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Re: Web-based games

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From: Lucy GRECO
Date: Aug 26, 2020 2:17PM

HELLO:
I WOULD REACH OUT TO Ian Hamilton https://twitter.com/ianhamilton_
AS HE IS ONE OF THE TOP PEOPLE IN GAME ACCESSIBILITY.
I WOULD RECOMMEND STAYING AWAY FROM AUDIO ONLY GAMES IT DRIVES ME AND
OTHER BLIND PEOPLE CRAZY WHEN WE FIND A GOOD GAME THAT OUR SITED
FRIENDS WON'T PLAY.
i PLAY GAMES TO BE SOCIAL AND I DON'T ONLY WANT TO PLAY WITH OTHER BLIND
PEOPLE. SO MAKE SURE IT'S INCLUSIVE TO EVERYONE NOT JUST BLIND OR KEYBOARD
ONLY ETCETERA.

I DID FIND AN INTERESTING NEW PLATFORM A FEW WEEKS AGO THAT IS IN
PUBLIC ALPHA BUT I AM NOT GOING TO SHARE THE LINK HERE AS THE FILE I
DOWNLOADED TURNED OUT TO HAVE SOME PRETTY CRITICAL VIRUSES IN IT. AND THEY
DID BREAK THE RULE I HAVE OF NOT BEING AUDEO
ONLY.
SMILE EVEN A PRIMITIVE MAP IS BETTER THEN NO MAP AS FAR AS I AM CONCERNED
LUYC

Lucia Greco
Web Accessibility Evangelist
IST - Architecture, Platforms, and Integration
University of California, Berkeley
(510) 289-6008 skype: lucia1-greco
http://webaccess.berkeley.edu
Follow me on twitter @accessaces



On Wed, Aug 26, 2020 at 12:23 PM Patrick H. Lauke < <EMAIL REMOVED> >
wrote:

> On 26/08/2020 19:45, <EMAIL REMOVED> wrote:
> > The latest Syntax podcast includes a discussion of creating a
> minesweeper-style Web game with the React framework. The hosts suggested
> using React's pointer events. That made me cringe. I know little about
> React or its pointer events, but I assume that using them excludes keyboard
> users. Perhaps they will work on touch screens?
>
> Pointer Events (which, as far as I know, is what React uses natively,
> with polyfills/fallbacks for older browsers that don't implement them)
> are an event model that covers all possible pointer-type inputs (mouse,
> stylus, touchscreen). Using pointer events makes sure that stuff works
> on various desktop/mobile/tablet/hybrid devices and with various input
> types.
>
> And yes, pointer events on their own won't help/do anything for keyboard
> users (and the PE spec warns about this directly - see the note in the
> introduction https://w3c.github.io/pointerevents/#intro)
>
> Full disclosure: I'm chair of the WG and co-editor of the spec ;)
>
> > today I did some searching and found skimpy resources for a developer
> wanting to create an accessible Web game. Does anyone have suggestions for
> reading materials on this topic.
>
> It depends heavily on the type of game. In general, action/realtime
> games will be exceedingly hard to make fully accessible (including
> screen reader/AT users), while turn-based simple games are much easier
> to accommodate with mostly general web-development concepts like making
> sure there are focusable/keyboard operable controls, that content is
> semantically structured, etc.
>
> There's of course also varying levels of "accessible". Just making a
> game keyboard accessible is much easier than also conveying the current
> state (e.g. the whole "mine field") to an AT user in a sensible way (a
> giant table/grid for instance). And you may even end up making something
> that is technically accessible to screen reader users, but so utterly
> tedious to navigate and use, that you may as well not bother.
>
> Sorry, no simple answer or pointer...just that, unless we're talking
> really basic games, making even a moderately complex game fully
> accessible can be extremely challenging.
>
> P
> --
> Patrick H. Lauke
>
> https://www.splintered.co.uk/ | https://github.com/patrickhlauke
> https://flickr.com/photos/redux/ | https://www.deviantart.com/redux
> twitter: @patrick_h_lauke | skype: patrick_h_lauke
> > > > >