Accessible Game Culture Using Inclusive Game Design - Participating in a Visual Culture That You Cannot See

In this paper, we present the result of an experiment, in which we compare the gaming experience between sighted players and visually impaired players playing the same game. Specifically we discuss whether they experience the same story construed from the plot elements that are either manifested by audio and graphics in the case of sighted players or primarily by audio in the case of visually impaired players. To this end, we have developed a graphical point-and-click adventure game for iOS and Android devices. The game has been designed to provide players with audio feedback that enables visually impaired players to interact with and experience the game, but in a manner that does not interfere with the overall appearance and functionality of the game, i.e. a design that is fully inclusive to both groups of players and that is as invisible for sighted players as possible without hindering visually impaired players to share the same gaming experience when it comes to story content. The study shows that the perception of the story was almost identical between the two groups. Generally it took visually impaired players a little longer to play the game but they also seem to listen more carefully to the dialogue and hence also build a slightly deeper understanding of the characters.