I NCLUSIVITY : H OW TO MAXIMIZE THE NUMBER OF CUSTOMERS FOR YOUR GAME

A GE D ISTRIBUTION : US C ENSUS

36 M ILLION PEOPLE 50+ DON ’ T PLAY GAMES  Total 50+ in US = 78 million+  ESA says 27% of gamers are 50+  That means 42 million 50+ people are gamers  This leaves 36 million who are not playing your game for some reason.

W HY DON ’ T THEY PLAY GAMES ? It is not that they don’t know how to use computers and mobile devices – that is 20 th century thinking!  84% of households own a computer and 51% own a game console.  Most people work and most jobs require familiarity with computers  74% of people 65+ own a cell phone and 63% of them use it to go online

T HEY DON ’ T BUY YOUR GAME BECAUSE :  Over half of people 65+ have one or more disabilities due to age, and most games are not designed with that in mind  You are not marketing to, or merchandising for them – so they don’t know what is out there and that they can play and enjoy them

O THER DISENFRANCHISED GROUPS Color Blind: 30.8 million people in the US can’t play your game because your game is not color blind accessible.  Total US population in 2010 = million  Approximately 10% of the total population, mostly males, are color blind, that makes over 30.8 million people unable to play your game

O THER DISENFRANCHISED GROUPS : C ONTINUED People who have a disability from birth, injury or disease.  The census shows that 18.7 percent of the total population or 56.7 million people are disabled.  This figure includes loss of limbs or paralysis from military, industrial or auto accidents etc.  There is some overlap with the 50+ population, but that is still a very large number of potential customers.

P ROBLEM : H OW TO MAKE YOUR GAME ACCESSIBLE Important comments:  Partial solutions OK - No single game can meet all needs, but including some accessibility features can significantly increase the market for your game.  Design first – It costs more to add accessibility features at the end rather than including them in your design.  Market - To benefit from these features, you need to include them in your marketing content and targets.

C OLOR B LINDNESS :  1. Use colors that are color-blind friendly.*  2. Use shape differences rather than color differences for game crucial objects.  3. Use textures within objects in addition to color to differentiate among them. *See References at the end of the presentation

V ISUAL I MPAIRMENT  1. Use high contrast text – no taupe on gray!  2. Have a big type option, like browsers do.  3. Size matters. Ensure that any game-crucial object is large enough and clear enough so that it is visible to someone who can’t see very well.  4. Make sure all computer controls are keyboard accessible. Make tabs and tab order hit all controls. Elite players like this too.  5. Add sounds to warn gamers of things that are happening visually – especially in darkened scenes.

H EARING : Reduced Hearing:  1. Closed Captions to indicate dialogue and game important sounds as they happen.  2. Visual clues to any game-crucial activity that is happening.  3. At the very least, captions for any video, cut scene, dialogue etc.  4. Settings that allow music, incidental sounds and dialogue to be adjusted independently to meet the needs of the player.

M OTION I MPAIRMENT Hands and arms:  1. No chording. On computer and consoles, single key controls.  2. Configurable. Allow reassignment of buttons / keys.  3. Size matters. Make hot spots/targets large enough to accommodate someone with palsy, shaking hands, or loss of fine motor control.

G ENERAL M OTION I MPAIRMENT  Speed control. Have variable speed of play, time to accomplish a task, or other timed activities.  One-switch. Where possible, use a one-button control scheme where the option to do something shifts between choices and a single button chooses the desired option.

C OGNITIVE P ROBLEMS : Autism Spectrum:  1. Controlled complexity. Enabling the complexity of a game to be reduced helps people with autism. It also helps newbie’s learn to play the game.  2. Repetition. Repetition of action is desirable for people with autism.

D EVELOPMENTAL D ISABILITIES :  1. Having a simplified version of a more complex game can make it accessible to people with learning disabilities and broaden the market.  2. Keeping simple games age appropriate. Just because a game is simple, doesn’t mean you always use cutesy illustrations and childish situations. Cognitively disabled individuals older than teenagers are not children.

C APTURE THE B ULGE

R ESOURCES : Go to: Resources : For Accessibility Guidelines, Color Blind Charts and more. Top 25 : For organizations that promote game accessibility, and for accessible game information, and the people who are building these games. Also:

C ONTACT INFORMATION : Eleanor Robinson