Game Accessibility - Accessible Game Categories

Accessible Game Categories

Over the past decade, small companies and independent game developers have developed numerous games that seek to accommodate the abilities of players with the most severe impairments and which has led to the definition of the following accessible game categories:

• Audio games are games specifically for gamers who are blind. These games can be played without visual feedback and instead use audio based techniques such as audio cues or synthetic speech. The audiogames website provides a comprehensive overview of available games.
• One-switch games are games that can be played using switch access and which accommodate the abilities of users with severe motor impairments or cognitive impairmens. The oneswitch website provides an overview of available one switch games.
• Games for people with a learning disability, people with a Learning disability, may have low literacy or a combination of Complex Needs, for instance an individual might also have Ataxia or limited co-ordination. A detailed description of gaming with a learning disability.
• Universally Accessible games are games that offer multiple interfaces to support different impairments. An overview of universally accessible games can be found here.

These games are not only great examples of accessible games, but also drive innovation in game design. In recent years, game accessibility has been actively researched, for example in student projects . The unique limitations of the target group make such projects interesting, instructive and challenging for students.