How to Design the Most Accessible Apps and Games: Part I

people that make use of accessibility features in apps and games include those with hearing or visual impairments, motor impairments, and cognitive impairments.

how different degrees of color blindness affect people. via 64ouncegames.com.

image via mypad.northampton.ac.uk

there are some cognitive benefits to using a well-sized font too. it’s much easier for dyslexics to read a well-sized simple font as the letters are not as close together. if you can get your font size correct, then it should be easy to make the rest of your app or game accessible too.

3. pay attention to buttons

buttons can be the hardest part of engaging with an app or game for the visually impaired. some of the problems that users encounter include buttons being too small to press or buttons being too close together.

as with font size, both google and apple provide best practices for button design and minimum button sizes. you can use these guidelines to begin with and then make improvements from there.

buttons should never be close together, but if you absolutely need to have buttons close together, make sure they’re big enough to compensate for the tight contact area.

flappy bird is considered an industry standard when it comes to button placement and size. you can check out the v-play version of flappy bird here !

accessibility tips for the hearing impaired

users with hearing impairments include deaf people, as well as people with partial hearing or hearing loss in one or multiple ears. there are a number of other hearing disorders but these are the main ones we can combat with accessible design

4. implement volume controls

while apps can be rich in ui sounds or used to play multimedia such as songs and videos, mobile games tend to require more listening attention.

between the in-game soundtrack, ui sounds, and in-game dialogue, there are a lot of obstacles that the hearing impaired need to overcome to get the full user experience of a mobile game.

one simple way to make your mobile game more accessible is by enabling individual volume controls for all of the different types of sound featured in your game. this way, your players can determine what is most important for them to hear when playing your game.

depending on your game, it may be necessary for a user to mute the game soundtrack or increase the volume of ui sounds in order to get the full enjoyment of your game. by giving them the choice of what they hear, you can make your app or game more accessible to those with hearing impairments.

5. combine audio and visual cues

many apps and games make use of audio cues to tell users when they’ve received a notification or made an in-game discovery. unfortunately for the hearing impaired, these cues can often go unnoticed.

that’s why it’s always important to give these cues in more than one way. in order to make your app or game more accessible to both the visual and hearing impaired, make sure to combine your audio cues with a visual cue, and vice versa.

your visual cue can be something as simple as a text description of what’s happening or an animation that clearly shows something of note has occurred.

by combining audio and visual cues, you increase the amount of engagement that the hearing impaired can have. it’s a simple technique for a simple problem but that extra accessibility is sure to lead to a more positive user experience for many of your users.

6. provide subtitles when necessary

if your mobile game features a backstory or shows some kind of character interaction, make sure to include subtitles for the hearing impaired.

subtitles are easy for developers to include and are one of the most well-established accessibility features in modern society. whether it’s tv, live performance or an atm, subtitle implementation is a well-documented art form that doesn’t need to distract from your app or game.

remember to use a legible font size, clear text formatting and make sure the font and background color contrast heavily. subtitles have been a part of mobile gaming since the nintendo gameboy so there are plenty examples for your to look at and draw inspiration from.

be sure to check out part two this week!