Xbox Accessibility Guideline 103: Additional channels for visual and audio cues

Goal

The goal of this Xbox Accessibility Guideline (XAG) is to express visual and audio cues by using multiple sensory methods. This is to ensure that key information is perceivable by players who are blind or have low vision and players who are deaf or hard of hearing.

Overview

Visual and audio cues are often key to gameplay. They inform a player of events like gunfire, taking enemy damage, the presence of interactable objects, a new objective, and more. When this type of information is only presented visually or audibly, players who have vision or hearing loss can miss out on key information that's necessary to their gameplay. For example, enemy gunshots can be expressed audibly—but if a player can't hear them because of hearing loss or a situational circumstance like playing in a loud room without a headset, their character might lose health and die before the player has a chance to take cover. Similarly, if these gunshot cues were only expressed visually on screen, a player who is blind or otherwise can't rely on visual cues might have a similar experience. When cues are provided through multiple sensory methods, relying on sight or hearing alone is no longer a requirement for success.

Additionally, it's important to ensure that visual cues are perceivable to players with color vision deficiency or colorblindness. It can affect the brightness of colors, the shades of colors, and ultimately might affect the ability to discern the difference between colors. This can cause elements in the gameplay environment to disappear or become hidden for the player.

Scoping questions

How does your game relay information to a player (by sound, visual cues, haptic)?

• Does your game provide audio or visual content that, if not acted upon, would result in a negative consequence for the player (for example, the game cues players that they're being shot at by using audible gunshot noises. If a player isn't aware of this and doesn't take cover, their character will die)?

• Does your game use color to identify or distinguish important elements or information (like blue flowers are poisonous, and green flowers are safe to eat)?

Background and foundational information: Additional channels for visual and audio cues

Options for multisensory communication of information

Ensuring that information is presented to a player by using more than one sensory channel will enhance the perceivability for all players. The following are suggestions for ways of relaying information that, when combined with one another, helps more players perceive this information.

Visual options

Text

Text or text labels that are visually accessible (for more information, see XAG 101: Text display) and provide verbal context for what an on screen symbol or element represents can lessen cognitive load.

Symbols and shapes

Symbols and shapes, when combined with other information channels such as text labels, can help quickly express and reinforce information. Symbols can also be helpful for players who can't read text or might require a longer time to read/process text. For example, an exclamation point symbol as the universal signifier for "alert" or "error" might be easier to understand for some players—but including an associated text label with additional written context is equally important for others.

Color

In combination with other information elements, color can help reinforce information and provide additional context for players.

On screen elements

On screen visual elements such as enemy fire or damage indicators are also important in supplementing information.

Audio options

Spatial audio

Audio can also be used to inform the player of things like the direction and distance of a cue.

Audio cues

Various audio cues such as a ping or bell can be used in addition to other methods of relaying information. In this example, a noise alert is heard when a new objective task appears on screen.

Haptic options

Haptic cues

Haptic rumbling patterns of a controller can be used as an additional way to alert a player of visual or audio information being presented in a game (for more detailed guidance about the use of haptic cues, see XAG 110: Haptic feedback).

Color vision deficiency or "colorblindness"

A game's color palette might seem to provide an experience with enough difference between the colors of key elements. However, for a player with colorblindness, gameplay elements might still appear muted or blend into the background. Cataracts are another eye condition that affects color perception. Cataracts are even more common than colorblindness. When color alone is used to signify an element or action (for example, when enemy characters are outlined in red, ally characters are outlined in green), players who are unable to discern the difference between those two colors will be unable to use this key information to inform their gameplay.

Given the many types of colorblindness and vast spectrum in which they can affect a person’s vision, ensuring that there are no key game elements that rely on color alone should be the goal wherever possible. If color reliance is unavoidable, providing players the option to assign their own color choice for individual game elements is important.

Implementation guidelines

• Any visual content that's critical to understanding gameplay or comprehending the narrative should be expressed by using at least one other sensory method. As an example, visual gunfire indicators should also be represented by using spatial audio or haptic feedback.

• Game-critical content that's represented through multiple visual affordances (like shape or spatial location) should have an additional means of identification not reliant on vision, such as haptic feedback, spatial audio, or screen narration. Blind and low-vision players might not be able to identify cues that are represented solely by visual means, even if multiple visual methods are used.

• Where menu narration is supported, use images with text alternatives for graphical symbols. Don't use Unicode font glyphs with the desired graphical appearances but with different meanings.

• Any content that's critical to understanding gameplay or comprehending the narrative, and is expressed through color, also needs to be expressed by using at least one additional signifier such as shape, pattern, iconography, or text labels.

• If color is the primary method of communication for information (like if rare items have a blue highlight and legendary items have an orange highlight), the player should be able to configure those colors by using presets, or ideally, free choice of color.

• If a change of color (graying) is used to inform the player of the existence and state of a control that isn't available, another method is also used. (For more detailed guidance about contrast ratios for elements that aren't available, see XAG 102: Contrast).

• Any audio content that's critical to understanding gameplay or comprehending the narrative should be expressed by using at least one other sensory method. As an example, the sound of gunfire should also be represented by using a visual graphic that indicates the type and directionality of the sound. Haptic feedback could also be used.

  Note

  Not all platforms support input devices with haptic capability (such as mouse/keyboard). Additionally, players with disabilities might be using specialty input devices that don't provide haptic vibration such as the Xbox Adaptive Controller. They might choose to disable haptic vibrations if it causes irritation or pain. Therefore, haptics should be used in addition to other ways of relaying information.

  For more details about the use of haptics in games, see XAG 110: Haptic feedback.

• For text-only dialogue that is not accompanied by a spoken audio track, provide the name of the character speaking and an indication of where the speaking character is spatially located in relationship to the player’s character.

Potential player impact

The guidelines in this XAG can help reduce barriers for the following players.

Resources and tools