration:
™
™
™
™
™
™
™
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N um ber oflines ofalien ships
N um ber ofalien ships per line
H orizontaland verticaldistance betw een alien ships
H orizontaland verticalspeed ofthe group
Frequency ofbom b dropping
B om b's speed
W hich player(s)this group's bom bs can destroy
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Alternative game profiles (1/2)
Configuration options (2/2)
D im ension
Param eters
M othership
™ Frequency ofappearance
™ Speed
A nim ated
graphic
elem ents
™ Im ages /anim ation film s
™ Sound and m usic
Shields
™ Shape and layout
™ N um ber ofhits they can take before being destroyed
B ackground
™ C olor /G raphics
™ Space travelling effect (flying stars)
G eneral
™ Screen resolution and color depth
™ Full-screen/w indow ed m ode
™ G am e controls
™ Fonts
™ Speech
™ In-gam e m essages
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Alternative game profiles (2/2)
Technical info
„ Runs on Windows & GNU/Linux
„ Developed in C++ also using the following 3rd party tools:
z SDL
 a low level, cross-platform, graphics and input library. Used for
drawing the graphics on the screen and getting input from the
interaction devices supported by the game
z OpenAL
 a cross-platform 3D sound library. Used for the reproduction of
sound effects, synthesized speech and music
z Festival Lite (Flite)
 a cross-platform runtime speech synthesis engine. Used for
synthesizing speech from the textual messages and objects that
appear on the screen
z Freetype
 a font engine for true-type font rendering. Used for rendering the
textual messages and objects that appear on the screen
z Ogg Vorbis
 an open, patent-free, professional audio encoding, decoding and
streaming technology. Libvorbis is used for the decoding of ogg
music files.
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Download
Δ. Γραμμένος, Α. Σαββίδης
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Conclusions
„ You can download Access Invaders for Windows
& GNU/Linux from:
z www.ics.forth.gr/hci/ua-games/access-invaders
„ Detailed user manual available, including
instructions of how you can edit the current &
create new game configurations
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Creating UA-Games requirements (1/2)
„ Designing for context independence
Creating UA-Games requirements (2/2)
„ Inclusive and participative design
z at an abstract level without considering specific interaction
modalities, metaphors, techniques or devices and separating the
content and the related mechanics from the way that these can be
accessed by, and presented to, the user
z considering the broadest possible population during design and have
representatives from as many categories as possible participating and
providing input to all the development phases
„ Mapping abstract design elements to coherent, usable and
accessible interaction designs based on the users’ individual
characteristics
„ Creating user interfaces that can support alternative
interaction methods and modalities that can co-exist and cooperate
„ Designing based on incomplete knowledge
z as games can target highly diverse audiences
„ Open and extensible interaction design
z so that, later on, it will be still possible to expand the design to cater
for more user categories and contexts of use
„ Designing for non-typical user groups
z which may have nothing in common with the designer
„ Creating user interfaces that are able to adapt to alternative
user profiles
z i.e., sets of preferences, requirements and needs, and contexts of use
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A clarification
„ They strongly cater for the needs and actively
support the right of all people for social interaction
and play
z irrespective of their individual differences
¨ thus providing a steppingstone towards a more inclusive
(and fun!) Information Society
„ It is obvious that there will always be games that
z due to their intrinsic characteristics, cannot be made
accessible to a range of people
‹ Furthermore,
this approach has the potential to
render universally accessible several “physical”
games that in their original form are not
(concurrently) accessible to several groups of people
with diverse disabilities
e.g., complex strategy games for the cognitive disabled
z when made accessible may have no meaning or interest
for those people
e.g., a “find the song title from listening to a melody” game for a
deaf
Δ. Γραμμένος, Α. Σαββίδης
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Benefits of UA-Games
„ When referring to games that are universally
accessible, it is meant that these games can be
played by all people who can potentially play them
but may currently be restrained from it due to design
flaws; not by all the people in the world
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