Current Accessibility Challenges and Perspectives for People with Visual Impairments in Tabletop Games

https://www.doi.org/10.24140/ijgsi.v1.n2.04

Keywords: Access, Accessibility, Interaction, People with Disabilities, People with Visual Impairments, Social impact, Tabletop games

Abstract

Much has already been discussed about the educational benefits of playing Tabletop games. However, as United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 4.5 points out, there still exist many disparities in the access to quality education by vulnerable groups. This paper aims to address some of the factors that contribute to this disparity in regard to people with visual impairments in Brazil. Beyond that, there is a much more dire barrier of access to: the majority of information about the games is presented visually. In practice, people with visual impairments have to rely on the “goodwill” of other people to try and adapt the games for them, who are generally their teachers, friends or relatives. Lastly, this paper presents some accessibility criteria to be considered when designing board games for people with visual impairments, as well as present the Design in Partnership approach as a viable method to design more meaningful games for this context.

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Author Biographies

João Léste, PUC-Rio, LINC-Design

Ph.D. student and Master in Design at the Pontifical Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro. The main focus of his current Ph.D. research is the access for blind people in tabletop games, but he also conducts projects focused on other types of inclusion through board games, applying Design in Partnership and Youth Participatory Action Research methods and principles. He is also a volunteer at the Cidadão Pró-Mundo Association, where he currently acts as a Students Coordinator and Unit Director, and has formerly acted as English Teacher, Communication and Events Coordinator, and Pedagogical Coordinator.

Jackeline Farbiarz, D.Sc. PUC-Rio, LINC-Design

Ph.D. in Education from the University of São Paulo and Master in Linguistics from the Pontifical Catholic University of Rio de January. She is the Vice-Dean of University Extension and Pedagogical Strategy at PUC-Rio, and Associate Professor and Researcher of the Graduate Program in Design. She is the Coordinator of the Laboratory of Language, Interaction and Meaning-Making in Design (LINC-Design) where she supervises research that reflects on Design as a builder and co-author of social change; and research that focus on the development of extensionist projects focused on Design at the service of Education.

Published
2023-09-01
Issue
Vol. 1 No. 2 (2023): International Journal of Games and Social Impact
Section
Articles