Towards Greater Inclusion and Accessibility for Physically Disabled Players in Location-Based Games
Article No.: 400, Pages 699 - 720
Abstract
Most research on Location-Based Games (LBGs) has been conducted on non-disabled players, meaning the experiences of disabled players are not well understood and potentially overlooked. As such, this research aimed to address the following questions: 1). What are the barriers and needs of disabled LBGs players? 2). How can LBGs be made more inclusive and accessible? To address these questions, two studies were conducted in the form of an online qualitative questionnaire and a series of co-design workshops. Results articulate the needs, barriers, and desired features of 60 participants. Based on our findings and through the collaborative work with disabled players we articulate 4 guidelines for game designers and developers aimed at improving the accessibility of LBGs: 1) Adding avatar features that better represent disabled characteristics, 2). Providing different input options for phone interactions, 3) Allowing for disabled specific accounts and 4) Introducing a messenger feature to LBGs.
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Index Terms
- Towards Greater Inclusion and Accessibility for Physically Disabled Players in Location-Based Games
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November 2023
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Association for Computing Machinery
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Published: 04 October 2023
Published in PACMHCI Volume 7, Issue CHI PLAY
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