The following is what got me thinking about colourblindness and video game design
I am colourblind but I never stopped to consider the other 10% of males that are as well until RedDragoon here posted this in the PS forums.
04-02-2008 03:33 PM
RedDragoon Wrote:
Anyone else colorblind and find it hard to play certain games?
I
am severly colorblind, and I find it hard to play a lot of games. Games
like Gutair hero and some mini games in certain games, are hard for me.
Would
it really be that big of a thing for developers to take people who are
colorblind into consideration when they make their games? I mean, it
can't be too hard to change up the colors a little bit. All they would
need is to get rid of the Red/Green and change it to black or white.
This lead to an interesting exchange --- I step in later:
04-02-2008 03:44 PM
TheLostChild Wrote:
Or do what they did for Peggle. In Peggle, you have Blue (Regular), Orange (Need to hit to win), and Green (Powerup) blocks. They
have an option called "Colourblind Mode" where the blocks will stay the
same color to those who aren't colourblind, but inside the blocks for
instance, A Blue block would have a little Plus sign inside it A Orange block would have a little square inside of it and a Green block has a little triangle inside of it. I think this might benefit you more than drastically changing colors. But I wouldn't know unfortunately, as I'm not colourblind.
04-02-2008 04:34 PM
Tideas wrote:
Not to be mean, but think about it this way. Is it really cost
effective to spend more management time to make a game colorblind-proof
when the colorblind population doesn't even make a scratch on the total
overall gamer population?
So yes. It would really be
that big of a thing for developers. Sometimes, you can't have
everything your way. Unfortunately, life sucks like that. You can
always email the publisher or developer, but unless you get more noise
behind you, there's not much u can do
Here's where I enter the conversation: (AK is me :p)
04-02-2008 06:20 PM
AckeheceKoheo Wrote:
1) over 10% of the male population is colour impaired http://colorvisiontesting.com/RABIN%20slide%20presentation%20for%
20webpage.ppt
2) its not hard to factor us in http://www.firelily.com/opinions/color.html
3) if you want to experience colourblindness... http://www.vischeck.com/vischeck/vischeckURL.php
Yes it is cost effective (no real cost involved if designed from the ground up)10% of the market is handicapped in this manner so it's 10% more market share - that is a bit more then a tiny scratch. and
yes I mail publishers all the time about this - it's especially bad
with maps....(try reading bus maps with 8 blue lines on it... that all
look the same Oo)
RedDragoon wrote:
Anyone else colorblind and find it hard to play certain games?
I
am severly colorblind, and I find it hard to play a lot of games. Games
like Gutair hero and some mini games in certain games, are hard for me.
Would
it really be that big of a thing for developers to take people who are
colorblind into consideration when they make their games? I mean, it
can't be too hard to change up the colors a little bit. All they would
need is to get rid of the Red/Green and change it to black or white.
it's a bit more than that - but picking colourblind safe colour schemes is not hard
this is one colour scheme - use for deuteranope colour deficits (see image)
tristania98 wrote:
I thought that usability and accessiblity were becoming more important in software development.
The same way handicap access is mandated for every public building... check out how well that has been done.
It is a long term project and goal (which means to say - cheaper to not do it today)
Sure
Microsoft on XP and Vista has been excellent about adding Magnifiers,
high contrast colour schemes, voice enchancement etc... but most
companies do not tie into those accessibility tools for their
applications on the PC.
Consoles are further behind than that even...
I
do wonder if there is a bill of rights arguement about colourblind
accessibility (as it technically is a handicap) here in Canada
DaSaintFan wrote:
Sorry Ack.. but I'm going to disagree with you majorly here...
Companies
are under NO obligation to market a product of their own
production/time/money to any specific group if they don't wish to do so.
Note
that your argument that handicap access to every public building is
incorrect... there is no obligation for any company to create a
handicap access to space to a building, unless mandated by a govt. at
some point.
Public Building are under government mandate
So
now do you want the govt to MANDATE that every company make something
for every disabled person? You're colorblind and can't see
blue/green... someone else is colorblind and can't see between
red/brown/orange.. etc.. what about deaf people? Do we also have to
include an additional version of software for people who can't hear as
well?
Software already handles deaf
people fairly well (visual ques are used for most things) - purely
blind otoh are not handled well at all. Traffic Lights already take
into account colourblind people by adding blue to the green light so
that it is more distinctive (you really would not want us on the road
without that ^_-). Colourblind considerations in software only need to
deal with 3 major cases all of which are easily dealt with.
And
once you hit video game producers, who's next? All newspapers have to
be a certain height/depth to their type, so those with poor eyesight
can read it? All books have to be made on audio-tape now, so that the
hearing impaired have that same variety?
Reducto
Ad Absurdum is a great arguement when you are not talking about
handicap issues. Also most newspapers now have an online edition with
adjustable type fonts for the seeing impaired and most operating
systems now can even read the paper to the totally sight impaired. It
is a bill of rights issue in that being colourblind can limit you from
certain activites and jobs. Reading a Bus Schedule should not require
me to ask what bus line I need from a perfect stranger because I can't
read the route map.
If a company does make
something for those people, great... but to mandate it.. congrats, now
you've just forced closed every software/video game producer, because
they can't afford to make so many versions of one piece of
programming..
Costs do not raise if you
plan from the start to be inclusive to colourblind people - it just
means you pick colour blind safe colours. Adding after the fact though
I agree is expensive and I would say not needed - but when you start a
project think about it.
I'm sorry if you
aren't fully able to enjoy some games because of an unfortunately
situation, but to demand that companies add to their own expense, just
for a smaller minority, isn't going ot happen.
Again what is your definition of a small Minority and when should we stop trying to be inclusive? 49.99%? 35%? 10%?
Remember 10% of the male population is colourblind. 10%!
that means 1 and every 10 males you meet can't see the full colour spectrum like you can
(In
fact all men see 80% less colours than woman even - it's a major issue
in optical astronomy and at weddings when your wife wants you to wear
periwinkle and not light blue)
The solution to colourblindness and video games is actually quite simple
It could involve an industry standard of 3 filters or creating iconic changes
See puzzle fighter - they could add different symbols on each block rather then just different colours. They could use a colourblindness filter that creates higher contrast between blocks.
The costs involved are minimal but the gains could be substantial
10% of gamers are colourblind if gamers make up a standard sample of normal society otherwise there is a 10% group not represented
That means either 10% of the gamers don't buy certain games because of colour issues or there is a market of 10% of the population that doesn't play games at all due to colour.
Either or will create a significant increase in markets for games.
