A Bilingual in-Game Tutorial: Designing Videogame Instructions Accessible to Deaf Students

Abstract

This case study analysis aims to share the bilingual tutorial development process of a research-based educational video game, being designed and developed as a tool to support mathematics learning for deaf and hard of hearing students. The fact that this game is inclusive raises several problems in addressing the message, such as the simultaneous presence of text and videos in Portuguese Sign Language (LGP) and a careful vocabulary selection. The results obtained from a User Experience (UX) study lead to a major redesign of the tutorial. It implied several changes, like the simplification of the LGP message, a significant text reduction and the integration of images in the text. The redesign strategy is based on the following assumptions: long LGP videos lead to dispersion of attention; LGP message understanding benefits from short videos and objective content; the text must respect a simple vocabulary and an objective message; the integration of images in the text helps to identify interaction targets; the instruction block must be divided into sections and interspersed with in-game actions. Although this approach is to be validated in the next UX study, it is a promising indicator the fact that those principles are in line with video games guidelines for deaf people.