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Re: Web-based games

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From: jeffgutsell@fuse.net
Date: Aug 27, 2020 10:15AM

Everyone,
Thanks for the great responses.
Some background: I focused on the podcast discussion because this came just
a few days after a friend asked me to create a coin flip game for him. I am
retired and generally don't take on work for others. However, he mentioned
wanting the game to be accessible -- without prompting from me. So I decided
to think about it. There could not possibly be a simpler game than this. I
will try to jazz it up with some animation and audio. Of course it will
need a live region.
I may go out of town for a short trip soon, so I am not sure when I will get
this done.

Jeff


-----Original Message-----
From: WebAIM-Forum < <EMAIL REMOVED> > On Behalf Of Nolan
Darilek
Sent: Wednesday, August 26, 2020 4:25 PM
To: <EMAIL REMOVED>
Subject: Re: [WebAIM] Web-based games

I'd caution against dismissing audio games outright because that's all some
of us can do. I myself am blind. If I could create games with graphics, or
could actually afford to hire someone for the visuals, I would. And, all
things being equal, I'd prefer an accessible inclusive game to an audio-only
game. That said, I have bunches of game ideas kicking around in my skull,
some that I genuinely think push the state of the art in game accessibility,
and I'm not going to *not* do those because all I can muster is audio. :)


That said, if you have the ability to do something that isn't audio-only,
please do. That's part of why I added accessibility to an open source
engine, because I'd actually like to collaborate alongside sighted
developers to build more inclusively.


Anyhow, I don't want to go too far off-topic for a web development list.
I just wanted to plug audio games a bit, even if I'm simultaneously creating
them while knowing they aren't our future.

On 8/26/20 3:17 PM, Lucy GRECO wrote:
> 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
>> >> >> archives at http://webaim.org/discussion/archives
>> >>
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