accessibility-design

What this skill does

# Accessibility Design

**Purpose:** Make games playable by the widest possible audience through deliberate, integrated design. Accessibility isn't a feature you bolt on — it's a lens you design through. Games designed for the margins are better for everyone.

**Standards:** This skill draws on WCAG (Web Content Accessibility Guidelines), the Xbox Accessibility Guidelines (XAG), and the Game Accessibility Guidelines (gameaccessibilityguidelines.com). These represent industry consensus, not aspirational ideals — major platforms now require or incentivize compliance.

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## When to Activate

Use this skill **proactively** — not after someone reports a problem:

- Designing any player-facing feature (UI, controls, feedback, narrative delivery)
- Evaluating an existing game or prototype for accessibility gaps
- Responding to player feedback about barriers ("I can't read the text", "I can't tell these apart")
- Designing difficulty options, assist systems, or adaptive mechanics
- Implementing subtitles, captions, or audio description systems
- Designing or reviewing input systems (remapping, sensitivity, alternate schemes)
- Planning a colorblind mode or high-contrast mode
- Reviewing a feature that uses color, sound, or timing to convey critical information
- When the answer to "can a player with [disability] complete this?" is uncertain

**When a player says "I can't play this" — that's a design failure, not a player limitation.**

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## Core Principle: Accessibility Is Design

Accessibility features aren't accommodations for edge cases. They're design improvements that happen to be essential for some players and beneficial for all.

| "Accessibility" Feature | Who It Was "For" | Who Actually Uses It |
|------------------------|-------------------|----------------------|
| Subtitles | Deaf/hard-of-hearing players | Everyone on public transit, in noisy rooms, or with sleeping partners |
| Remappable controls | Players with motor disabilities | Everyone with a preference or non-standard controller |
| High contrast mode | Low-vision players | Everyone on a mobile screen in sunlight |
| Adjustable text size | Vision-impaired players | Everyone sitting far from a TV |
| Difficulty options | Cognitive accessibility | Everyone whose skill level doesn't match one preset |
| Motion reduction | Vestibular disorders | Everyone who gets motion sick from excessive camera shake |

This is the curb-cut effect: design for the margins and the center benefits automatically.

**Design rule:** If a feature helps 5% of players and harms 0%, ship it.

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## The Four Pillars

Accessibility barriers organize into four categories based on the player need they address. Most games have gaps in all four — prioritize by the tiers in the next section.

### Pillar 1: Visual

Players who are blind, have low vision, are colorblind, or are photosensitive.

| Barrier | Solution | Standard |
|---------|----------|----------|
| Color-only information | Add shape, pattern, text, or position as redundant channel | WCAG 1.4.1, XAG 106 |
| Small text | Scalable text, minimum 28px at 1080p for body text | XAG 102 |
| Low contrast | 4.5:1 ratio for text, 3:1 for large UI elements | WCAG 1.4.3 (AA) |
| No screen reader support | Semantic UI structure, text alternatives for images | WCAG 1.1.1 |
| Fixed UI scale | Independent UI scaling separate from resolution | XAG 102 |
| Photosensitive content | No flashing above 3Hz, option to disable screen effects | WCAG 2.3.1 |
| Motion-intensive effects | Motion reduction toggle (camera shake, screen bob, parallax) | WCAG 2.3.3 |

### Pillar 2: Auditory

Players who are deaf, hard of hearing, or playing without sound.

| Barrier | Solution | Standard |
|---------|----------|----------|
| Audio-only critical info | Visual equivalent for every audio cue (directional indicators, alerts) | XAG 107 |
| No subtitles | Subtitle system with speaker identification | XAG 107 |
| No captions | Descriptive captions for non-speech sounds [explosion nearby] | GAG intermediate |
| Mixed audio levels | Independent volume sliders per channel (music, SFX, voice, ambient) | XAG 107 |
| Directional audio cues | Visual directional indicators (damage direction, footstep radar) | GAG advanced |
| Voice chat dependency | Text chat alternative, ping systems, visual callouts | XAG 107 |

### Pillar 3: Motor

Players with limited mobility, dexterity, or stamina — including temporary conditions (broken arm, RSI).

| Barrier | Solution | Standard |
|---------|----------|----------|
| Hardcoded controls | Full remapping for ALL inputs, no exceptions | XAG 104 |
| Hold-to-activate only | Toggle/hold option for every sustained input (sprint, aim, crouch) | XAG 104 |
| Rapid button mashing | Alternative input (hold, auto-complete, reduced threshold) | GAG intermediate |
| Precision timing | Adjustable timing windows, generous input buffers | XAG 109 |
| Complex simultaneous inputs | Simplification options, sequential alternatives | GAG advanced |
| Fixed sensitivity | Adjustable dead zones, sensitivity curves, acceleration | XAG 104 |
| No one-handed play | Alternative control schemes, copilot mode | GAG advanced |

### Pillar 4: Cognitive

Players with cognitive disabilities, learning differences, ADHD, anxiety — or anyone overwhelmed by complexity.

| Barrier | Solution | Standard |
|---------|----------|----------|
| Single difficulty preset | Multiple options, ideally granular per-parameter | XAG 109 |
| Unforgiving timing | Pauseable gameplay, adjustable game speed | XAG 109 |
| Unclear objectives | Objective markers, quest logs, waypoint systems | GAG basic |
| No save flexibility | Save anywhere, generous autosave | GAG basic |
| Unreplayable tutorials | Tutorial replay from menu, contextual hints | GAG basic |
| Information overload | Adjustable HUD density, progressive disclosure | See **player-ux** |
| Distressing content | Content warnings, option to skip/reduce intensity | GAG intermediate |
| Complex navigation | Minimap, breadcrumbs, "return to path" button | GAG intermediate |

Cognitive accessibility has the broadest overlap with general UX quality — this is where accessibility and **player-ux** (cognitive load management) directly converge.

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## Implementation Tiers

Prioritize by ratio of players impacted to implementation cost.

### Tier 1: Must-Have (Ship Before Launch)

| Pillar | Feature | Why Tier 1 |
|--------|---------|------------|
| Visual | No color-only information | ~8-10% of males colorblind; free if designed in |
| Visual | Scalable text (min 28px at 1080p) | Large-screen and mobile players need this |
| Visual | Contrast ratios (4.5:1 text, 3:1 UI) | WCAG AA baseline |
| Visual | Motion reduction option | Vestibular disorders affect ~35% of adults over 40 |
| Motor | Remappable controls (every input) | Platform certification requirement |
| Motor | Toggle/hold for sustained inputs | Minimal cost, major RSI/mobility impact |
| Auditory | Subtitles with speaker identification | ~15% of adults have hearing loss |
| Auditory | Independent volume sliders | Standard player expectation |
| Cognitive | Difficulty options | Benefits the widest player range |
| Cognitive | Pauseable gameplay | Essential for parents, interruptions, anxiety |
| Cognitive | Clear objective/waypoint system | Reduces frustration universally |

### Tier 2: Should-Have (First Major Update)

| Pillar | Feature | Why Tier 2 |
|--------|---------|------------|
| Visual | High contrast mode | Growing platform expectation |
| Visual | Independent UI scaling | Important for complex HUDs |
| Motor | Adjustable timing windows | Major motor accessibility lever |
| Motor | One-handed control scheme | Temporary injury, one-arm holds |
| Auditory | Visual sound indicators | Essential for deaf/HoH in action games |
| Auditory | Descriptive captions | Ambient narrative for deaf/HoH |
| Cognitive | Adjustable game speed | Broad benefit; doubles as difficulty lever |
| Cognitive | Tutorial