Computer Gaming for the Visually Impaired -- Status and Perspectives

Digital technology plays an important role in everyday activities and facilitates the lives of everyone. This raises the problem of designing technology accessible for everyone, including people with disabilities such as visual impairments. Assistive technology for visually impaired people requires specific approaches in its design due to the fact that the main focus is not on the visual aspects. The game industry has concentrated most of its resources on developing games for the regular community, leaving people with visual impairments only a few options. This paper presents the status of the applications and games for the blind, identifies the main challenges and the perspectives for development.