Goal
Ensure all players can navigate to, configure, and use communication features in games that support one-to-one or one-to-many player interactions. Especially important for players who are d/Deaf or hard-of-hearing, non-verbal, or have low or no vision.
Overview
Accessible communication features like STT chat, TTS chat, and others are important — but they aren’t useful if the player can’t reach them. The navigation path to communication features and the process of configuring their settings must also be accessible. A player who can’t get to a settings menu to enable TTS chat can still be blocked from using it, even when the feature exists.
Scoping questions
Does your game include any of the following?
- The ability for players to communicate with other players online (party chat, game chat, text chat, invites)?
- A navigation path through the UI to reach the menu where communication features are configured?
- A navigation path through the UI to reach points in the game where communication is available (e.g., joining a live server in Minecraft)?
Implementation guidelines
When a game offers one-to-one or one-to-many communication (voice chat, text chat, etc.), the following scenarios must be accessible per all relevant XAGs.
Navigating to communication features
The necessary UI path for accessing, launching, or using communication features should be accessible.
- If navigating through the main menu to enable communications, the selection, launching UI, and any subsequent menus on the path should be usable by a player with a disability.
- Example scenario: Navigating from main menu → multiplayer screen → matchmaking → loading → in-match communication. Every step falls in scope.
- If character selection/creation, joining a server, or other actions are required to reach communication features, that UI must be accessible.
- Example: Sea of Thieves — the entire pathway from initial launch to communicating with other players is accessible (XAGs 101/102 for visuals, XAG 106 for narration, XAG 107 for input, XAGs 112–114 for UI, XAGs 115–117 for errors/time limits/motion).
Configuring the communication experience
All UI for enabling or managing settings that affect communication features should be accessible:
- Communication-related accessibility settings — toggling STT/TTS chat, adjusting screen brightness/contrast.
- Audio/other settings that affect communication — volume settings for player chat, TTS chat, ambient volume, music (Gears 5 Text Chat toggle; Sea of Thieves Crew Chat Volume, Push to Talk; Grounded Large Text).
- Notification management — how long notifications appear on screen; toggling certain notifications on or off.
The pathways to these controls, and the mechanisms themselves (drop-down menus, sliders, buttons), must follow related XAGs.
Games like Forza Horizon 4, Grounded, and Minecraft Dungeons surface accessibility settings on initial launch or from the main menu, making it easier for players with disabilities to quickly configure communication settings.
Using communication features
All UI required for meaningful participation in communications must be usable by a player with a disability:
- Sending and accepting friend requests.
- Searching for friends and other players.
- Actions and status of other players — muting, online/offline, availability, blocking.
- Opening/closing chat windows, focusing and using chat features, selecting and sending predefined chat-wheel messages, reporting abuse.
Examples:
- Sea of Thieves chat wheel — players with screen narration hear a preview of each predefined message on focus so they know what they’ll send.
- Sea of Thieves accessible text entry — the game narrates when the text-entry box receives focus or is closed so players know they’re entering a message that will broadcast.
Potential player impact
Resources
