Disclaimer: I do not own/claim any rights to this game nor I am affiliated with Telltale Games and Skybound Games. This is a passion project that only considers my own design decisions and research.
The Walking Dead: The Telltale Definitive Series is an exceptional episodic graphic adventure game that completely immerses players in a captivating narrative world. As an avid fan of this game, I've been thinking of ways to make it more accessible for individuals with disabilities that affect their vision, hearing, or color perception. Despite facing these challenges, all players deserve the opportunity to enjoy the same quality entertainment experiences. Through thoughtful design choices that cater to their specific needs, the game can tear down barriers and expand its audience to a whole new group of players. I'm thrilled to explore innovative solutions that can enhance the accessibility of my favorite game, and make it playable for a broader range of gamers.
Color blindness can prevent players from using certain game mechanics that rely on color coding.
Players with hearing impairments may miss out on important dialogue in games
Poor text contrast can make it difficult for players with vision impairment to read text in a game.
Complete black and white vision, exceedingly rare condition.
Individuals may experience a yellow tint to their vision, and in certain cases, blue may also be affected.
Less common condition is characterized by the presence of red tones in an individual's vision.
The most common form of color vision deficiency is characterized by difficulty distinguishing between green tones.
Although filter tools exist in game engines to simulate the experience of the game for people with the four major color deficiencies, they may not be a perfect solution as each person's perception of color is unique.
During the bow and arrow sequences in the game, players without color vision deficiency can easily distinguish between the white indicator, which represents a regular shot, and the red indicator, which denotes the kill shot. However, this feature does not provide any assistance to color-blind players.
Based on my research, I discovered that relying solely on color to convey information or differentiate between game elements can present challenges, especially for players with color vision deficiency. Therefore, it is recommended to incorporate multiple visual cues, such as shapes and shadings, to make game elements stand out.
With this in mind, I decided to use a symbol consisting of a white dot and triangle shape to represent the general shot, and a symbol consisting of a red circle and smaller triangle shape to represent the kill shot in my game design. By emphasizing shape over color, I ensured that players with color blindness could distinguish between the two shots, leading to a more inclusive and enjoyable gaming experience.
The subtitles in the game do not always provide an accurate representation of the dialogue, particularly in scenes where the camera is not focused on the speaker. This can be especially problematic for players with hearing impairments who rely on subtitles to follow the narrative of the game.
To help players with auditory impairments follow the dialogue in the game, I included speaker labels in the subtitles that indicate who is speaking. To make the speaker labels more prominent and distinguishable, I also used different colors for each character. For instance, I chose Green for the Clementine's dialogue.
By making the speaker labels more noticeable, players with auditory impairments can better understand who is speaking and follow the storyline more easily. This simple design choice can significantly improve the accessibility and inclusivity of the game, allowing more players to fully enjoy the experience.
The Walking Dead is an emotionally-driven narrative game that heavily relies on conveying feelings like joy, sadness, fear, anger, and shock through characters' voices both on and off screen. Unfortunately, players who are hard of hearing or deaf may not experience these crucial moments, leading to a less immersive and satisfying gameplay experience.
To make the game more accessible to all players, I implemented closed captions during important moments where players may not be able to hear character dialogue or sound effects. By providing these captions, players who are deaf, hard of hearing, or simply prefer to play with the volume off can still fully experience the emotionally charged atmosphere of the game.
These closed captions not only convey the spoken dialogue but also provide information about background noises and music, making the game even more immersive and enjoyable for all players. With this accessibility feature, I aimed to create a more inclusive gaming environment, ensuring that everyone can have an equal opportunity to engage with the game's narrative and experience.
For players with low vision impairment, the lack of text contrast can make reading difficult and lead to eye strain, which can detract from the overall gameplay experience. Therefore, it's important to ensure that game text is easily readable and stands out from the background.
To improve the accessibility of the game for players with low vision impairment, I implemented a solution that adds a black background behind the subtitles. This helps improve the legibility of the game text and makes it easier for players to follow the dialogue, which is crucial in narrative-based games. Additionally, I also added a speaker label to the subtitles to indicate who is speaking, further enhancing the player's understanding and immersion in the game's story.
To showcase the proposed accessibility features I designed for this game, I created a prototype of the settings menu. This prototype allows players to see firsthand how the changes will enhance their overall gaming experience. By providing a visual representation of the features, players can customize the game to fit their individual accessibility needs, such as adjusting text size or enabling closed captioning. This empowers players to create a personalized and inclusive gaming experience that meets their unique accessibility requirements.
Disclaimer: I do not own/claim any rights to this game nor I am affiliated with Telltale Games and Skybound Games. This is a passion project that only considers my own design decisions and research.
