Make Potterworld more accessible to disabled players

Hi! I am disabled and I have a few friends who are also disabled and there are different aspects that affect each of us. I have a few suggestions on how to make potterworld more accessible based on mine and my friends experiences. There may be others ways as well that I haven't thought of.

1. Change team colours in quabbleball (and any other activity that relies on distinguishing red-green colours).
Red-green colour blindness is one of the most common types of colour blindness. This makes it near impossible to play quabbleball (unless you are the searcher) because it is difficult to distinguish between the different teams and goals. I understand that red and green represent griffin and serpant - the biggest 'rival' houses, and also that, to people with typical vision, it is very distinguishable, but why not use another pair of contrasting colours? This means that quabbleball is more accessible.

2. Encourage players to use tone indicators in chat.
It is very difficult for anyone to tell tone from text. It is even more difficult for autistic players to tell tone from text. Whilst there are very rarely any malicious conversations in chat, austistic players can get very confused when jokes or sarcastic comments are made, leading to a confusing and sometimes unpleasant experience of the game. All players should therefore be encouraged to use tone indicators. An example of this could include: "That questwas sooooo easy! /s" (/s indicating sarcasm). Similarly to how staff members redirect a player to the appropriate channel if the wrong channel was used in chat, they could also say things like "should you add /s" or "was that supposed to be sarcastic" to clarify for any autistic players who might've been confused by what was going on. This would make chat more accesible.

3. Make parkour easier. Or make an option to skip a section.
Yes yes, I know. It is SUPPOSED to be a challenge, I understand. But potterworld has quite hard parkours, harder than lots of other server's parkours. What is quite challenging for typical people can become incredibly challenging, near impossible, for players with mobility or pain issues, such as Arthritis or CP. Some of the more difficult aspects of parkour, that require multiple things done at once or in quick succession, such as shifting upon landing, or turning tight corners quickly whilst not stopping, are very difficult for people with mobility or pain issues. I think Potterworld should either make the parkour easier, or give an option to skip a section. Yes, there are other ways to level up without completing that exact quest that they are having difficulty with, but it is unfair that a disabled player should have to miss out on completing a quest, when other players don't.

Now, I know that skipping a section means that some, able bodied people might exploit this option. But I believe that a disabled player's experience shouldn't be compromised, for the sake of preventing people from exploiting the system. I have a friend who was stuck on a certain quest requiring parkour, for several weeks. In the end, another friend had to log on to her account and do it for her. Though I have thought of a way that might prevent exploitation. Put a "disability" page clearly visible on the website. If a disabled person saw that this page existed, they would probably click on it, to see how it might affect them. But if an able bodied person were to see a tab labelled "disability" they would probably think "doesn't apply to me" and won't bother reading it. Located on this page could be information about skipping a section of parkour, that the disabled player would discover, and the able-bodied player would not know existed. The disabled player could then PM a staff member, with a generic phrase such as "Hi, I'm disabled, and I'm really struggling with ____ parkour challenge. Could I please skip it/a section of it?" The staff member should then allow them to (somehow, IDK technically how this could work. Teleportation?).

On another note, nobody should have to PROVE that they are disabled. A staff member should not ask for proof or further information regarding a player's disability, that is personal information which they should not have to give out. A staff member should just believe them when a player asks to use the system. Yes, this will inevitably lead to exploitation by some, but I believe preventing disabled players from receiving help in order to stop players exploiting the system is unfair on the disabled player.

4. On a similar note to the previous point, make the time limit for steps in potion brewing longer.
Some of the steps in some potions have very few seconds given to complete it, before the potion brewing is failed. This means that some players with a mobility issue, slow reaction times, will continuously fail because they are incapable of completing the activity fast enough. I don't have a mobility issue, but there was one potion that I had to brew over 15 times because I continued to run out of time. Imagine how long it would take someone with slower reaction times? This would also help players with a processing disability. The very short time limit on some steps makes it very overwhelming and difficult for players with a processing disability. What might seem straight forward to a typical player is much more complicated and long process in someone with a processing disability. By the time they have read the words indicating what needs to be done, processed this information, and found the appropriate ingredient/ empty hand in their inventory, the time limit has run out and they have failed. This is unfair.

5. This suggestion isn't specific, more suggesting you go and do specific research. There is a minecraft server specifically designed for autistic players. I won't name it, because I don't know if that is allowed, but a quick google search will probably lead you to it. I suggest looking at the server, maybe contacting some of their staff members on specific things that they do in that server, to make it more friendly to autistic players, and maybe implement some of their ideas into this server, if it is applicable to this game. I can't tell you exactly what you should do because I don't know which of their ideas would work in this server.

6. Get rid of nausea, in any situation where a player might get it (e.g. crashing the broom).
I mean, does it really impact the game that much/ prevent you from doing things etc? Getting rid of it stabilises the view, which is beneficial to some players. You can still prevent players from remounting their broom for a short while "You are too stunned to fly" but getting rid of nausea won't make much difference to the game play, but will make a lot of difference to some disabled players.

7. Change colour of the particles in "invisible" blocks etc.
Green is used for quest related stuff, yes I know. But white can be very difficult to see for some people with vision impairments. Possibly use yellow?

This is all I can think of. By doing these suggestions I believe that Potterworld will become a more accessible, inclusive, inviting and fun place for disabled players. Potterworld, and most minecraft servers, needs to be more inclusive.
Edit:
8. I have thought of one other thing. Don't make sounds useful to a quest. Apparently, in some quests, you hear a certain sound if you did the right thing, and a different sound if you hear the wrong thing. Though I dont know how much this impacts the game, I always have my sound turned off anyway, and haven't noticed it impact me. But if this is a thing, I would suggest getting rid of it, maybe, replacing it maybe with a visual? so that people who have their sound turned off, sometimes for sensory issues, don't miss out on important information.

Hi, I’m not part of the Poltergeist team and this is not the official response to your suggestion. However, I am involved with creation of events and have a couple questions relating solely to how this applies to events specifically.

1. With sequences, we have already made the decision that we agree and don’t want it to be too difficult to do things within the time limit. Every sequence is meant to have a timer of at minimum 60 seconds, which one were you struggling with so that we can look into whether it has been set up correctly?

2. Regarding sounds, whenever a sound is required to solve something relating to a quest, we try to have an in game message. An example of this is in the House of the Cunning quest, which can be solved either via sound or via chat messages in game. Is there a specific quest that does not do this so that we can possibly fix it?

3. I’m unsure if you’ve played the recent Anniversary Event, but in it there was a fairly difficult parkour. However, this only gave event tokens and all rewards could be purchased by finding hidden nodes, or doing easy tasks in little side quests. You mention that it is unfair for players to miss out on completing a quest. I’m wondering if you could possibly expand on this and clarify which part is unfair. Personally, I see it as optional side content for those that enjoy and want parkours. Is it unfair they have to take more time to get the same amount reward? Is it related to being a “completionist” and not being able to have everything in /q complete? Is reading the dialogs fully and knowing the conclusion of the story told in the quest important to you? Please note deciding what to do with skill gameplay is an insanely difficult task as the suggestion directly next to yours is asking us to do the opposite and require harder parkours in events. Regardless of what the outcome of this suggestion is, know that we will still do our best to have a balance of content in events so that they can still appeal to those not fond of difficult skill gameplay.

I think the quest at the Hovel where you use farming equipment on the ground only uses sound, unless it’s been changed? And you can only use each item once

I think I remember playing a quabbleball game with you and you briefly mentioned that you couldn't see the color red when you accidentally went toward your own goal Would having banners with distinct symbols for each team help? They could use the flower symbol ✿ for green and and maybe a heart symbol ♡ for red? Players could have the symbols on their names in tab too. Or they could put the floaty hologram text spelling out the colors on each goal? Or just put the house names above the goals, Griffin and Serpents. Another idea is to adjust the Player Tab and add Team Red and Team Green (or house names) and put players under those team names too.

Yes, I think that quest was the one my friend was referring to. Though like I said, I don't think this impacts the game too much.

Its not so much about how long the potion takes to brew in total, but more of the certain steps within a potion. Some steps take over 10 secs, some longer, whereas some steps take very few seconds, and then you run out of time and fail. I think if you just evenly spread the 60 seconds out over all the steps, that would work on some of the shorter potions. But of course some have more steps, so this might not work quite as well. I think each step should have at the bare minimum 10 secs to complete it, possibly even more like 15 seconds.

I can't remember the exact potion I was struggling with but I think it was somewhere in year 4. When I log back into the game I will have a look and see if I can pin point it for you.

I think my friend was referring specifically to the hovel quest where you use farming equipment. Though I always have my sound turned off and completed this quest no problem. Its not the biggest deal I think.

When I say it's unfair, I was refering to the core quests, not the side content. We can't cater to everyone, I understand, therefore making it unfair on those players who like a challenge, making parkour easier. I don't think we should make the parkour easier in events and side quests and things like wizard pe, because these things are optional, and people who like a challenge deserve a challenge, just make it easier in the core quests, because they are the good sources of gold and XP. And yes, I did read the question directly next to mine, asking for parkour to be harder (although some people disagreed in that thread too), which is why I also thought of instead of making the parkour easier, to make some sort of system to skip it. I don't know how exactly that system would work but it would mean that the challenge of parkour remained, yet it is not several weeks of frustration for some players

Banners could help to distinguish the goals, yes, but only if they can be seen from the opposite side of the pitch. The goals need to be distinct enough that a passer can see which goal is theirs from anywhere in on the pitch, so that they don't waste time flying in one direction, only to realize it's not their goal, and I worry banners could only help up close? I think putting large letters above each goal saying GRIFFIN or SERPANT would be the next best thing to changing colours entirely, which I still think is best. But putting the symbols in players names would similiarly, only help up close. Imagine you are a passer and you somehow find yourself away from game play. Maybe you crashed and the game quickly left you. The only way to see where your team mates and opposing team is, is by distinguishing the colours, as from a distance, you can't see player names. Or imagine you are the defender, and you can't tell if that glowing person flying towards you is the opposing team passer, or your own passer circling back around to evade the other team.

Hmm, I was actually more angling for the core year quests to be easier or skippable, not the optional event quests. I think, since events are optional, that the parkour in them should remain hard, for people who like to challenge themselves, because it is also unfair on them to get frustrated over how easy everything is. Side quests which are optional should remain harder, but the core yearly quests, which are good sources of gold and xp, should be easier. Although you dont HAVE TO complete the quests it would be a heck of a lot of mob grinding if you couldnt complete the quests, and also very annoying for people with a completionist attitude. Or just invent a system where you could skip the parkour/a section of the parkour, though I don't know how that would work. In events, I think it is best to have a variety of challenges, a bit for everyone, like you described. Unfortunatly, I only joined at the start of June so have not experienced a wide variety of events.




Hmm intersting. I suggested yellow because thats the colour used in real life to make things visible for people with vision impairments. My friend told me that she has difficulty seeing the white particles, but didn't offer a suggestion on what colour to replace instead. I guess it does depend on the background. Making the blocks temporarily visible would make it easier, but might also take the fun out of it a bit. Maybe instead there could be a way to make the blocks temporarily opaque, kinda like the ghosts, so that it is easier to see but I don't know if this is actually possible

Maybe you could just give ascendo earlier, and allow it to be used for all core year parkours. Idk, there has to be some sort of compromise

I agree with 1 and 4, since as previously mentioned green/red colour blindness is one of the most common variations so changing that could have a huge impact on people with colour blindness. Also the potion steps I really agree with, was a quest in the aurorlock camp I believe and I failed it so many times because of the very limited time amount. I can only imagine how hard that would be for someone that has some typ of disability. I dont agree with policing the chat about tone indicators (i have aspergers, it can be hard to determine tone over text for anyone in general) but you cant force people to do that. I would like to add that many people with visual impairments like them not being able to see in the dark can probably be fixed with something like lumen but that its a filter that can be enabled perhaps?

Instead of changing colors for quests and quabbleball for everyone on the server I think that just having a couple texture packs for people with vision impairments is the better option.

Ah true! That would probably be much easier to do

Actually 5Head take

Hi, regarding the colour-blindness issue whilst playing Quabbleball, there is a better solution. On the internet you can find many (red-green) colourblind texturepacks, which could fix the appearance for players with colourblindness. This has also been said by Magma and I agree that having a texture pack in the server will be easier to acces.

While I'm all for everything else, this is something I don't agree with. I think it's very important to be accessible, but this may have a negative effect. As I am not autistic and primarily only know about autism in toddlers, I cannot speak on whether or not tone indicators would help (but they do seem like it'd be great!). I can, however, look at this from a general and moderation side.

First off, tone indicators are slang. As with most slang, it will wither out until very few use it. Even at its peak, most people will not use it. Which means, most people will not understand it. I know the common ones - /j, /lh, /s, /srs, etc., but there's a lot I have to look up. I barely know the proper use of /gen and I see it frequently! Since I'm so poorly educated on it, I don't use them. I don't like they in my typing style. I see them as something that's passing and overused.

With that being said, how do you expect the moderation team to enforce this? Even if it's encouragement, how are THEY meant to know what tone the player meant? They can't read their minds. Encouraging them to use tone indicators when they have a chance of not even knowing what that means? It's unrealistic.

As someone with developmental and mental disorders myself, I do not expect people to accommodate for me without me asking them to, at least when it comes to speech. If I find something confusing or I'm concerned I'm getting the wrong emotion from it, it's my responsibility to ask for clarification. It's nice when it's possible to let someone know what to do in the future, but I do not expect anyone to change themselves for me unless it's actively ruining my experience and I have run out of options to fix the situation (which includes removing them from it).

To wrap this up, I encourage people to use tone indicators and for people to ask for help/clarification if they're confused, but for the staff team to pose it as something that's required (which it would ultimately come off as), would be silly.

Since this post we’ve worked with many of the suggestions to try and improve the experience on Potterworld for all.

We’ve changed the team colours in Quabbleball to be blue and green in the hopes that this will be less impactful on those with vision impairments. We tried to also write the teams of each player in their tab view, but this was unfortunately not possible.

We will not be officially encouraging players to use tone indicators in chat, because that requires interpretation of tone itself in the first place. However, if players wish to use tone indicators in their messages, that is more than welcome.

Since posting this thread, we have made an effort to introduce checkpoints to parkours and elytras. We will not be providing skips as these are all optional, but we have also switched our focus in events and main world quests to include parkours much less.

Our time limit for potion brewing should be much longer now too—our previous potions could take as little as 15 seconds to brew, but now ever potion should have a time limit of at least 60 seconds, and often more.

In many places, we have removed nausea or offered an alternative for it. An example of this is our Rising Healer maze which was initially a nausea maze—there is now a blindness option for it. Behind the scenes, we’ve also been working on alternatives before they are released to players. In the Hunt there was a maze which had both blindness and nausea, and the nausea aspect was removed to make it more tolerable on players.

Since this post was released we have the option to customise some of our particle colours, and we have worked on having particles that are more visible through our events and quests.

We also should have messages for everything indicated by sounds in quests. We have added this to the 4th year quest mentioned above, and also to a few quests since which did not meet this requirement.

Unfortunately we will not be able to implement a texture pack for those with vision impairments, but we hope that the other changes we have made instead will assist when necessary. We also have colour blind toggles for many players in our recent events and quests.