TOMMI INCLUSIVE- HONORABLE MENTIONS

ACCESSIBILITY OF THE FEATURED PC AND CONSOLE GAMES WITH OUR PARTNER “GAMING WITHOUT BORDERS”

The children and teens from the “Level Up” project of the “Gaming Without Borders” initiative, as well as the inclusive groups at the TOMMI libraries, tested the nominated PC and console games for the German Children’s Software Award TOMMI to assess their accessibility in the areas of “hearing,” “Vision,” “Comprehension,” and “Control” to determine together whether everyone can play.

Accessibility in the “Hearing” category has already come a long way. The testers found that 15 of the 20 titles were accessible to players with hearing impairments. In the other categories, there is still a lot of ground to make up. Only a few games were able to win over children and teens with disabilities.

Nevertheless, the children and teenagers praise the games“Hot Wheels Unleashed 2 – Turbocharged” and “Animal Puzzle” for their advanced accessibility features.

Hot Wheels Unleashed 2 – Turbocharged (Milestone)

This title impressed testers with and without disabilities in the categories “Hearing,” “Understanding,” and “Controls.” The game works without sound and was therefore easily playable for players with hearing impairments. The campaign also features subtitles. The interactive tutorial, the various difficulty levels, and the many different driving aids won over the children and teens at
and made the game very accessible to testers with learning disabilities. Important text passages are supplemented with symbols. Even though there is text in the menu without audio, the testers did not find it essential for playing the game. The comic-style story cutscenes are very easy to understand and can also be replayed. The children and teens would have liked only a replayable tutorial and a slightly more clearly organized menu. The customizable and simple controls, as well as the driving aids and the ability to adjust the game speed, are a great help not only for players with learning disabilities but also for testers with physical disabilities, enabling them to play along. For people with visual impairments, the voiced-over text in cutscenes, the high-contrast tracks, the mostly steady camera work, and the flashing direction arrows are very helpful. However, these flashing elements and rapid color changes can also be a hindrance if they cannot be turned off. The game is, however, unplayable for players who are severely visually impaired or blind, as there are no audio cues for many visual elements. In terms of visual accessibility, the testers would therefore have liked to see more customization options.

Taxonomy Puzzle (SWR)

The “Taxonomy Puzzle” impressed the testers in the areas of “hearing,” “understanding,” and “control.” The game is easy to play for people with hearing impairments, as all instructions are available in text form and the game works without sound. Almost all of the text is also accompanied by audio, which is very helpful for people with learning disabilities. Questions and buttons have

However, there is no audio, which makes the game inaccessible to blind people. The animal puzzle pieces are also depicted only visually—players with visual impairments and learning disabilities would have liked more assistance here. The game can be played exclusively by clicking with the mouse. No buttons need to be held down, and there are no time-sensitive elements, making the “Species Puzzle” playable for people with physical disabilities who were able to connect their assistive technologies to the computer. Even though the game does not offer any customization options, it impressed the testers with disabilities with its accessible game design.