“It’s Easier to Play Alone” : Social gaming with disabilities
Baltzar, Pauliina (2025)
Tampere University
2025
Ihmiset ja teknologia -tohtoriohjelma - Doctoral Programme of Humans and Technologies
Informaatioteknologian ja viestinnän tiedekunta - Faculty of Information Technology and Communication Sciences
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Väitöspäivä
2025-06-13
Julkaisun pysyvä osoite on
https://urn.fi/URN:ISBN:978-952-03-3965-4
https://urn.fi/URN:ISBN:978-952-03-3965-4
Tiivistelmä
Social play, in its many formats, has always been part of everyday life. Social gaming can be a way to form friendships, connect with others, and create shared experiences. This dissertation explores whether multiplayer games and social gaming are accessible for gamers with disabilities.
This dissertation aims to address the research problem: How could social accessibility address the barriers experienced by gamers with disabilities in multiplayer gaming? In addition to the research problem, this dissertation answers the following research questions: 1. How do current popular and accessible games implement the accessibility features that gamers with disabilities use and need? 2. Do people with disabilities play multiplayer games less compared to single player games? If so, why? 3. How accessible are multiplayer games and social gaming for gamers with disabilities?
Based on six peer-reviewed articles, this dissertation employed two survey studies focused on the experiences of gamers with disabilities, and a game analysis to examine the implementation of accessibility features. In addition, this dissertation built on a previous literature review focused on social aspects of game accessibility research.
This dissertation claims that people with disabilities play and want to play games as any other gamer. Gamers with disabilities use various accessibility features and assistive technologies to make gaming accessible. However, many games that have the needed accessibility features and support assistive technologies are single player games.
Further, this dissertation claims that due to multiplayer games inaccessibility, amongst other reasons such as fear of being a burden and finding fellow gamers at one’s own level, it is easier to play alone. Furthermore, games are partly inaccessible, due to their lack of wide communication options, which forces the gamers to choose silence. There is a clear need for change to make games, and especially multiplayer games and social gaming more accessible.
This dissertation presented definition for social accessibility in games and offered concrete tips how to make social gaming more accessible for all. Future research should focus on deeper explorations of social gaming experiences for individuals with disabilities. Ultimately, this dissertation aims to initiate discussions among gamers as well as the developers: all should have the chance for social gaming.
This dissertation aims to address the research problem: How could social accessibility address the barriers experienced by gamers with disabilities in multiplayer gaming? In addition to the research problem, this dissertation answers the following research questions: 1. How do current popular and accessible games implement the accessibility features that gamers with disabilities use and need? 2. Do people with disabilities play multiplayer games less compared to single player games? If so, why? 3. How accessible are multiplayer games and social gaming for gamers with disabilities?
Based on six peer-reviewed articles, this dissertation employed two survey studies focused on the experiences of gamers with disabilities, and a game analysis to examine the implementation of accessibility features. In addition, this dissertation built on a previous literature review focused on social aspects of game accessibility research.
This dissertation claims that people with disabilities play and want to play games as any other gamer. Gamers with disabilities use various accessibility features and assistive technologies to make gaming accessible. However, many games that have the needed accessibility features and support assistive technologies are single player games.
Further, this dissertation claims that due to multiplayer games inaccessibility, amongst other reasons such as fear of being a burden and finding fellow gamers at one’s own level, it is easier to play alone. Furthermore, games are partly inaccessible, due to their lack of wide communication options, which forces the gamers to choose silence. There is a clear need for change to make games, and especially multiplayer games and social gaming more accessible.
This dissertation presented definition for social accessibility in games and offered concrete tips how to make social gaming more accessible for all. Future research should focus on deeper explorations of social gaming experiences for individuals with disabilities. Ultimately, this dissertation aims to initiate discussions among gamers as well as the developers: all should have the chance for social gaming.
Kokoelmat
- Väitöskirjat [5188]