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Acknowledgements

Without the guidance and help of several people, who provided extended assistance in
many ways towards the completion of this study this research wouldnt have been
possible. Primarily, I would like to thank my University Supervisor, Dr Marion Hersh,
whose supervision, opinion and support helped me to get along and complete this
dissertation. I would also like to thank Autism Resource Centre Glasgow for providing
me access to their organisation so that I could conduct out my research.
Additionally I would like to thank all the participants who took part in interviews and as
well as filling in the questionnaires. Without their truthfulness and disclosure I wouldnt
have been able to carry on and finish my study. To end with I would like to thank my
family and friends who were always there to provide help towards attaining the desired
results.
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Declaration Of Own Work

I declare that this dissertation is my own work and that all documents (paper and
electronic) used is done according to the University rules. I have not copied the
work of others (including students) in any way.

I confirm that departmental ethical approval and Glasgow City Council approval was
given prior to proceeding with the survey associated with this Research.



Signed: ...........................................................................
Date: ............................
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Abstract
Games are played by people of all age groups therefore it is very important to keep them
simple and accessible for people with different disabilities. Game accessibility is about
adapting a games hardware and software (such as game controllers, difficulty level, or
feedback modality) to individual needs, regardless of having a disability or not (Westin et
al., 2011). Different disabilities or impairments cause different accessibility issues. So, to
develop a game that is universally accessible is a tedious task. This project aims to make a
popular leisure game more accessible to autistic people. The research looks at the existing
literature on accessibility and games available for autistic people. This is then followed by
qualitative and quantitative research undertaken within Autism Resource Centre Glasgow
in order to analyse the games played and to identify the changes that should be made. The
results from this research are used to bring about modifications to the game Flappy Bird.
As such it is not a rigorous analysis, but rather a perspective on a method to make a game
more accessible for autistic people.

















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CHAPTER 1


Introduction


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1.1. Introduction
From a survey carried out by(Yuan et al., 2011), it is said that over the last three decades
games have progressed from being a pastime into an influence of change that is
transforming the way people perceive, familiarize and interact with the world around them.
Games have not only turned to be a major part in child and youth culture, but they are also
played by adults. The term game refers to digital game, video game, computer game,
mobile game or any other electronic game. A survey was carried out by (futurelab, 2009),
and reported that in addition to entertainment, games are increasingly used for other
purposes such as education or health. Further(Ulicsak & Williamson, 2010) stated that
games are subdivided into three categories: educational games, leisure games and
educational leisure games. Educational games are those which are designed explicitly for
educational purposes and are intended to support processes of teaching and learning. In
contrast leisure games do not have any explicit goal but could be used to learn something
while as educational leisure games are used to aid teaching although they are designed for
leisure use. Despite this, a significant number of people encounter barriers when playing
games due to disability or impairment. As the popularity of games increases, making games
accessible becomes more important. So far, games accessibility has been recognized as an
area of minor importance. Besides games to support special informative and educational
issues there seem to be far more serious problems for people with disabilities to focus on.
As stated in(Westin et al., 2011) game accessibility is about adapting a games hardware
and software (such as game controllers, difficulty level, or feedback modality) to individual
needs, regardless of having a disability or not. Although making the target group potentially
large. Also for certain disabilities the need for game accessibility becomes more important
for some game genres. Accessibility problems may include not being able to receive
feedback, not being able to determine in-game response or not being able to provide input
using conventional input devices etc. These accessibility problems arise due to a disability
or impairment. According to the census of 2011 (English Federation Of Disability Support,
2014), there are about 9.4 million disabled people in England, accounting for 18 per cent of
the population. These disabilities are further categorised into various types. Following the
World Health Organisations (WHO) manual: International Classification of Impairments,
Disabilities and Handicaps (ICIDH)(Kleijn-de Vrankrijker et al., 1989) the various
impairments in accordance with writing guidelines for technology are as:
Visual impairment: This is a certain degree of vision loss such as low vision/partially
sightedness, legal blindness, full blindness. Colour blindness is also considered as visual
impairment.
Hearing impairment: This is the complete or partial loss of the ability to hear from one
or both ears. The level of impairment can be mild to profound. Deafness refers to the
complete loss of ability to hear from one or both ears.
Motor impairment: This is the loss or limitation of function in muscle control or
movement, or a limitation in mobility. Common causes include arthritis, paralysis,
cerebral palsy, or repetitive strain injury. Motor impairment may also include difficulties
in speech control and the need to use input devices other than a mouse or keyboard.
Cognitive impairment: This is a mental and psychological disorder ranging from mental
retardation developed during childhood to Alzheimers or senility as a result of aging.
People with autism, Down syndrome or other developmental disorders are also included.
Their main characteristics are impairments in social interaction, impairments in
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communication, restricted interests and repetitive behaviour. Dyslexia and attention
deficit disorder are also common cognitive impairments.

These impairments limit ones ability to play games to different extents. However, this
research is not concerned with game accessibility in general, but rather it focuses on game
accessibility for autistic people. Within the International Game Developers Association
(IGDA) Special Interest Group (SIG) game accessibility guidelines, this research focuses
on modifying a popular game to make it usable for autistic people that will provide
entertainment and help in active learning. According to the national autistic society(The
National Autistic Society, 2011)autism is a lifelong developmental disorder signified by
social and communication impairments, along with rigid/repetitive activity patterns.
According to latest prevalence studies of autism around 1.1% of UK population i.e. over
695,000 people in the UK may have autism (The National Autistic Society, 2011).
Unfortunately the research literature on games and approaches for those with autism
remains lacking. Most of the limited research available is concentrated on educational
software for children with autism towards academic skill development and does not
specifically target core deficits such as rigidity and social interaction or entertainment
(Torrente et al., 2012). Therefore, the central aim of this research is to analyse the game
accessibility guidelines and needs of autistic people by conducting a survey and from
already existing literature to develop a game that will benefit at least a group of autistic
people. Based on that, the main objectives of this study are to:
Explore and understand various game accessibility guidelines
Examine various games played by autistic people and what accessibility issues they face
while playing these games
Analyse the impact of adding one or more accessibility feature to improve their
experience
Select an android game and identify the scope requirements
Modify the selected android game with a list of accessible features

Before starting the survey, ethical approval from both University of Glasgow and Glasgow
City Council was obtained. However, the approval was granted quite late leaving very little
time for both the research and modification process. The research comes up with the few
accessibility features that need to be present in a game to make it accessible for autistic
people from the results obtained from survey carried out in Autism Resource Centre. The
survey included an online questionnaire intended as a first step to elucidate information
about games played; difficulty faced playing the games and benefits attained from the
users perspective. Additionally, an interview was conducted of some volunteer participants
to investigate the information further. The data obtained was then analysed to aid
modification of a popular game Flappy Bird for that is not just entertaining, but also meets
some of the needs, and aligns to the interests and strengths of autistic people.

The game Flappy Bird is a leisure game with a very simple concept to manoeuvre the bird
across pipes without touching them. The bird briefly flaps upwards each time the screen is
touched or clicked. The concept is indeed simple, but is considered to be one of the most
difficult games, a game easy to learn but hard to master(Anon., 2014).The game not only
being a way of passing time or relaxing also leads to dedication, concentration and the
desire to keep improving, as the game constantly wants a person to beat his own score. The
idea behind modifying this game is to make the highly popular game accessible for autistic
people, so that they can also be a part of this leisure game.
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Following the introduction, a literature review of the study on autism, accessibility and its
importance in games and a relationship between the two in improving learning activities is
given. Chapter 2 explanation of the methodologies, research and game development
adopted during this research is provided. The methodology is followed by research results
in chapter 3 from the research conducted. Then a discussion is presented in chapter 4,
where the research observations are presented in link to research findings and literature
review. And from these research findings few features are selected for the modification of
game. Finally in chapter 5 conclusionis drawn, emphasising on the scope for future
development of games with set of flexible features.









1.2. Literature Review:
According to (Mueller, 2003)the concept of accessibility is often related to things like
wheelchair ramps and closed captioning on television. The reason for this is because these
sorts of accessibility features stand out and are used by those with obvious disabilities.
However, accessibility features aren't designed just for those with the most severe
disabilities they are even used by people without disabilities to improve their experience
including gaming. Sometimes even regular features provide help to people with disabilities
like the contrast setting on television will make screen easier for someone with visual
impairment or autism.In 2003 a comprehensive study by Microsoft Corporation was
conducted to measure the current and potential market of accessible technology in the
United States and understand how accessible technology is being used today (Windows,
2013). The results determined that computer users who range from 18 to 64 years old, 57%
(74.2 million) are likely to benefit from the use of accessible technology. The study also
concluded that the use of accessible features was not restricted to people with disabilities.
(Yuan et al., 2010) argue that since over last few decades games have evolved as a
mainstream form of entertainment and educative purposes, but there is still a large group of
people who find themselves excluded from playing these games because of disability. Now
it has become socially and financially important for game developers to make games
accessible. In the context of games, accessibility means making it usable to someone with
any of the disability (Windows, 2013). There are many barriers faced by people with
accessibility issues. However, designing games that work for people with disabilities is
quite a challenge. The accessibility of games is fundamentally different than software or
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web accessibility in general. One fundamental difference is that games tend to expect
certain behaviours or skills, which makes adaptation to specific needs more challenging.
Another reason for this difficulty, which may seem normal but must be emphasised due to
its importance, is that accessible games must still be games. There are some games which
have been developed for groups of disabled users but have some limitations (Archambault
et al., 2008). These limitations range from having limited games available or specifically
dedicated for a group to being simple and old fashioned and not much fun.
This chapter will first review accessibility, its importance in games and the current research
that is available related to the subject in order to identify the key issues and therefore
provide a focus on the research. The review will also include literature available on autism,
current accessibility games available for them, and the role of accessible games in helping
with some of their learning activities. Secondly, the literature available on different game
accessibility guidelines available, focussing on guidelines that provide accessibility features
to develop game for autistic people will be reviewed.
1.2.1. Reviewing Accessibility
As per the definition developed by GA-SIG (All about accessibility, 2003), game
accessibility is the ability to play a game even when functioning under limiting conditions.
Limiting conditions can be functional limitations, or disabilities such as blindness,
deafness, or mobility limitations. The term disability does not exclude, and is most
likely to include almost everyone in some fashion sooner or later (Bateman & Bartle,
2009). For some, these limitations do not affect every aspect of life while for others it
profoundly impacts nearly every aspect of life whether it is how to live life or to enjoy;
including gaming. As per the facts produced by (ESA, 2013)in last few years market for
games be it video game, computer game or any other game has seen an impressive
development. Playing games has become mainstream form of leisure activities for people
of all ages, genders and backgrounds especially young adults (Archambault et al., 2008).
Games are also increasingly being adopted in education as a way to engage students and
improve academic performance (Johnson et al., 2012).Despite the widespread interest in
games almost most of them remain inaccessible for people with disabilities (Westin et al.,
2011). Given their popularity in modern society, making accessible games becomes more
important (Yuan et al., 2010). For better inclusion and participation in society people with
disabilities should be provided with a chance to access any multimedia game. Autism like
any other disability creates limiting conditions for anyone attempting to play a game.
Bleuler in 1911 used the term "autism" to describe the loss of contact with reality, causing
great difficulty or impossibility for communication (Gadia et al., 2004). (As per (The
National Autistic Society, 2011), autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is a comprehensive
developmental disorder which affects individuals with varying degrees of impairment.
Autism spectrum is very large and its symptoms vary significantly from person to person.
Typically characterised by impairment of social interaction and communication and
restricted repetitive behaviour. These impairments may interfere with a variety of physical
activity opportunities. The range and degree of problems that occur with autism is very
wide and it is very difficult to describe some accessible features and guidelines as being for
autism. Therefore it seems to be an extraordinary challenge to categorise and model a game
design that copes with all these special needs. However, to make these special need
guidelines enabling game development for this targeted population effective, it is necessary
to understand their requirements for interacting with the games. Despite the worldwide
growth in digital games there is still not enough literature available on games for autistic
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people. Most of this literature work is on software solutions focussing on educational
development and not specifically targeting core deficits such as social interaction or
providing entertainment. Though it is hard to develop a generalised game for any group of
people, this research intends to present new possibilities of accessibility while designing
games for autistic people and also develop a game having some of these features.





1.2.2. Different Accessibility Guidelines
Since impairments affect players ability to play games to different extents, a generic
interaction model for games is defined, allowing in identifying exactly what kind of barrier
a player with an impairment faces. This model was derived by analysing how a player
interacts with a game for a number of different game genres and finding similarities in steps
taken when playing a game. As per (Yuan et al., 2010) the game interaction model consists
of three steps:
1. Receive stimuli
2. Determine response
3. Provide input
As per office of National statistics one child in every 100 in U.K. exhibits signs of autism,
this makes about 100,000 children (Ambitious About Autism, n.d.). Autistic players
primarily find difficulty in understanding what in game response to provide and how fast.
Therefore some strategies like reducing time constraints, reducing amount of stimuli and
reduced input can be provided to make games accessible. In (Game accessibility
guidelines, 2012) there are sets of guidelines categorised as a list for each accessibility
issue. From these, few guidelines can be used for accessibility of autistic people. Besides
the rules these guidelines have been categorised into three classes as basic, intermediate
and advanced. The various guidelines that can be used for accessibility of autistic people
are:
o Level/progression: Allow difficulty level to be altered during gameplay, either through
setting or adaptive difficulty
o Input: Ensure that all key actions can be carried out by digital controls (pad/ keys/touch),
with more complex input (e.g. analogue, speech, gesture) not required, and included
only as supplementary/ alternative input methods
o Graphics: Provide an option to turn off/ hide background movement, an option to turn
off/ hide non interactive elements and avoid flickering images and repetitive patterns.
o Speed: Include an option to adjust game speed.
o Sound: Provide separate volume controls or mutes for effects, speech and
background/music
o Installation and settings: Allow the game to be started without the need to navigate
through multiple levels of menus
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Drawing from the above game interaction models, accessibility guidelines and survey
results, this research will investigate how effective it will be to implement these accessible
features in an existing popular game.





2. Methodology
This chapter discusses the methodology applied to two different aspects of the project. One
is the research methods used to research accessibility issues faced by autistic people while
playing games and what suggested changes should be made in order to enhance their
experience. And the second is methodology used for the game development process.



2.1.1. Research Aims and Objectives
The main aim of this research is to survey the current accessibility of games available for
autistic people and what relevant accessibility features must be added to improve their
gaming experience.
This research will review the literature available on guidelines for game accessibility,
analyse different game interaction models to identify exactly what kind of barrier a player
with autism faces. The research will then conduct a survey within Autism Resource Centre
Glasgow to understand the types of games played by autistic people, their experience
navigating these games, and whether they think making these games more accessible will
bring about more social interaction and active learning.
The main objectives for this research are:
To understand guidelines for game accessibility and how these can be used to make a
game for autistic people,
Conduct a survey within Autism Resource Centre Glasgow among people with autism
aged between 18 and 25, because they belong to age group where they have grown up in
a world where digital games have always been an important part of life(Johnson et al.,
2012). The survey results are to be used for the following:
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o Analyse the type of games played by the above mentioned age group with autism, what
makes them feel more engaged to these games, and whether it helped in active learning
and social interaction,
o Analyse what makes the game difficult to navigate and what more they feel should be
added to the game.
Developing a game using an Android platform based on the results from this research.

2.1.2. Research Approach
The primary research was conducted using both quantitative (Questionnaire) as well as a
qualitative (Interviews) approach. (Bryman, 1988)states that in order to reach to the exact
version of reality more than one research method should be used, precisely one of the
methods should be qualitative and the other quantitative. Quantitative research method
helps in getting an idea about the root problem which is further investigated more
specifically using the qualitative method.

2.1.3. Quantitative Research
Questionnaires are used to bring together the statistics on the particular subject covering a
wider number of people and then based on the results, access the need of making desired
changes within that particular area (Edwards, 1997). The area can vary between assessing
likes and needs, to satisfaction, and motivation. This study used questionnaires to gather
information on the games played by autistic people and various difficulties faced while
playing these games. The research questionnaires used were of quantitative type and as
(Saunders et al., 2009) describes could be used to look at, put forward, clarify and study
links and preferences within the data collected. Though, it was essential to make sure that
the data is figured out correctly in order to get genuine point from the findings.
The questions used in the questionnaire were mostly multiple choice where the participants
had to select an option of their choice, could be more than one. Since it took very long to
get ethical approval from Glasgow City Council so the questionnaire was distributed
among a number of around 84 adults who had a connection to the ARC. Out of the 84, 27
of them were female. In terms of age, the range was in between 20 and 50 (inclusive).The
questionnaire was also distributed among some of my supervisors contacts and through
online sites. The questions for the questionnaire covered the idea on understanding the
engagement level of autistic people with present games, their usability and navigating
experience and role of adding suitable accessible features in enhancing their experience
playing games as well as social interaction and active learning. A few questions on each
idea were asked to get the participants views on them. Questions on these ideas were based
to get understanding of the extent to which these games engaged them and their perspective
on adding some features to make these games more usable. The survey provided a useful
understanding into the difficulties faced by these people while playing the games and how
satisfied they are with the current accessible games available. The survey also intended to
get an idea about how they felt the suggestions provided could help in improving their
experience. A copy of the questionnaire can be viewed in Appendix I.
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2.1.4. Qualitative Research
The data collected from qualitative research is non-numeric and is based on the views of
participants expressed through words (Saunders et al., 2009).Interview is one of the types
of qualitative research, conducted in regular conditions which provides a thorough
perception of the research area which could not be achieved by numeric data (Matveev,
2002). Interview helps the researcher to look into the subject more intensely and explore
beyond to obtain a detailed data and add significance to the answers provided (Saunders et
al., 2007).
Interviews are of different types, formal and structured or informal and unstructured
(Saunders et al., 2007). Semi structured interviews were used for the purpose of this
research, and the main aim for conducting these interviews was to obtain a deeper
knowledge and involvement to understand the views of respondents. The type of questions
asked in the interview were open ended so that participants could describe and define their
experience better and also encouraged them to provide detailed answers (Saunders et al.,
2009). According to (Saunders et al., 2009), semi structured and detailed interviews give
an opportunity to the researcher to review the answers and put up additional explanation to
the responses of participants. The theme of Interview questions was set the same themes as
questionnaire i.e. types of games interested in, difficulties faced while playing them,
benefits obtained from playing these games and role of adding accessible features in
enhancing the experience .Interviews allowed investigating further the responses of
participants to extract extra information. Since the research involves autistic people clear
verbal and nonverbal language avoiding unambiguous and vague questions were used.
With the flexibility associated with the semi structured interviews new dimensions on the
problems and connecting any clues with the main research were opened up.
However as per (Silverman, 2007), it is important to understand the manner in which the
researcher asks the questions, as it will have an impact on the data collected. Saunders et al
(2009) also highlights certain issues while conducting interviews e.g. He argues that there
can be issues in terms of reliability of the answers provided in an interview as the data
reflects one particular point in time which is coupled with circumstances explored being
complex in nature. It is also advised not to generalise the results as they represent
individual attitudes and opinions of the interviewee.
Altogether 4 autistic people were interviewed within Autism Resource Centre Glasgow,
including people aged between 18 and 60 due to time limitations. Dates and times of
interview were selected according to the flexibility of interviewees and didnt last more
than 30 minutes. The participants were selected voluntarily, contacted by ARC staff. A
copy of the interview questions can be viewed in Appendix.
While conducting the interviews, a Dictaphone recorder was used to record the interviews
which were then appropriately transcripted. Main reason for doing this was to allow the
researcher more opportunity to discuss and probe further by paying full attention to the
interviewees responses.

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2.1.5. Secondary Data Collection Method
A secondary research was conducted by reviewing the relevant literature available on
accessibility, game accessibility guidelines and interaction models and accessibility of
games available for autistic people, which then helped to develop the research aims and
objectives. Various books, academic articles, journals and relevant websites were accessed
to carry out this research.

2.2.1. Game Development
As the development process specifies the major development and quality control activities
that need to be performed in the project, the development process really forms the core of
the software process (Jalote, 2005).
The game development process was divided into four phases which are categorized into
two divisions. The phases are:
1. Analysis
2. Design and development
3. Coding
4. Testing
The first division involved planning and selecting a game to fulfil the scope of the project
and the second for coding and testing to achieve the required product.
Analysis phase involves all the procedures by which we breakdown an intellectual or
substantial whole into parts. Analysis phase is the detailed understanding of all the
important facts of the project under investigation. This phase requires collection of data
from a variety of sources. For this, questionnaires, forms, interviews etc. are used.
While analysing, a set of questions arise in our mind, they are:
1. What is being done in the project?
2. How it is being done?
3. What are the problems that may arise and what can the cause be?
4. If a problem arises, how it will be solved?
What is being done in the project?
In this section, focus was on determining milestone of the project. The project intended to
modify a popular mobile game to make it usable by autistic people. Mobile games have
come a long way since early 90s and has grown relatively in the software industry (ESA,
2013). In the view of the fact that autism, by definition is a broad spectrum disorder which
encompasses a broad range of phenotypes, it is very difficult to develop a single game that
appeals everyone (Morris et al., 2010). The game chosen for the project was simple and one
of the popular games of present time. The game is supposed to provide entertainment and
help in building concentration and dedication. Dedication and determination is considered
to be a problem for people with learning disability such as dyslexia, ADHD and autism
(TOTKO, 2011). This game intends to provide the determination to keep going and not to
give up on obstacles easily. After selecting the game necessary requirement for
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modifications to the game as per game accessibility guidelines and result from the survey
were selected.

How it is being done?
This section started by selecting and setting up development environment towards game
development goal. This involved downloading Java, Eclipse and Android Development
Tools (ADT), since the game was intended for android mobiles using java as a primary
language. After setting up the basic requirements for development environment, libGDX
game development framework platform and using open source code available at Kilobolt
(Cho, 2014), modifying code and its logic was started. Since didnt have any prior in
experience game development so most of the time was spent taking training sessions.
What are the problems that may arise?
In this section the problems that could arise during the process are taken into consideration.
The problem can be as simple as calculating wrong coordinates of texture regions. The
texture should be in accordance with the resolution of the screen taken into consideration
for development of this game i.e. the dimension of the texture should be a multiple of
dimension of the screen. Also the build path should be properly configured.
If a problem arises how it will be solved?
Utmost care should be taken while calculating the coordinates of texture region. Adobe
Photoshop CS5 was used for calculating the coordinates and dimensions of the texture
regions. Also updated versions of SDK were installed to keep build path properly
configured.
2.2.2. Software Engineering Paradigm Applied
The methodology used for developing this system is the Iterative Model. We can
understand the working of this process model by the following figure (Dewsoft Education
Academy , n.d.).
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Figure 1
The detailed input and output are not known in the beginning and thus it is felt that a
prototyping model will be suitable for the development process. But in order to have a
better testing we used iterative approach for the development process.
This approach combines advantages of both Waterfall Model and the Prototyping Model.
The basic idea is that the application should be developed in increments, each increment
adding some functional capability to the system until the full system is implemented. At
each step, extensions and design modifications can be made. An advantage of this approach
is that it can result in better testing because testing each increment is likely to be easier than
testing the entire system as in waterfall model (Reference). Furthermore, as in prototyping,
the increments provide feedback to the client that is useful for determining the final
requirements of the system.
In the first step of this model, a simple initial implementation is done for a subset of the
overall problem. The subset is one that contains some of the key aspects of the problem that
are easy to understand and implement and which form a useful and usable system. A
project control list is created that contains, in order, all the tasks that must be performed to
obtain the final implementation. The project control list gives an idea of how far along the
project is at any given step from the final system.
Each step consists of removing the next task from the list, designing the implementation,
performing an analysis of the partial system obtained after this step, and updating the list as
a rephrase, and analysis phase. This process is iterated until the project control list is empty,
at which time the final implementation of the system will be available.
The project control list guides the iteration steps and keeps track of all tasks that must be
done. Based on the analysis, one of the tasks in the list can include redesign of defective
components or redesign of the entire system. However, redesign of the system will
generally occur only in the initial steps. In the later steps, the design would have to be
performed in one step of the iterative enhancement process and should be simple enough to
be completely understood. Selecting tasks in this manner will minimize the chances of error
and reduce the redesign work. The design and implementation phase of each step can be
performed in a top-down manner or by using some other technique.
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2.2.3. Design and Development
It is the process of applying various tools, techniques and principles for defining the
project. The various tools and techniques used in this project are:
1. Integrated Development Environment (IDE): The IDE used in the project is Eclipse with
Android Developer Tools(ADT) Bundle Plugin. Eclipse written mostly in java, is a
multi-language software development environment comprising of a workspace and an
extensible plug-in system (Android Developers, n.d.). ADT a plugin for Eclipse
provides suite of tools which are integrated with the Eclipse IDE providing access to
many features used for developing android applications.
2. Language: The language used in this project is Java, a high-level object oriented
computer programming language which enables programmers to write computer
instructions using English based commands, instead of having to write in numeric codes
(Leahy, 2014). Java supports built-in packages that can be used for making different
programs. Users can also build their own packages which can be used again and again.
3. Graphics and Texture Editor: For editing the graphics and textures game Adobe
Photoshop CS5 was used. Adobe Photoshop is a raster graphics editor developed and
published by Adobe Systems for Windows and OS X. It can edit and compose raster
images in multiple layers and supports masks, alpha compositing and several colour
models including RGB, CMYK, Lab colour space, spot colour and duotone (Reference).


2.2.4. Coding:
It is the process of translating design of the system into source code in a given
programming language. The basic structure of how the game is designed and implemented
is shown in the figure below (Cho, 2014).

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The basic project Zombie Bird is divided into two main branches ZBGame class and
GamePlay class. Since the project is made in libGDX, all platform dependent code is
hidden and there is no need to write code to create a game on
iOS/Android/Mac/HTML/Windows etc., and the high level stuff is provided by creating an
ApplicationInterface.
1. ZBGame class: This class extends inbuilt game class in order to provide interface
between the code and target platform. In addition, it also gains access to all the useful
methods that belong to inbuilt game class. The ZBGame class is split into two more
branches Framework helper and Screen. The Framework helper classes include
Inputhandler class and Assetloader class to handle input, images and sound etc. All
images, sounds and animations are defined in Assetloader class and all input events such
as touch or click is defined in Inputhandler class. The Inputhandler implements
InputProcessor, which is an interface between platform dependent code and our code.
When some input is provided through our platform it calls a method inside the current
InputProcessor, which is provided by implementing it. The Assetloader class has two
methods: the load method and dispose method. The load method is called whenever the
game starts and dispose method is called when game is closed. In Screen classes, Game
screen class provides the view to be displayed and is attached to ZBGame class. This
class needs further two helper classes GameWorld and GameRenderer for updating the
game objects (bird, pipe, background, grass etc.) and rendering them respectively. Game
screen class only delegates these tasks inside the render method.
2. GamePlay class: This class includes all game objects which are defined in their
respective classes like bird class, pipe class, grass class and their collision detection. In
bird class all the instance variables like position, acceleration, velocity, rotation, height
and width of the bird are given. The bird class belongs to GameWorld and has an update
method and onClick method. The update method is called whenever GameWorld
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updates and onClick method is called whenever the screen is clicked or touched.
Whenever update method is called, the scaled acceleration vector is added to velocity for
providing the birds new position. The onClick method is always called whenever the
touch method in InputHandler is invoked. The pipe and grass behave in similar ways so
their common traits like velocity, position, width, height are created in Scrollable
superclass and then inherited to create more specific Pipe and Grass objects. The Pipe
and Grass scrollable subclasses having some of their own properties are created using
inheritance. For resetting these objects while scrolling rather than giving each object
reference to the other a ScrollHandler class is created to keep a reference of all the
objects and also to determine where each should go. This class makes things lot easier
by creating the Grass and Pipe objects, updating them and handling reset.
In the game death occurs in one of the two ways, either by making contact with the ground
or hitting one of the pipes. The collision is detected by creating a bounding circle around
the birds head and a rectangle covering both upper and lower pipes. Once the collision is
detected the scrolling objects are informed to stop, GameWorld gets the current score, stops
the bird, plays the sound etc. and GameRenderer reacts to show the score and display the
flash.
Further, there are two different buttons for controlling the velocity of the bird. Both the
buttons and their functionality are defined in the InputHandler class.



3. Research Results:

This chapter outlines the findings from the qualitative and quantitative research conducted
within Autism Resource Centre Glasgow. The quantitative research (Questionnaire)
examined the attitude of autistic people towards games and their accessibility whereas
Interviews were conducted to get their perspective on improving the accessibility features
of these games. These research results were then used to make changes in the game to make
it accessible. First the findings from questionnaires are explained followed by interview
findings.
3.1. Quantitative Research (Questionnaire)
A sample of questionnaire was sent around 84 adults aged between 20 and 50, out of which
only 10 responded due to time limitation.


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There were total 10 questions in the questionnaire to analyse interest in games, benefits
from playing games, difficulties faced while playing games and the role of adding some
features in enhancing gaming experience.
i. Interest in Games
From the three questions based on interest in playing games, the level of interest in playing
games could be identified. Respondents were measured on the extent to which type of game
platform they are interested in and which game they play most.

The data shows that majority of the participants like to play online games and the rest like
playing computer or video games and a few play mobile games.

The engagement of respondents towards games was also measured by analysing the amount
of time they spend playing these games and the items included: once every few months,
once a month, 3 to 5 times a week, everyday, never.

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The data revealed around 14% of the participants never played games and same number of
participants either play 3 to 4 times a week or once in a few months and around 29% of the
participants play daily or once a month.
The research also found that their experience navigating these games and the items
included: very easy, somewhat easy, neither easy nor difficult, somewhat difficult,
very difficult.

The data revealed that almost 50% of the respondents find games neither easy nor difficult,
25% of them find games easy to play and around 13 % of the respondents either find games
easy or difficult to some extent.
ii. Benefits from playing Games
The next part of the questionnaire focused on benefits attained from playing games from
participants perspective. To find out whether games provide any help or benefits to the
participants one question was included in the questionnaire. The question was Do you
think playing games help you in any way ? The respondents were required to choose from
the items provided in the list. The items included: improves concentration, helps in
decision making, confidence, satisfaction of being able to take challenges, provide
pure entertainment, did not help in any way.

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The data revealed that 58% of the participants consider games provided only entertainment
and around 43% considered they get benefited in ways like satisfaction to take on
challenges, decision making and improved concentration. And around 29% didnt find
games benefiting them in any way.

iii. Difficulties faced while playing Games

Participants were asked whether they face any difficulty while playing games and around
72% agreed to the statement.






The research then analysed the type of challenges they face while playing the game of their
choice. The question asked was to find the difficulties faced while playing games. Items
included: receiving feedback from game, determining what to do in order to progress
further in the game, providing simultaneous inputs to accomplish the task, none of the
above.
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The results showed that a total of 60% find it difficult to determine what to do next in
order to progress further in the game and around 20% find it difficult to receive feedback
from game as well as provide simultaneous inputs to accomplish the task. While as the rest
40% didnt face any of these difficulties during game playing.


iv. Role of adding some features in enhancing Game experience

Regarding the role of adding some features in enhancing game experience, participants
were asked to rate, list of features according to their perspective which will provide better
understanding and improve their gaming experience. The items were to be rated as highly
important, important, not so important, doesnt matter, dont know. The items were:
clearly structured content, ability to turn flash off, ability to turn flicker off, improved
resolution of game, clearly defined enemy markings and obstructions, ability to choose
different difficulty settings(beginner, intermediate, champion),reduced disturbance.

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Based on the results, almost 50% of the respondents dont know if there should be reduced
disturbance in the games, around 35% feel reduced disturbance as a highly important
factor, 11% feel this factor is important while as rest of the respondents feel reduced
disturbance doesnt matter.
For ability to choose different difficulty settings, around 37% of the respondents feel, it is
important and 25% of them feel it as highly important whereas rest of the respondents feel
it doesnt matter or it isnt that important.
For clearly defined enemy markings and obstructions, 50% of the respondents feel it is
important whereas rest of them either dont know about this feature or they feel it doesnt
matter.
For ability to change speed, more than 70% of the respondents either feel it is important or
highly important to have this feature while as rest of them believe this factor doesnt matter
at all.
For improved resolution, more than 60% of the respondents feel this feature as important or
highly important while as rest of the respondents either dont know about this feature or
feel this feature doesnt matter at all.
For ability to turn off flicker, around 55% of the participants believe it is either highly
important or important to have this feature whereas rest of them either dont know about
this feature or feel this feature doesnt matter at all.
For ability to turn off flash, around 50% of the participants believe it is either important or
highly important to have this feature whereas rest of them either dont know about this
feature or feel this feature doesnt matter at all.
For clearly structured content, around 90% of the respondents feel this feature is either
important or highly important whereas rest of them feel this feature is not so important.


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From the overall data from quantitative research it can be seen that even though there are
some difficulties faced by the participants while playing games but still they find games
very interesting and would like to see some modified games.

3.2. Qualitative Research (Interview)
The aim of Qualitative research was to get deep understanding of the games played by
autistic people and what they like and dislike about the game, features that should be added
according to their perspective and the role of adding these features in their active learning
and social interaction. A total of four participants were interviewed. The sample was
selected randomly depending on the availability of the interviewee. The topics for interview
questions were same as questionnaire and covered areas of interest in games, likes and
dislikes in the game, adding accessible features, help in active learning and social
interaction from games and role of adding speed settings in enhancing their experience. The
responses from the interviews are explained in detail below.
I. Interest in Games and difficulty faced

From all the four interviews it was evident that even if they face some difficulty while
playing, games still interest them. Interest in games is different for different people. Some
dont play them often while for some playing games, is like their daily routine and for some
games are life changing. Like the interviewee C mentioned:

Just because of the interest in games I learned how to read and do mathematics and
games also helped me to explore my skills. In addition to this, games improved my ability to
carry out executive functions such as decision making, setting goals and maintaining
attention. They also improved my hand eye coordination.

Likewise interviewee 1 said:
I play games on different platforms like tablet, console, and mobile and like to play games
that are for entertainment or are challenging.

From the interviews, it could be interpreted that games interest all age groups and the
reason they play games vary.
As for as difficulties faced while playing the games, not having clear instructions in the
beginning of game and the level of difficulty increasing after every passing stage makes it
very difficult for them to play these games. Like said by interviewee 2:

I like to play Fifa game but there should be better instructions so that I can understand
them.

He further added,

Sometimes at different levels the game becomes too fast


However interviewee 1 said:

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I like to play candy crush but as I reach higher levels it becomes difficult to clear the
stages.
From this interview it could be established that it is because of the small things which
makes the games difficult to play by autistic people.

II. Benefits from playing games and what more they want from the game

2 out of 4 participants believed that they have been benefited by playing games. There can
be many ways in which people have been benefited from games. This can be linked to the
results of quantitative research were only 25% felt that games did not help them in any
way. Also games have not only provided them entertainment in their free time but also
have helped them improve many of their skills. Like the interviewee C mentioned:

Playing games like construction have helped me to take decisions, manage my money and
organise my work.

Also interviewee B mentioned that:

Games have built up my confidence to take any sort of challenge.

Likewise interviewee 1 said:

Games make my brain to think to improve my skill level

When asked about what more they wanted from these games in enhancing the ways they
get benefited, interviewee 2 said:

There should be a game for social interaction that will help me to meet people and go on
better with people

However interviewee C mentioned:

There are already games that help with the development of freelancing skills, money
management skills and creative thinking like in Mine craft and Sims series.
I dont think there is any need of developing any more games for these purposes

From these interviews it could be understood that there are many ways in which a person
can be benefited from games if the game is setup flexing to fit the abilities. Though the
interviewed people did not expect the same flexibility, they did hint at the scope for
improvements in these games.

III. Role of adding accessible features
Interviewees supported the views expressed in quantitative research that games would be
more accessible with one or more of these features present in them. All the participants
interviewed believed that present games do not provide them enough accessibility to keep
them engaged with the games. Interviewee B said:

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As a frequent player of games, I cant complete all the challenges provided in a game
because after certain levels the game becomes too difficult to play. So, I have to look for
some easier game to play...

Likewise interviewee 2 said:

If Fifa game improves their content structure I will be able to play that, as I love to play
football games.

From the interviews, it appears that the participants are looking for improvements in their
games of choice in order to keep themselves involved with the games they like to play. It
was further supported by the views of interviewee 1 where she said:

I like to play brain train games, they provide cognitive math skills but there are quite a
few ways in which they can simplify it, like you have to memorise 36 words in just 2
minutes and you have 3 minutes to write them down. So, if they could simplify it, it would
be better.

IV. Will they be interested in playing a modified version of flappy bird that is
simplified to meet some of their needs?

When asked about their views whether they will play a game like flappy bird if it is made
somewhat flexible for them, 3 out of 4 interviewees responded in a positive way. Like
interviewee 1 said:

I would like to play this game if it is simplified and the space between pipes is increased

Also interviewee C said:

My niece plays this game and I would really like to have some simplified version of this
game so that I can also play


From the interviews it could be understood whether it is a game for entertainment or for
social interaction and developing academic skills, games need to be simplified and made
flexible in order to provide everyone an opportunity to get involved. Though the
interviewees did not suggest the same simplification but they did provide an idea about
modifications needed.
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5. Discussion:

There has been a great deal of interest in accessibility of games in recent years with much
focus being on making universally accessible games rather than making games for
particular disable groups. However, this research is not concerned with universally
accessible game, but instead with making a game that is accessible to a particular group of
autistic people. The main objective of this study is to analyse the importance of accessible
games in enhancing active learning like concentration and dedication in autistic people and
develop a game with necessary modifications. This chapter looks over the quintessential
findings from the research and from the literature on games and their accessibility issues
among autistic people and then using these results to modify a game called Flappy Bird.
The results provide a preparatory understanding of user experience, interests and concerns
while playing games. Additionally, the results provide an illustration of some benefits that
are obtained from the games. This report provides some initial steps that can be considered
in game design methods to create effective and useful game that can be integrated into
users lives.

As is evident from the results, the concept of game accessibility is wide-ranging needing
different accessibility features for different people - the features important for one might
not be as important for the others. The results of this research provide an insight into how
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certain accessible features can be used by developers to make any normal fun game
accessible by autistic people. However, this is not a quantitative piece of research that
attempts to provide a definitive accessible game for autistic people. Instead, the research
presents the basic modifications that can be done to a game to make it accessible for
autistic people.
From the research findings it is revealed that though there are many accessible game
guidelines available, only a certain group of developers are using these features to increase
game accessibility. While investigating the reason behind this, the research found out that
autism encompasses a broad range of phenotypes and it is very difficult to make
generalised guidelines for autism. Also it is evident from the research results that there
arent enough gaming options available for autistic people on mobile phones.
The discussion chapter follows the same structure as the findings, where it looks at key
findings, highlighting the literature supporting it followed by the modifications done based
on some of the findings.
The research findings revealed that though the participants are fairly interested in playing
games, there are certainly a few difficulties that lead to disengagement with these games.
While investigating those difficulties further, the research found out that there is a need to
simplify games whether they are skill development games or entertainment games.
The data from the survey showed while majority of them play games on daily or weekly
basis only 14.29% have never played a game. The reason for this could be that users found
it difficult to use the games available on any of the platform asked or it could be that they
dont like playing games. Interestingly, a large number of responders indicated that they
find games neither easy nor difficult while around 25% found them very easy and 0%
found games very difficult. Based on these results the research finds its first observation
that there is a very high interest and calibre for games among autistic people. It is important
they are provided easy to use games on any platform so that they feel engaged in the game
they are interested in. This supports the research findings of Dawe (2006)that the most
important factor to be used in a technology is its ease to use.
Second, the research revealed that games have not only provided entertainment but have
benefited them in many ways like helped with personality development skills, basic math
skills, basic reading skills, improved their dedication and even social skills. It was evident
from findings as only 28% said that they were not benefited from the games while rest of
the participants said they were benefited in one way or the other. The reason for this could
be enough options matching their perspective were not provided in the survey or games
havent provided them the skills they would like to have. This observation in support with
(Griffiths, 2002) stating that video games in addition to entertainment value have
considerable success when games are designed to address a specific problem or to teach a
certain skill. These findings also support the study of (Rosas et al., 2003) on evaluating the
effects of educational video games, where they state using computer gamefavours the
development of complex thinking skills related to problem solving, strategic planning and
self-regulated learning.

Lastly, the research found out that a group of participants in ARC, who are actively
involved in playing games but cant play all the games due to some difficulty. The research
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findings revealed that nearly 72% of autistic people surveyed during the research found
difficulty while playing games with around 60% saying they find it difficult to determine
what to do in order to progress further in the game. This is in accordance with the game
interaction model presented in (Yuan et al., 2011),players with cognitive impairment find it
difficult to determine which in-game response to provide. The research findings also
revealed that 70% of the participants feel that having an option to choose between different
speeds setting is either important or highly important in order to make games easier to play
also round 90% feel providing clearly structured content is either important or highly
important. The research results obtained for importance of adding listed features in game
fulfil some of the guidelines provided in (Game accessibility guidelines, 2012)for
increasing accessibility of games.
Overall, the research findings revealed that games have played an important role in
providing different active learning opportunities to the participants and the role of adding
accessible features to the games is very crucial. This finding is in line with Dr Patrick
Felicias handbook for teachers (2009) in which it is stated that digital games include
several implicit educational benefits. They can develop cognitive, spatial and motor skills
and help improve ICT skills and can be used to teach facts, complex problem solving and to
increase creativity. Also the research results suggest games should be simplified to even
meet needs of the people having different disabilities.
In order to make the game Flappy Bird accessible to autistic people, various changes were
made in the existing game. The game scrolls towards left and the player has to control the
bird, attempting to fly between rows of pipes without coming into contact with them. The
scroll speed and both vertical and horizontal gap between the pipes is very small increasing
the level of difficulty. The changes made were intended to decrease the scrolling speed and
increase both the vertical and horizontal gap between pipes. Also the tone of the colour of
the textures, used in the game, was made lighter and an option to mute the sound effects
was also added.
A function onClick (int) was defined in the GameWorld class. Every time a user intends to
play, he has to choose in between hard and easy level. For this two buttons were created-
Hard and Easy in InputHandler and required texture was uploaded in Assetloader. On
clicking the hard button the value of the argument of onClick function is set to -150 while
as when the user clicks on the Easy button the value is set to -110. The value represents
birds velocity. The scroll speed was reduced to -59 by making relevant changes in
GameWorld class. The vertical gap between pipes was set to 70 by making changes in Pipe,
ScrollHandler and GameRenderer classand for horizontal gap between the pipes changes
were made in ScrollHandler class and the value was set to 65. The modified code of the
classes is given in appendix.


Conclusion

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The projectaimed to understand various accessibility issues faced by autistic people while
playing games and modify a game to make it usable for autistic people. A research was
carried out within Autism Resource Centre Glasgow using online survey and interviews to
understand the perspective of users on game accessibility and their benefits. The research
further attempted to investigate the impact of adding certain features that can be helpful in
making games accessible. The research results were then used to modify the game Flappy
Bird in order to make it usable by autistic people. This chapter will first summarise the main
points from literature followed by the results from the research and then the modification
done.
In different studies game accessibility has been defined differently and from those definitions
this research understands game accessibility should be an important concern for game
developers while designing games so that people with any limiting condition functional
limitation or disability will be able to play these games (IGDA, 2004). In order to understand
various theories about game accessibility, the literature review discusses importance of game
accessibility and a set of accessibility guidelines for cognitive impairments presented by (All
about accessibilty, 2003). From the reviewit is understood that:
Games are not only a source of entertainment but they are important for learning and
teaching as well but there are some people are not able to completely experience one game
or the other due to some disabilities.

Autism, one of the cognitive impairment creates some limiting conditions for users trying
to play game. However, it is a broad spectrum disorder and is practically impossible to
develop a generalised accessible game.


Game accessibility is not about taking all challenges from the game but it is giving as
many players possible the best opportunity to completely experience the game by including
one or more flexible features while developing games.
Next the literature review focused on the various accessibility guidelines for cognitive
impairments by (IGDA, 2004) and determined the importance of adding one or more features
from guidelines to achieve a competitive advantage in developing games. It stressed on
allowing users to choose from a range of difficulties and speed so that they are benefited from
slower and easier versions. The guidelines also stressed on providing mute for background
sounds and also encouraged to allow the game to be started without navigating through many
menus.
The results obtained from the research carried out within Autism Resource Centre Glasgow
supported the findings revealed in literature review. The results revealed that:
There is a large group of people who like playing games on various platforms but due to
some limiting condition they cant keep themselves engaged with these games.
Game provides them leisure as well as helps them with the development of various skills.
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The participants find games difficult after certain levels and also sometimes they dont
know how to respond in order to proceed further.
Participants want games to be simplified so that they can keep playing games they like.
Also most of the participants of the research feel having clear content and an option to
choose from different speed settings will make games lot easier for them.
Based on literature review and research results certain modifications were done to the game
Flappy Bird. The modifications done are:
In order to reduce the difficulty level of game two options were provided by having
different bird accelerations.
To reduce the collision with pipes the vertical as well as horizontal gap between the pipes
was increased.
An option to mute the sound effect in game was also provided.
Also the colour of background texture and other objects was also reduced.
.

However, despite these results this research has certain limitations. The study was carried out
within a single organisation and the sample was selected randomly, the reason for that being
lack of availability and time limits. Therefore, the views dont represent all autistic people,
instead these are individual views and must not be generalised. The research also noticed a
prominent dearth in the literature linking game accessibility with autism and therefore
suggests potential scope for studies on the accessibility of games for autistic people. It could
prove to be very beneficial from both the user and game developer perspective by providing a
focus on the requirements in a game for autistic people.










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APPENDIX

I. Appendix


Consent Form
Title of Project:
Name of Researcher:

1. Iconfirm that I have read and understand the Plain Language Statement for the above
study and have had the opportunity to ask questions.

2. I understand that my participation is voluntary and that I am free to withdraw at any time,
without giving any reason.

3. I understand that the interview will be audiotaped for study purposes.

4. I agree to take part in the above study.


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Name of Participant Date Signature


Name of Person giving consent Date Signature
(if different from participant, eg Parent)

Researcher Date Signature



II. Appendix
Theme Questions For Interview
Q1. Tell me about any game mobile or computer that you have played in last five years.
Q2. What is that you like in this game? What is that you dont like in this game?
Q3. What features helped you to play them effectively?
Q4. What features do you think would make the games more usable to you?
Q5. Which game would you like to play, a game which provides entertainment or a game
which helps with academic skill development?
Q6. Can you tell me how do you think making games more accessible will bring about more
social interaction and active learning?
Q7. Does background movement or sound affect your experience of playing games?
Q8. Is there any game you wish to play but cant because it doesnt provide accessibility
features?
Q9. One last question, have you ever played the game flappy bird? Tell me about your
experience.
Lastly if there is any game like flappy bird but with more accessible features would you like
to play it?


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III. Appendix

I am a post graduate student at the University of Glasgow and I am conducting a
research on games played by autistic people on devices such as personal computer,
mobile phones, tablets etc. and the steps that can be taken by game developers to
make these games more accessible. The exact title of my research project is,
Accessible and Usable Educational Games- The data from this study will be used for
my tutorial report.
I would be grateful if you would take part in my study by completing this
questionnaire. It will only take 5-10 minutes. The results from the questionnaire will
provide me information regarding the type of games being played by autistic people
and what suitable changes will improve their experience. You do not have to put your
name on this questionnaire. Your questionnaire will only be seen by me and my
supervisor (who is a senior lecturer at the University of Glasgow) and it will not be
possible to identify you from your answers in my final report. To take part please open
the link below in your web browser.
https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/DWX8W55
Taking part in this study is completely voluntary and you have the right to withdraw at
any time without giving any reason. If you would like to take part, please return your
completed questionnaire to me by 19th August 2014
If you would like to be informed about the results of my study, please let me know.
Similarly, if you have any questions about this study, please contact me, RahibaGulzar
by email at 2103525G@student.gla.ac.uk

Thank you for participating.
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