There’s no such thing as perfect when it comes to accessibility, but a concerted effort towards progress can lead to wonderful things.
〰️ An Example
Check out this video of BlindWarriorSven playing Street Fighter 6 against EternalPancake at EVO 2023.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nqe0lJxPHLM
#StreetFighter
#StreetFighter6
#EVO2023
#accessibility
1/8
When this started making the rounds, I was curious to learn more about what went into making this game playable with audio only.
In an interview with PCMag.com, Capcom's Takayuki Nakayama and Shuhei Matsumoto were asked this question.
2/8
Their response:
• First, we identified the information that was important and relevant to blind players
• Then we worked with our sound team to provide audio cues to the player. It needs to make sense, even if you can't visually see what's happening.
• From there, we invited blind Japanese players to test the features. Through trial and error, we polished the features and made the necessary changes.
3/8
A logical consideration for what was most important, then feature development with with real user testing.
Nothing magical about the process, but that work directly led to this moment where BlindWarriorSven could participate (and win) in a competitive tournament.
4/8
〰️ Really Good, Not Perfect
I dug a little deeper and found a great accessibility review of Street Fighter 6 by @stevesaylor. In it, Steve applauded these audio cues and the comprehensive training to help gamers learn.
He also mentioned, however, that the game does not include a screen reader. So, while a visually impaired player can compete in the fights, getting to those fights requires sighted assistance.
When I played back the original video of BlindWarriorSven, sure enough I noticed what I had missed the first go round. There were two people helping get things set up before the match started.
Additionally, while there are subtitles present, Steve noted that there are some cases (like in story mode) where some dialog isn’t captioned.
6/8
〰️ Progress over Perfection
Credit to @MerylEvans for this wonderful phrase that I repeat to myself all the time.
It’s still hard for me - as a web developer - to focus on incremental improvements and not worry about achieving some level of perfection.
But it’s important to acknowledge that every bit helps make a difference. It’s critical to start down that path of progress, learning, and sharing.
Otherwise we’ll be waiting for a “perfect” that never comes.
7/8
Hi! 👋 I'm Steve
A web developer that has a ton of fun building accessible, performant, and future-proof marketing web sites & custom web applications that enhance your brand, streamline your processes, and improve customer engagement to help you scale your business
✨ Need help with your next web project? ✨
🖥 Book a discovery call, let’s see if I can help you bring it to life! 😁
https://stevenwoodson.com/project-inquiry/
#UIDevelopment
#WebDevelopment
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8/8
Steve Woodson
