Updated BBC Mobile Accessibility Guidelines promote a more inclusive gaming experience for disabled people

If you're not already aware of the BBC mobile accessibility guidelines, you should get to know them. They now contain inclusive design principles, and specific guidance for games as well. Examples of the guidance aimed at game developers includes:

  •       Provide means to aid focus or aim using visual, audio and haptic cues
  •         Provide means to remove or reduce the number of obstacles.
  •         Provide a single-hit no-fail mode.

You can see how these would be useful for a range of users, with the last option of a "single hit no fail mode" enabling even users with complex requirements to enjoy progressing through the game without needing lightning reaction times (practically impossible with some disabilities\assistive technologies), so these really promote a more inclusive gaming experience.

Mario video game displaying the word 'Finish' The BBC guidelines are a really useful resource as they include content not only for web (HTML) development, but also mobile (iOS and Android) code examples.

So, if you have a button in an app that's incorrectly labelled, you can view this which explains how to label a button in iOS\Android apps.  Developers will likely know how to do this, but the page can be a useful reference to see what's possible for mobile apps.

Of course, don’t forget about the gaming accessibility guidelines produced collectively by experts in the field too.

Want to know more about accessible web design?

- 6 Top tips for a dementia friendly website

- 6 Essential easy checks for web accessibility

- How to create accessible emails