Accessibility
It is widely held that standalone interpreters offer better screen reader support than do web games. Many people who use screenreaders say so, and they should have the final word. Setting aside valid questions of artistic intent, authors may wish to release a story file for this reason alone.
Not all Inform games are screen reader-friendly, of course. ASCII art, for instance, or heavy use of graphical symbols can come across as grating or nonsensical when delivered in audio format. Images will require alt text. This reference cannot make platform decisions for authors, but it strongly encourages them to spend some time with the question of whether or not they intend to release a screen reader-friendly game. This should not only encompass the story format, but also the presence of images and character graphics.
If we do release a standalone story file with images, we’d do well to ensure that image descriptions print reliably. Given the multitude of interpreters out there, players would be wise to incorporate a specific screen reader mode. Marbles, D, and the Sinister Spotlight handles images this way (note also that the game displays different images depending on whether it is running on Bisquixe):
to say red:
if screenreader is true:
say "An small, adolescent cat with wide eyes looks to the camera with a serious expression. She is perched on a curved, modernistic chair. The combination is both dramatic and silly.";
otherwise if bisquixe is active:
follow the tall images rule;
display figure chair;
otherwise:
display figure lowchair.
We will likely want to go further, scrutinizing our use of characters. In Portrait with Wolf, there is an interface that prints a complete input history for the player. Visually, it displays with a vertical line (|) as a separator between choices. However, in screenreader mode, the vertical line is not a meaningful separator. Instead, it prints a comma (,) character because commas create a longer pause. Visual mode looks like this:
Portrait 2 (Series II, Cat):
| C | C | C | C | C | C |
But screen reader output looks like this
Portrait 2 (Series II, Cat):
, C , C , C , C , C , C ,
Accessibility requires technical knowledge, but understanding what accessibility demands requires research and empathy. The better we can understand the experiences of others, the better we consider them in our designs.
Some persons are light sensitive. How can we accommodate them? The truth is that there is no perfect color scheme. Some prefer a light background, while others prefer something dark. An ideal game will likely offer both options via a toggle. Having made it this far, readers will likely be able to guess what is happening in this latest update to Repeat the Ending.
coloring is an action out of world applying to nothing.
understand "color" and "color mode" and "mode" and "dark mode" and "light mode" as coloring.
carry out coloring:
if color mode is 1:
follow the light mode presentation rule;
now color mode is 2;
otherwise if color mode is 2:
now color mode is 1;
follow the dark mode presentation rule;
say "[if color mode is 1]Dark mode is now active[otherwise]Light mode is now active[end if].";
If our game features sudden shifts between large fields of light and dark colors, we should warn players. If, on the other hand, our work plays loud noises unexpectedly, we really ought to let players know.
This is only scratching the surface. How do we make parser games “accessible” in the broadest sense? We should consider ways of tracking information and making it visible to the player, be that through goal lists, visual aids, or hinting systems. What are obstacles that can prevent new players from adopting our hobby? What is in the way? For those of us who have been playing interactive fiction for decades, it will take empathy and imagination to reach the answers.
In this last sense of “accessibility,” Bisquixe offers new ways of making parser games accessible to new players.