4 days Ago By Leah J. Williams
Ubisoft has publicly released its colourblindness simulation tool, , to encourage developers to prioritise accessible gameplay within development. Chroma overlays a filter over a game screen to illuminate how colourblind players see the world, and allows developers to make tweaks and changes (or implement new modes), to ensure gameplay remains accessible. Anyone is free to use Chroma, as it’s an open-source tool.
Per a press release, Ubisoft has been developing it since 2021, with the aim to serve the 300 million people around the world who have colourblindness. “Over the past few years, Chroma has proven to be a highly efficient tool for us at Ubisoft,” David Tisserand, Director of Accessibility said in a press release. “It has allowed us to assess the accessibility of our games for colourblind players much faster and more comprehensively than ever before.
” Ubisoft has chosen to release the tool publicly, as it believes “accessibility is a journey, not a race” and more folks accessing the tool means more people able to play games, and a better understanding of how colourblindness may impact a person’s ability to play. “Chroma was created with a clear purpose – making colour blindness accessibility a natural part of the creative and testing process,” Jawad Shakil, QC Product Manager said. “The team faced and overcame significant challenges while building it, but through close collaboration with accessibility experts and by refining the tool based on feedback, they created a solution that eliminated lag and inaccuracies, making accessibility testing efficient and smooth.
” While consulting with those who are colourblind is still a necessary part of the process, as real-time, personal feedback remains incredibly valuable, Chroma can operate as an early consult, and provide clues about where challenges might lie – for example, in puzzles that may use colour, or in terrains that may be obfuscated by elements of similar colours. Those keen to implement Chroma into their testing and iteration processes, and those keen to gain a greater understanding of colourblindness, can ..
