Gamasutra examines how video game developers ensure that games are accessible to those with hearing impairments and comprehensible to all players.In its feature, Sidhe Interactive's (GripShift, Speed Racer) usability expert and user experience designer Gareth Griffiths shares simple tips on adapting titles for gamers with hearing disabilities. (Video game titles are pictured.)
To emphasize the importance of providing subtitles to players who are partially or completely deaf, Griffiths notes that in the developed world alone, the number of hearing-impaired people is expected to reach 215 million in 2015. Of those, some 90 million will be Europeans.
Griffiths offers over 15 guidelines for adding subtitles to video games, including some advice on text and background colors.
The feature examines the current state of subtitles within the game industry, and has more than 15 tips on offering subtitles in games.
