What is Accessibility Quality Assurance (AQA)?

At Keywords Studios, our AQA services are fully adaptable to meet you wherever you are on your accessibility journey. Améliane Chiasson, Game Accessibility Lead at Player Research, breaks down the process behind ensuring your video game is meeting the accessibility needs of your players.

Author: Améliane Chiasson, Game Accessibility Lead at Player Research, a Keywords studio

Date Published: 02/08/2024

Accessibility in Video Games

Before getting into Accessibility Quality Assurance, or AQA, I think it’s important to talk a little bit about accessibility itself, what it’s for and how it applies to video games specifically. In brief, accessibility describes the breadth of people being able to use and enjoy a product (in our case a video game), and more specifically people with disabilities. Creating an accessible video game means adopting considerate, inclusive and customisable options for players, as well as a game design that accommodates the needs of as many players as possible. For example, making sure that the game is colour-blind friendly, has configurable control schemes, has subtitles, readable fonts, and more. It also applies to everything related to the video game lifecycle itself. Take marketing campaigns as an example, accessibility considerations would be making sure that the game’s trailers have closed captions, subtitles and audio description. It even extends to events or conferences, and ensuring our booths or any presentations are accessible to any audience.

What is AQA?

With that in mind, how are we ensuring that video games are, indeed, accessible? Well that’s where AQA comes in. AQA is a methodology used to successfully evaluate, track and address accessibility in video games. We want to make sure that, first of all, there are accessibility considerations in the game itself, but also that these considerations are properly implemented, designed, and functionally serve their purpose.

The AQA process consists of test plans with test cases aimed at evaluating the different accessibility options and features that are available in game, as well as identifying any potential gaps and opportunities in design considerations. An example would be a test case related to colour contrast in the user interface (UI); we would evaluate the colour contrast based on official accessibility guidelines. If that test case were to fail, we would report what’s called a barrier and explain, for example, what the targeted contrast ratio should be. This report would then be assigned a severity rating based on its potential user impact and frequency throughout the game and we would work with the developers to prioritise these barriers moving forward in development.

The first would be auditing. AQA audits aim to comprehensively test the level of accessibility of a game at its current stage, and are usually conducted by one or two QA testers per targeted platform and overseen by an accessibility lead. Auditing is usually carried out using a pre-built, detailed test plan including specific test cases and scenarios covering all areas of accessibility within the game. The team goes through the game in depth and reports on all its different components, from UI and gameplay through to audio, narrative and content warnings. All told, an AQA audit is a great way to get a good snapshot of where the game is currently from an accessibility standpoint. In terms of where an audit would fit in the development plan, it is certainly possible to do early audits focused on a particular section of the game. In general though, audits are often performed in the latter stages of production when the game’s content is more defined.

Once the auditing process is finished, a final report will be compiled detailing each of the accessibility barriers identified and the levels of severity attached. This is then presented to the development team to inform further development.

The second method we offer is cycle testing, which consists of AQA testers working on the project by running applicable test cases on new builds in pre-agreed cycles, be it every week, two weeks or two months. This supports the overall goal of AQA in embedding accessibility into the development process at regular intervals, ensuring it doesn’t fall on the back burner. A key feature of cycle testing is addressing previously reported barriers and ensuring they’re fixed and working optimally, as well as regularly running through specific test cases. This allows us to gather bite-sized feedback at regular intervals, keeping up-to-date with the process at every stage rather than just at the middle or end. In essence, this encompasses what AQA is all about; ensuring the quality of accessibility in a video game by being part of the process - every step of the way.

As complements to audits and during the testing cycle, we often work with accessibility and disability consultants for additional guidance. Player Research also can conduct playtests and research projects with real players who have accessibility needs.

---

To learn more about AQA or our other accessibility services, you can reach out to Player Research’s Advancing Accessibility team via the form below.