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Game accessibility guidelines

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Include toggle/slider for any haptics

I was starting to have wrist problems after extended Xbox gaming sessions. Then I turned off vibration. No more problems.
Scotthal, via Arstechnica

One of my little “autism quirks” is being extremely sensitive to touch, which is one of the biggest reasons I leave vibration off.
APtheNerd, via Twitter

While it can be a useful accessibility aid, haptics – controller rumble etc – can cause discomfort, pain, and even injury. This is primarily due to its impact on conditions like RSI and carpal tunnel, but it can also present barriers to people with sensory processing impairments.

So at a minimum always offer the ability to turn of it off. This applies even for platforms that have a system wide toggle, as use of haptics varies from game to game and interacts with different people’s needs in different ways.

For the same reason, offering a slider to give fine grained game-specific control over the strength of haptic feedback can also be useful.

If you are using multiple types of haptics for different purposes (e.g. an occasional cue to warn you of enemy proximity alongside a frequent cue for atmospherics) allow each type to be controlled independently, in the same way as you might for volume sliders for different types of sound.

Best practice example: Forza Horizon 4
Best practice example: Injustice

More information: Hand disorder linked to vibrating console controllers

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FCC Chairman's Award for Advancement in Accessibility
finalist 2016, tiga games industry awards
DFA foundation best practice award, Horizon Interactive Bronze Winner, 7-128 industry & community leader

About the guidelines

A collaborative effort between a group of studios, specialists and academics, to produce a straightforward developer friendly reference for ways to avoid unnecessarily excluding players, and ensure that games are just as fun for as wide a range of people as possible.

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