Xbox Accessibility Guideline 114: UI context

Goal

The goal of this Xbox Accessibility Guideline (XAG) is to ensure that players have enough context to operate a game’s interface and understand its UI components and their functions. This can be especially helpful for players who need additional time to read screen content, for players with limited short-term memory, and players who are new to the game.

Overview

The UI should provide an appropriate amount of context to ensure that players can easily understand the purpose of each UI screen and its associated elements, how to successfully interact with each UI element, and what to expect from each interaction. For example, before activating a button, a player should already be aware that the interaction is going to put them in an active gameplay experience, take them to an external link outside the gaming app or page that they're currently on, or change a specific aspect of their settings. When aspects of a UI aren't clearly labeled or obvious to a player, unintended actions can easily occur. Additionally, players can get stuck or blocked from navigating through a UI experience if proper context isn't readily available, such as an example that displays the type of data that's expected to be entered into a form box.

Scoping questions

Think about the menu navigation experience in your game’s UI.

• Does your game contain multiple menu screens?

• Do menus in your game follow a hierarchical order (settings are categorized and the player must navigate through the menu hierarchies to find a specific setting; for example, Main Menu > Settings > Audio > NPC Volume Control)?

• Does your game contain input forms (for example, “enter password” or “type your team name”)?

• Does your game contain any buttons or links that open an entirely different application or window when selected?

Implementation guidelines

• All screens and elements on those screens should provide enough context such that a player can understand where they are in the UI hierarchy at any particular time.

• UI context shouldn't change without first being initiated by the player. If a change in context isn't player-initiated, a notification should be provided.

• Any interaction that results in shifting focus to another application should be clearly indicated.

• Ensure that text alternatives (such as narration and tooltips) convey the purpose and operation of the UI components.

• Labels should be visually positioned near the associated element so that the player can derive context.

• The features and functionality of the player's experience should be the same for everyone, regardless of their use of assistive technology.

• Players should understand what data is expected to be entered into a form or control without requiring additional navigation to discover this information.

• Components reused in different areas that have the same functionality are identified through consistent iconography, labeling, or text.

• The text of a link alone, independent of its adjacent, surrounding text, should be descriptive enough for the player to understand where the link will take them.

• For groups of information, the groups should be meaningfully and uniquely labeled so that the player can understand context and differentiate between the groups.

• Provide context-sensitive help for each element on screen where necessary.

• Provide methods to accelerate a player’s ability to provide input to a form.

  • For example, for a list of states (like “California” or “Nevada”), allow the player to enter a few letters to bring up the state. This prevents them from having to scroll through a long list or enter the state's full name.

• Large blocks of text should be split into editorially appropriate sections and have descriptive headings.

• A mechanism is available for displaying specific definitions of words or phrases that are game-specific or used in an unusual or restricted way, including idioms, jargon, acronyms, and abbreviations.

• UI text that is critical to understanding gameplay or managing game settings (text within menu UIs, tutorials, instructions, etc.) should not require a reading ability that's more advanced than a lower secondary education (seven to nine years of school).

  • Narrative text that contributes to the game’s storyline such as journals, character dialogue, other in-game story content, and proper names or titles are not subject to this guideline.

• A visual simulation that depicts how a particular setting or option will alter the player’s UI should be provided.

  • If possible, this preview should be shown in a realistic game environment context.

Potential player impact

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

Resources and tools