All three sets of guidelines displayed together as a single categorised list.

Basic

Easy to implement, wide reaching and apply to almost all game mechanics

Intermediate

Require some planning and effort but often just good general game design

Advanced

Complex adaptations for profound impairments and specific niche mechanics

Motor

(Control / mobility)

Basic

• Allow controls to be remapped / reconfigured
• Ensure controls are as simple as possible, or provide a simpler alternative
• Ensure that all areas of the user interface can be accessed using the same input method as the gameplay
• Include an option to adjust the sensitivity of controls
• Ensure interactive elements / virtual controls are large and well spaced, particularly on small or touch screens
• Include toggle/slider for any haptics

Intermediate

• Support more than one input device
• Make interactive elements that require accuracy (eg. cursor/touch controlled menu options) stationary
• Ensure that multiple simultaneous actions (eg. click/drag or swipe) are not required, and included only as a supplementary / alternative input method
• Ensure that all key actions can be carried out by digital controls (pad / keys / presses), with more complex input (eg. analogue, speech, gesture) not required, and included only as supplementary / alternative input methods
• Include an option to adjust the game speed
• Avoid repeated inputs (button-mashing/quick time events)
• If producing a PC game, support windowed mode for compatibility with overlaid virtual keyboards
• Avoid / provide alternatives to requiring buttons to be held down
• Allow interfaces to be rearranged
• Allow interfaces to be resized
• Provide a macro system
• Do not rely on motion tracking of specific body types

Advanced

• Allow play in both portrait and landscape
• Do not make precise timing essential to gameplay – offer alternatives, actions that can be carried out while paused, or a skip mechanism
• Include a cool-down period (post acceptance delay) of 0.5 seconds between inputs
• Provide very simple control schemes that are compatible with assistive technology devices, such as switch or eye tracking

Cognitive

(Thought / memory / processing information)

Basic

• Allow the game to be started without the need to navigate through multiple levels of menus
• Use an easily readable default font size
• Use simple clear language
• Use simple clear text formatting
• Include tutorials
• Allow players to progress through text prompts at their own pace
• Avoid flickering images and repetitive patterns

Intermediate

• Include contextual in-game help/guidance/tips
• Indicate / allow reminder of current objectives during gameplay
• Indicate / allow reminder of controls during gameplay
• Include a means of practicing without failure, such as a practice level or sandbox mode
• Employ a simple, clear narrative structure
• If using a long overarching narrative, provide summaries of progress
• Ensure no essential information (especially instructions) is conveyed by text alone, reinforce with visuals and/or speech
• Give a clear indication that interactive elements are interactive
• Provide an option to turn off / hide background movement
• Support voice chat as well as text for multiplayer games
• Provide gameplay thumbnails with game saves
• Provide separate volume controls or mutes for effects, speech and background/music
• Ensure sound / music choices for each key objects / events are distinct from each other
• Include an option to adjust the game speed
• Provide a choice of text colour, low/high contrast choice as a minimum
• Highlight important words
• Include toggle/slider for any haptics

Advanced

• Provide an option to disable blood and gore
•  Provide pre-recorded voiceovers for all text, including menus and installers
• Avoid any sudden unexpected movement or events
• Allow all narrative and instructions to be replayed
• Use symbol-based chat (smileys etc)
• Provide an option to turn off / hide all non interactive elements

Vision

Basic

• Ensure no essential information is conveyed by a colour alone
• If the game uses field of view (3D engine only), set an appropriate default for expected viewing environment
• Avoid VR simulation sickness triggers
• Use an easily readable default font size
• Use simple clear text formatting
• Provide high contrast between text/UI and background
• Ensure interactive elements / virtual controls are large and well spaced, particularly on small or touch screens

Intermediate

• If the game uses field of view (3D engine only), allow a means for it to be adjusted
• Avoid (or provide option to disable) any difference between controller movement and camera movement, such as weapon/walk bobbing or mouse smoothing
• Use surround sound
• Provide an option to turn off / hide background animation
• Ensure screenreader support for mobile devices
• Provide an option to adjust contrast
• Ensure sound / music choices for key objects / events are distinct from each other
• Provide a choice of cursor / crosshair colours / designs
• Give a clear indication that interactive elements are interactive
• Ensure manual / website are provided in a screenreader friendly format
• Provide separate volume controls or mutes for effects, speech and background/music
• Avoid placing essential temporary information outside the player’s eye-line
• Allow interfaces to be resized

Advanced

• Allow the font size to be adjusted
• Provide a pingable sonar-style audio map
• Provide pre-recorded voiceovers for all text, including menus and installers
• Provide a voiced GPS
• Allow easy orientation to / movement along compass points
• Ensure that all key actions can be carried out by digital controls (pads / keys / presses), with more complex input (eg. analogue, gesture) not required, and included only as supplementary / alternative input methods
• Ensure screenreader support, including menus & installers
• Use distinct sound / music design for all objects and events
• Simulate binaural recording
• Provide an audio description track

Hearing

Basic

• Provide subtitles for all important speech
• Provide separate volume controls or mutes for effects, speech and background / music
• Ensure no essential information is conveyed by sounds alone
• If any subtitles / captions are used, present them in a clear, easy to read way
  

Intermediate

• Keep background noise to minimum during speech
• Provide subtitles for supplementary speech
• Ensure subtitles/captions are or can be turned on before any sound is played
• Provide captions or visuals for significant background sounds
• Provide a visual indication of who is currently speaking
• Allow subtitle/caption presentation to be customised
• Support text chat as well as voice for multiplayer
• Provide visual means of communicating in multiplayer
• Allow a preference to be set for playing online multiplayer with players who will only play with / are willing to play without voice chat
• Ensure that all important supplementary information (eg. the direction you are being shot from) conveyed by audio is replicated in text / visuals
• Provide a stereo/mono toggle

Advanced

• Ensure that subtitles/captions are cut down to and presented at an appropriate words-per-minute for the target age-group
• Provide signing
• Use symbol-based chat (smileys etc)

Speech

Basic

• Ensure that speech input is not required, and included only as a supplementary / alternative input method

Intermediate

• Allow a preference to be set for playing online multiplayer with players who will only play with / are willing to play without voice chat
• Support text chat as well as voice for online multiplayer
• Provide visual means of communicating in multiplayer
• Base speech recognition on individual words from a small vocabulary (eg. ‘yes’ ‘no’ ‘open’) instead of long phrases or multi-syllable words

Advanced

• Base speech recognition on hitting a volume threshold (eg. 50%) instead of words
• Use symbol-based chat (smileys etc)

General

Basic

• Offer a wide choice of difficulty levels
• Provide details of accessibility features on packaging and/or website
• Provide details of accessibility features in-game
• Ensure that all settings are saved/remembered
• Solicit accessibility feedback
  

Intermediate

• Allow difficulty level to be altered during gameplay, either through settings or adaptive difficulty
• Include some people with impairments amongst play-testing participants
• Offer a means to bypass gameplay elements that aren’t part of the core mechanic, via settings or in-game skip option
• Include assist modes such as auto-aim and assisted steering
• Provide a manual save feature
• Provide an autosave feature
• Allow a preference to be set for playing online multiplayer with/without others who are using accessibility features that could give a competitive advantage
• Allow gameplay to be fine-tuned by exposing as many variables as possible

Advanced

• Include every relevant category of impairment (motor, cognitive etc) amongst play-testing participants, in representative numbers based on age / demographic of target audience
• Allow settings to be saved to different profiles, at either game or platform level
• Realtime text <-> speech transcription