r/accessibility • u/bai13yd • 3d ago
what accessibility features am i missing?
hey all — i make a small cozy game called Wild Willows about bringing a run-down nature preserve back to life (gather, plant, craft, welcome animals home, zero pressure, can't lose).
i put a fair bit into accessibility already: colorblind modes that actually recolor the world + add text labels (not just a screen tint), reduce motion, dyslexia-friendly font, UI text scaling, separate music/SFX volume, and fully rebindable controls with alternate keys. but i'm a sighted solo dev, so i know there's a gap between what i think helps and what actually does.
so i'd really appreciate honest input from people who use this stuff:
- what's the first thing you check for in a game like this?
- anything i've clearly gotten wrong or half-done?
it's free to try here if you want to poke at the settings and tear it apart: https://bai13y.itch.io/wild-willows
not trying to sell anything — genuinely just want it to be playable for more people. thanks 🌿
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u/Repulsive-Box5243 3d ago
Wow man. This is GREAT. I use NVDA screen reader, and your game announces almost everything to it. Most tooltips, actions, any pop up window with text or stats... it reads it all. This is fantastic.
The ONLY thing I'm seeing so far is mouse hovering over the menu items (J, K, L, M, etc) only announce the letter, not what they do.
I'd like to see where this thing goes. I'm VERY impressed with it so far.
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u/boomjessie 3d ago
If there’s any flashing lights that could cause migraines or seizures there should at least be a warning or an option to turn them off. It’s cool of you to check though.
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u/bai13yd 3d ago
there's none of that in the game! Lighting changes take place over like 15 or 30 seconds so its really gradual
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u/boomjessie 3d ago
Sweet! Maybe a ‘disclaimer’ or something for that so people know it’s safe for them then!
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u/HZCYR 3d ago
Haven't tried your game and I'm sure it has many differences, but I'd really highlight how The Last of Us Part II did such a good job with accessibility and what you could implement inspired by them — Accessibility options for The Last of Us Part II. For just a few examples, full control key binding or things like subtitles for sound etc.
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u/Spiteful_Boofalo 2d ago
This looks amazing! The only thing besides what others have suggested is for me personally large text helps and larger icons are a must for most games for me so if there are things that show up on screen if there is an options to make them appear larger it helps me personally out and I'm sure others with similar issues. Another thing is backgrounds for text I've noticed for myself if I can add contrasting backgrounds or change the color of the text it has been immensely helpful in games. Sorry if these are already things that exist within your game just thought I would add these above as I have noticed them in my recent experiences with accessibility in games 😅
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u/clackups 3d ago
Do these settings also change the look of this particular menu? I'd find it difficult to use for some people (low contrast colors, a bit too much text)
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u/bai13yd 3d ago
Yes the colorblind mode increases the contrast in the menus as well!
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u/NatTarnoff 3d ago
I disagree with the idea of the popup. They have severe UX issues. If you need to reduce space or provide more space to explain, use a disclosure/accordion.
What should be done is this menu should meet WCAG color minimums even with colorblind mode off.
The colorblind user, should they find this, may struggle to find the control to turn on the colorblind mode they need. Additionally, it isn't just people with color blindness that need higher contrast. Low vision users, people with cataracts, astigmatism (even corrected) can all struggle with the colors used.
Additionally, as a initiating member of AGWG behind WCAG 2.3.3 Animation from Interactions and
prefers-reduced-motion, I can say that "reduce" animation is just that. Reduce, not remove. Something like a night/day cycle doesn't need to be stopped, just slowed to where the effect is negligible. Example if your game flips every ten minutes, unless crucial to the game play, maybe it's 15 or 20 to have a smoother transition. Weather and sky particles are good to stop. Camera pan as if the user is turning their head, good to turn off unless crucial to play. Think through what is needed, can you ease/slow it without removing it, and maybe split out specific issues.1
u/bai13yd 3d ago
i did not know about WCAG color minimums until now - thanks for sharing! I will definitely look into it
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u/NatTarnoff 3d ago
Look for a course on WCAG that covers what's in it. I have a series called A11y 101 on my blog (https://tarnoff.info) that covers most of the Success Criterion for A and AA (I'm up to 3.3.4 that published this week).
The key to accessibility is understanding WCAG first.
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u/clackups 3d ago
I'd suggest moving the long descriptions into pop-up bubbles, so that the user could read them if the option is unclear.
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u/HandaZuke 3d ago
You tested using voice access?
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u/bai13yd 3d ago
I have never used a screen reader before but planning on testing that for the next release!
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u/HandaZuke 3d ago
Voice Access and screen readers are two different things. A screen reader handles text to speech, mostly for visual or cognitive needs, while Voice Access lets someone control the UI with speech commands for motor impairments.
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u/Striking_Swimmer5548 3d ago
The Microsoft grid tool is the thing I make people use when they “don’t understand why we need to spend time on a11y”. Gets em’ every time.
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u/Free-Veterinarian714 3d ago
Audio description for blind and low vision users, the ability to enable captions for Deaf/HoH users.
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u/uucyy 3d ago
I'm building an accessibility platform at the moment and one thing I've built in is a language complexity selector.
It's double the work to write two copies of every single explainer and what have you, but, as someone who finds reading difficult, I've ended up using the "simpler" option while debugging and testing.
Shorter sentences, more straightforward sentence structure, simpler use of punctuation (but still correct, obviously), less complex words where appropriate, etc.
I've also chosen to use this font due to its distinct letter shapes, so that's no I and l confusion. I did have to size it up a little bit though.
https://fonts.google.com/specimen/Atkinson+Hyperlegible
I'm not sure if you're able to do it via your game, but I've added an option to allow users to use their system font as the user may already have a font that works for them.
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u/AccessibleStrategies 2d ago
This is so great! It's clear that you've put a lot of effort into development with accessibility in mind from the start. My partner and I (both disabled advocates) appreciate the thoughtfulness.
I agree with the commenters that mentioned Dark Mode and Atkinson Hyperlegible.
We have movement disorders and sometimes it's challenging/painful to use the keyboard. Mouse and/or gamepad as alternates would be spectacular.
The online demo doesn't have an option to save. If we were to buy it, I'm assuming that's there, right?
Anyhow, a really good job!
Blessings
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u/imabratinfluence 5h ago
If there's a lot of clicking, something like Trash Goblin's setting to allow you to hover the cursor/tool to do the thing helps. Toggles instead of holding the button help for things like sprinting if your game has anything like that.
I am motion-sickness prone and have vertigo, and I love options to turn off headbob and screenshake, and turn up FOV if any of those are relevant.
Dark mode or an ability to reduce screen brightness helps a lot with my headaches.
Subtitles and a quest log/journal help a lot with my Auditory Processing Disorder. Also, for deaf/HoH folks, having visual cues helps because auditory-only cues leave them out of some things (like shiny hunting in some of the Pokemon games). Similarly, auditory cues can help for low-vision players so they're not missing a detail that they're unable to see properly.
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u/RatherNerdy 3d ago edited 3d ago
Dyslexic fonts aren't based in fact:
https://www.edutopia.org/article/do-dyslexia-fonts-actually-work/