‘Design for every gamer’ was designed specifically for a gaming audience: gamers, streamers and game developers across the world. An immersive Twitch experience put sighted gamers in the shoes of blind and partially sighted gamers, allowing them to experience virtual sight loss in the first person. It showed how impossible some games were, and how accessible design made others possible. It used gaming entertainment to empathise, educate, mobilise the gaming community and make change in the industry.

RNIB, the UK’s leading sight loss charity conducted a study with the help of Goldsmiths, University of London & The University of Edinburgh. It found that over 70% of game developers would like to see sharing of accessibility knowledge amongst peers, but only 15% of them reported currently having sufficient understanding of what it’s like to game with sight loss. RNIB wanted to recruit a user panel of blind and partially sighted gamers on discord to review games in beta stage, and push for gamer developers to share information and increase accessibility within the industry

There are 3 billion gamers worldwide, 23 million are blind or partially sighted. Many people assume they can’t or don’t game, let alone cater for their needs. In the UK, the public don’t think about the issues of sight loss, largely because two thirds of Britons don’t know anyone with the condition. As a result, little change is happening to make gaming more accessible because the issue lacks awareness. Tackling gaming was a way to educate gamers and developers, to mobilise a highly activist Twitch community around the issue, and to change perceptions among the wider public.

Design For Every Gamer launched on Twitch with a series of live events. We paired sighted gamers with blind or partially sighted gamers to play and talk together. It was Twitch, but with a twist. A short way into the stream we ‘hacked’ their stream with visual filters that recreated the five most common sight loss conditions. A disruptive, immersive experience that educated them and their viewers of what gamers with sight loss experience.

The five sight loss filters were designed in consultation with clinical sight loss experts at RNIB. The filters tracked eye movement and head movement to give the most realistic immersive experience possible. A stream deck allowed our streamers to toggle between them on any games they played on their stream. The series took place in April live on Twitch. All streams are now available to view on their relevant twitch pages. The filters are being made open-sourced on the RNIB website, meaning any game developer or streamer on the planet can access the technology they need to test their games against the sight loss conditions.

RNIB hit their yearly target numbers for the testing panel within 72 hours. The streamers’ average viewers increased 500%, getting more eyes on gamers with sight loss. Gaming giants such as EA, Activision, Naughty Dog, Ubisoft & Rare are already consulting with our visually impaired gamers on future titles going forward. The filters are being used in schools and colleges to educate the next generation of developers.