The A11yCats Game Design Process: An Irreverent Reverent Adventure in Accessibility

A presentation at axe-con by Carie Fisher

Accessible Gaming The A11yCats Game: An Irreverent Reverent Adventure in Accessibility

Accessible Gaming The A11yCats Game: An Irreverent Reverent Adventure in Accessibility

History of A11yCats

History of A11yCats

A11yCats History

A11yCats History

Our Team

Our Team

Digital Accessibility Lab Team

Digital Accessibility Lab Team

Building the Game

Building the Game

The A11yCats Game: An Irreverent Reverent Adventure in Accessibility

The A11yCats Game: An Irreverent Reverent Adventure in Accessibility

Considerations for Accessibility

Considerations for Accessibility

Impact of the Game—Research

Impact of the Game—Research

User Interface (UI) and Heads Up Display (HUD)

User Interface (UI) and Heads Up Display (HUD)

UX (User Experience) Study of the Game

UX (User Experience) Study of the Game

IRB (Institutional Review Board) approval

IRB (Institutional Review Board) approval

Why research in the first place?

Why research in the first place?

What do we want to know?

What do we want to know?

Research Methods

Research Methods

Phase 1: Survey

Phase 1: Survey

Types of Survey Questions

Types of Survey Questions

Phase 2: Interviews

Phase 2: Interviews

Play Testing

Play Testing

What's next?

What's next?

Thank you!

Thank you!

The Digital Accessibility Lab team at Iowa State University has been designing and developing the A11yCats Game. The team embraces the disability community concept, “Nothing about us, without us.” The games impetus is to embrace disabled characters as playable characters and to form a research study of how disabled players want to be represented in games. Too often, players with disabilities are not included in any phases of game design and development. While disabled characters sometimes appear in games, they are nonplayable characters (NPCs). NPCs devalue and “Other” disabled persons. Further, the game is being created with accessibility in mind from the beginning with art, design, and code.

Resources

The following resources were mentioned during the presentation or are useful additional information.