The Play Experiences of Disabled Players : Dealing with accessibility barriers and solutions
Kämäräinen, Markus (2023)
2023
Master's Programme in Game Studies
Informaatioteknologian ja viestinnän tiedekunta - Faculty of Information Technology and Communication Sciences
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Hyväksymispäivämäärä
2023-11-01
Julkaisun pysyvä osoite on
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:tuni-202310108750
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:tuni-202310108750
Tiivistelmä
This thesis examines the play experiences of disabled players, the different barriers they encounter, and solutions to alleviate said barriers. As the game industry is slowly transforming to a more inclusive mindset at large, the thesis intends to discover whether the experiences of disabled players correlate with this change. It seeks to find out if disabled players still encounter barriers and exclusion while playing and if there has occurred an evolution in game accessibility or accessible game design to tackle these issues.
An extensive online qualitative survey was wielded to produce rich data from which the appearing outcomes were drawn. The survey reached globally 95 participants with various disabilities and playing experiences. The data was analyzed by comparing quantitative statistics as well as by thematic analysis through coding and dubbing these into two distinct theme sets – one to evaluate the barriers and another to examine strategies to overcome barriers.
The findings indicate that disabled players constitute a diverse and passionate segment of the player community. Despite the existence of structural barriers within commercial games, disabled players adopted various strategies to engage in their gaming activities. In addition, this thesis reveals a recent improvement in game accessibility, with disabled players showing proficiency in utilising available accessibility settings. Many also resorted to software and hardware solutions to address built-in accessibility challenges. Nevertheless, persistent accessibility obstacles persist, primarily arising from game mechanics, hardware compatibility issues, and toxic multiplayer environments. Notably, the latter had a significant impact on respondents, hindering their ability to participate in multiplayer gaming.
An extensive online qualitative survey was wielded to produce rich data from which the appearing outcomes were drawn. The survey reached globally 95 participants with various disabilities and playing experiences. The data was analyzed by comparing quantitative statistics as well as by thematic analysis through coding and dubbing these into two distinct theme sets – one to evaluate the barriers and another to examine strategies to overcome barriers.
The findings indicate that disabled players constitute a diverse and passionate segment of the player community. Despite the existence of structural barriers within commercial games, disabled players adopted various strategies to engage in their gaming activities. In addition, this thesis reveals a recent improvement in game accessibility, with disabled players showing proficiency in utilising available accessibility settings. Many also resorted to software and hardware solutions to address built-in accessibility challenges. Nevertheless, persistent accessibility obstacles persist, primarily arising from game mechanics, hardware compatibility issues, and toxic multiplayer environments. Notably, the latter had a significant impact on respondents, hindering their ability to participate in multiplayer gaming.