Catch the Thief: An Approach to an Accessible Video Game with Unity

Abstract

Today, the video game industry is one of the most profitable business markets in the world. Video games are not only being used as a means of entertainment but also to reinforce education. Even though there are unbroken barriers for disabled people to use this kind of applications. Lack of accessible technologies and functions are real problems and a way of discrimination. It is a challenge for every software development organization, even for those who focuses in video game line of work. Many impaired people enjoy playing games in despite of their disabilities; however, some limitations appear when they start to play. This article presents an approach for an accessible video game developing, using Unity Engine and some of its accessibility complements to implement some functions to get better the player experience. This way, people who suffer of visual and hearing disability can be able to play and learn. Within the spectrum of disabilities this project covers are; visual and hearing, multiple variants of color-blindness and reduced vision problems. A series of settings options will have implemented with the final purpose of giving users an easier way to interact with the video game. It should be emphasized that game mechanics are based on various parameters to offer accessibility as brightness reduction, contrast and font-size adjustment, and more. Disability simulation tests will have done in order to prove the video game functionality. This research tries to increase the accessibility for people with impairments in the world of video games.

Accessibility of games and game-based applications: A systematic literature review and mapping of future directions

“…The code 'elderly' emerged as I encountered studies on accessibility of game technologies for the elderly. The word 'elderly' was used in said Beckett et al, 2016;Beeston et al, 2018;Bouaine et al, 2020;Brooks, 2017;Brown and Anderson, 2021;Cairns et al, 2019aCairns et al, , 2019bFortes et al, 2017;Garcia and de Almeida Neris, 2020;Granzotto Llagostera, 2019;Kaigo and Okura, 2020;Leite et al, 2019;Merritt, 2017;Thompson and Syrett, 2018;Tyagi et al, 2019;Westin et al, 2018;Dupire, 2016a, 2016b) 4 Studies (da Silva et al, 2018;Flores-Garzón et al, 2020;Mangiron, 2016;Shooster et al, 2017) 27 Studies (Andrade et al, 2018(Andrade et al, , 2019(Andrade et al, , 2020…”

“…Visual disabilities have consistently received academic research attention while auditory and mobility disabilities have significantly fluctuated in popularity. Amaro et al, 2016;Andrade et al, 2018Andrade et al, , 2019Andrade et al, , 2020Bar-El et al, 2018;Beckett et al, 2016;Brown and Anderson, 2021;Bulgarelli et al, 2018;Cairns et al, 2019b;Chakraborty et al, 2017;Compañ-Rosique et al, 2019;Escudeiro et al, 2017;Flores-Garzón et al, 2020;Fortes et al, 2017;Garcez et al, 2020;Gerling et al, 2020;Gonçalves et al, 2020;Grabski et al, 2016;Granzotto Llagostera, 2019;Kaigo and Okura, 2020;Khaliq and Torre, 2019;Leite et al, 2019;López et al, 2016;…”