How Users Who are Blind or Low Vision Play Mobile Games: Perceptions, Challenges, and Strategies

Research Background and Issues

• Identified Problems or Challenges
  With the rapid expansion of the mobile gaming market, participation by blind and low-vision (BLV) users is also increasing. However, many mainstream mobile games lack sufficient accessibility features, leading to significant challenges for this user group during gameplay. Moreover, while some academic studies have explored accessibility in desktop and board games, there is a notable lack of focus on the mobile gaming domain. Particularly in the Global South, where BLV users often rely on mobile devices due to economic and resource constraints, the importance of mobile game accessibility is further amplified.

• Why It Matters
  BLV users face social isolation and mental health challenges, while video games have been shown to alleviate loneliness, foster social connections, and improve quality of life. As a highly popular and portable form of entertainment, mobile games offer potential pathways for social inclusion and personal fulfillment for this user group. Understanding and improving the mobile gaming experience for BLV users not only aligns with the goals of social inclusion but also advances accessibility design.

• Research Motivation and Related Work
  Researchers have observed that while there is some research on accessibility technologies and design strategies, most focus on games specifically designed for BLV users, with little attention paid to their experiences with mainstream games lacking accessibility tools. Additionally, existing literature rarely compares the impact of different types of mobile games (BLV-specific games, mainstream games with accessibility tools, and mainstream games without any tools) on BLV users.

Proposed Solution

• Proposed Methods or Strategies
  The authors conducted semi-structured interviews with 32 experienced BLV mobile game players to analyze their perceptions, challenges, and coping strategies in mobile gaming. The study not only reveals the impact of mobile games with varying levels of accessibility on BLV users but also provides recommendations for improving future game design.

• Innovations

1. Systematically compares and categorizes the impact of games with different levels of accessibility features on BLV users.
2. Holistically examines players' entertainment needs, social expectations, and the tension between mainstream games and accessibility design for BLV users.
3. Proposes asset-based design recommendations leveraging existing technological resources and community support, emphasizing how to maximize user experience under resource constraints.

• Implementation Steps and Key Techniques

1. Interviews and Data Collection: Participants were recruited from BLV communities in China and engaged in in-depth interviews to explore game types ranging from fully accessible to those without any assistive tools.
2. Data Analysis: Thematic analysis and affinity diagramming techniques were used to summarize participants' perceptions and experiences.
3. User Experience Categorization: Analyzed user experiences based on BLV-specific games, mainstream games with accessibility plugins, and mainstream games without any tools.
4. Recommendations Summary: Proposed accessibility design improvements for game development, including the integration of screen readers, haptic feedback, and adjustable visual parameters.

Research Findings

• Specific Outcomes Achieved

1. Game Value: Mobile games help BLV users alleviate boredom, gain a sense of achievement, and foster social inclusion. However, current accessibility designs face conflicts between playability and usability.
2. Experience Differences Across Game Types:
   • BLV-specific games: Fully accessible but often simplistic, lacking long-term engagement.
   • Games with accessibility tools: Achieve a certain balance between accessibility and playability, but related plugins are costly and lack widespread adoption.
   • Mainstream games without accessibility tools: Pose significant psychological and technical barriers, making equal experiences difficult to achieve.
3. Innovative Strategies: BLV players seek accessible pathways to mainstream games through community collaboration, plugin downloads, and cooperation with sighted users.

• Comparison with Existing Solutions
  Compared to existing research on desktop and VR games, this study focuses on mobile devices, the primary entertainment channel in the Global South. By collecting data directly from participants, it provides real-world cases from marginalized backgrounds.

• Experimental or Evaluation Results
  The study shows that while improving accessibility features can significantly enhance the gaming experience for BLV users, mainstream games often embed systemic "visual-first" biases in their design, making them difficult to access without assistive tools.

• Limitations and Future Directions

1. Limitations: The data primarily comes from BLV communities in China, which may not be generalizable to other countries. Additionally, the study does not extensively address the needs of users with other disabilities (e.g., mobility or hearing impairments).
2. Future Directions: Further research on the integration of auditory and visual information, exploration of less burdensome accessibility tools, and closer co-design efforts with BLV communities to develop more inclusive and mainstream games.

Conclusion

This study, through in-depth interviews with blind and low-vision users, reveals their diverse motivations and challenges in engaging with mobile games, highlighting the importance of inclusive design. It not only provides new research directions for HCI scholars but also offers concrete guidelines for future game design, advancing accessibility and user-centered interaction design.