Digital Accessibility

For our Creativity Module, I did my project on Digital Accessibility. This is how disabled people access or benefit from a site, using a combination of multisensory and multi-interactivity approaches. This is important to improve the usability of your site for all users.

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Accessible Practices

• Do not rely on color
• Images should have
• Can be accessible both by keyboard and by voice control
• Transcripts on videos/podcasts & in-sync captioning (Accessibility Basics)
• Specific font usage:
  • Have consistent appearance (familiar, easy-parsed fonts)
  • Avoid character complexity
  • Use a limited number of fonts
  • Consider the spacing and size of the texts
  • Not much contrast between the text and the background (Typefaces and Fonts)

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Fonts (Typefaces and Fonts)

• Sans-serif fonts are better for viewing on screen
• Serif fonts are better for prints
• Some letters can look similar to one another in certain fonts
• Cursive fonts are difficult to read
• Words can be confused if the spacing between letters is too small
• Thin fonts are difficult to read
• Text on images loses most of its adaptability due to pixels
• Make sure all fonts/text are the same
  • The addition of bold, italics, or all capital letters can be hard to read
• Ensure there is no mirroring (dbpq)
• There should be a visible difference between capital and lowercase letters

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Accessibility in Gaming (Mut)

• 92% of people with disabilities play video games
  • 33 million of these people are just in the US
• Normal controllers are manufactured for full hand functions, which is not possible for people with conditions that affect motor movements to use
• Fonts too small for people with visual impairments
• Many games lack captions for those with hearing impairments
• Some games are motion-based, which some people cannot do

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Changes to Gaming Accessibility (Mut)

• Nintendo makes Switch More Inclusive
  • People can use a console with a soft keyboard/controller that can be used with a person’s feet
• Rock Band makes an accessible kit for wheelchair users
• Microsoft launched an adaptive Xbox controller designed for people who are missing limbs or have poor motor control
• Tobii tracks eye movement to control movements in the game
• PS4 is using text-to-speech, larger fonts, and reforming game designs so the buttons do not need to be tapped repeatedly to play

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NCSU Principles of Universal Design (Connell)

North Carolina State University’s Suggestions for Accessibility

1. Equitable Use
   • Useful and marketable to people with diverse abilities
2. Flexibility in Use
   • Accommodates a wide variety of preferences and abilities
3. Simple and Intuitive Use
   • Easy to understand, regardless of the user’s skills
4. Perceptible Information
   • Able to communicate information effectively to the user
5. Tolerance for Error
   • Minimizes hazards/consequences from accidents/unintended actions
6. Low Physical Effort
   • Can be used easily and comfortably
7. Size and Space for Approach and Use
   • Accommodates size and space regardless of user size/mobility, etc.

Citations

“Accessibility Basics.” Usability.gov, Department of Health and Human Services, 26 Feb. 2015, https://www.usability.gov/what-and-why/accessibility.html.

Connell, Bettye Rose, et al. “The Principles of Universal Design.” The Center for Universal Design – Universal Design Principles, NC State University , 1 Apr. 1997, https://projects.ncsu.edu/ncsu/design/cud/about_ud/udprinciplestext.htm.

“Introduction to Web Accessibility.” Edited by Shawn  Lawton Henry, Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI), W3C, 31 Mar. 2022, https://www.w3.org/WAI/fundamentals/accessibility-intro/.

Mut, Chris. “Accessibility Finally Matters to the Game Industry – but It Needs to Do Better.” VentureBeat, VentureBeat, 8 Oct. 2019, https://venturebeat.com/games/accessibility-finally-matters-to-the-game-industry-but-it-needs-to-do-better/.

“Typefaces and Fonts.” WebAIM, WebAIM, 2022, https://webaim.org/techniques/fonts/.

Williams, Gareth Ford. “A Guide to Understanding What Makes a Typeface Accessible.” Medium, The Readability Group, 29 July 2021, https://medium.com/the-readability-group/a-guide-to-understanding-what-makes-a-typeface-accessible-and-how-to-make-informed-decisions-9e5c0b9040a0.

Illustrate Photo- (Williams)

All other photos on slide 6- (Typefaces and Fonts)

Xbox Controllers- https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/d/xbox-adaptive-controller/8NSDBHZ1N3D8/0002?source=googleshopping&ef_id=CjwKCAjwwL6aBhBlEiwADycBIO9oO_RVbbGIZuhnua-b-8JZlS8G7hhcsDiiFP0FPDtuKZ370xU6ChoCW5cQAvD_BwE:G:s&s_kwcid=AL!4249!3!525973654262!!!g!973052197885!!13396700863!128503647732&ef_id=CjwKCAjwwL6aBhBlEiwADycBIO9oO_RVbbGIZuhnua-b-8JZlS8G7hhcsDiiFP0FPDtuKZ370xU6ChoCW5cQAvD_BwE:G:s&OCID=AIDcmmko2wx7k7_SEM_CjwKCAjwwL6aBhBlEiwADycBIO9oO_RVbbGIZuhnua-b-8JZlS8G7hhcsDiiFP0FPDtuKZ370xU6ChoCW5cQAvD_BwE:G:s&gclid=CjwKCAjwwL6aBhBlEiwADycBIO9oO_RVbbGIZuhnua-b-8JZlS8G7hhcsDiiFP0FPDtuKZ370xU6ChoCW5cQAvD_BwE