Accessibility Suggestions

[bubsby]

Hi all,

 

Just like the title suggests, we would love to hear your suggestions for accessibility. I know that some threads already exist such as this one from Sewolf (http://www.swtor.com/community/showthread.php?t=988390) and I will be adding them here as I find them. Additionally, if y'all see any others, feel free to link them here or add your own suggestions below.

 

We cannot guarantee that every suggestion is going to be implemented, but we do want to hear about what can improve the game in terms of accessibility.

 

Please just let us choose to use the pre 7.0/7.0.1 UI.

 

The new Character and inventory screens are out of place and less useful than the old UI design. Its a massive step back and looks like the kind of UI a game in beta would have. I honestly cant continue to play with it.

[panterina]

Hello

It would be nice if we could finally put weapons in outfiter.

Also not sure if this is related for this subject but many things depend on being a sub.

For example many low level characters want to have something as simple as different color light saber and they can not equip purple crystals. Old artifice schematics are not available anymore and can not be obtained.

It would be nice if this was returned for the sake of f2p people. There are many restricitions and a lot of them quit in the end because they feel like you have to pay to be able to do most of the stuff.

Also guild should decide if they want to allow f2p players to use the guild bank repairs and summon.

One more thing is that we can not trade f2p players and many other things.

Sometimes a little help from subed players could change their mind about playing the game because many things are locked behind a sub.

[lightningseven]

so.....

 

Microsoft JUST came out with a bunch of new hardware controllers for DISABLED people that need better or more ACCESSIBILITY and the article i read was here:

https://www.tomshardware.com/news/microsoft-adaptive-accessories-mouse-hub-buttons

 

So when are the developers AND COMMUNITY managers going to get real serious about their REQUEST for OUR INPUT on REAL Accessibility issues since I HAVE SEEN NO CHANGES AT ALL WHATSOEVER since 7.0 came out a few months ago!!!!!!!!!

 

WHERE ARE THE CHANGES? WHAT is going on? WHO is DOING something about EVERY REAL INPUT that was given on this SUPER thread?????

 

Will Bioware support the ACTUAL USE of these new hardware controllers that are totally meant for DISABLED people? I KNOW that i can already use a game controller to play SWTOR via the Steam Big Picture interface.

[Sefeki]

I like the new subtitles that were added in the recent patch, however, I think there needs to be better information on how a user can find those options in the user interface editor. We get a lot of questions on the discord of people not even knowing there is one. A tutorial in-game on the interface would be useful as well as better organization of the Preferences menu to include an accessibility category (and general cleanup, the menu is getting a bit dated).

[lightningseven]

maybe i neglected to bring these things up but there are still a LOT of accessibility issues that are NOT being met:

 

if i scale my global interface to a REALLY LOW number so i can fit everything on my screen (and the adjust those separate scale factors individually) then that is only PARTIALLY helpful.

 

What is NOT helpful is that the following WINDOWS are NOT resize-able NOR scale-able either by using widget controls in-game or by using the Interface Editor:

 

1. Map
   
2. Character sheet (even the new giant one since 7.1)
   
3. Codex
   
4. Mission Log (also: WHY IS IT STILL LIMITED to only 25 quests at once? THIS IS OLD!!!)
   
5. GSF (Galactic Starfighter) Hangar window
   
6. Inventory (both the thin tiny one, and the one in the giant new Character Sheet window)
   
7. Legacy / character perks information window
   

...... ALL of these windows ARE STATIC SIZED and NONE of them have been changeable or scalable or re-size-able AT ALL.

 

UNTIL any of these things change, THE GAME IS NOT ACCESSIBLE for people with either smaller screens or larger screens who need to adjust things FOR THEMSELVES for many or various reasons (like people like me, who have PRESBYOPIA who have ALWAYS found it very hard to see text in game).

 

ONE THING I DO LOVE since 7.1 is the new ability to make chat windows 60-point, AND the ability to re-size that same chat window to be a lot bigger (there is no cap on the re-sizing now? that does make me happy).

 

ANOTHER item that does NOT make me happy is the fact that TOOL TIPS are still not adjustable inside Interface Editor NOR is their font size or window size.

 

Also, WHEN are we going to get ACCESSIBILITY features where we can PREVIEW the sound of various weapons in-game, in the preview window? Different light-sabers and rifles and blasters etc.... all make different sounds and IT WOULD BE NICE if we wanted to have the ideal "look and feel" of what sounds we want in each weapon, so we can look AND SOUND how we want, in our OUTFIT designer.

 

ANOTHER VERY ANNOYING item is that the LEGACY cargo bank STILL does NOT have ANY SORT feature in it, whereas all the other types (Guild bank, personal Cargo bank) DO. why is this not being updated???

 

Whenever SWTOR devs say they are "updating graphics and improving visible effects" in major updates, I KNOW THEY ARE NOT TELLING the ENTIRE truth because the most they did in this update was just UPDATE LIBRARIES which they always link in to new patch updates anyway. THAT is why chat can be a bigger window, and why we can now have 60 point chat text. THAT IS NOT "updating graphics" the way players want -- just by simply linking in a new version of an external library like Awesomium or IRC libraries LIKE LibPurple??? LOLLLLL

(NOTE by linking in new versions of SOMEONE ELSE'S code .... that is NOT = you, Bioware, doing "update of graphics". That is Bioware just simply being modern and responsible -- but NOT doing what they said they were doing, or going to do.)

 

Also where is the MOUSE LOVE for changing color and size / shape of the mouse pointer, along with helpful color distinctions so those who DO have color blindness can choose which color and size they want their mouse pointer to be from now on?

 

Also, WHY are NAMEPLATES STILL slowing down the graphic engine during war zones and flashpoints and operations? COME ON devs!! This is 2022 already..... GO BACK to the NON-FORKED Hero Engine so we can have some TRUE x64 DX12 or VULKAN / MANTLE / METAL graphics action already!!!!!

Edited August 8, 2022 by lightningseven

[Uzamakiuchi]

would love to have increased or the reputation cap totaly removed cause its annoyying especialy the one on manaan is small

[Jyroshi]

Hey,
for a bit of context: Typically I'm playing with 2 hands on my keyboard and without much mouse usage due to some hand issue (specifically being forced to click something precisely and quickly is difficult).

I was running R4 yesterday with a few friends and while doing the first boss with the "color consoles" we discussed an interesting point. Would it be possible to make nearby consoles (or clickable objectives in general) activate the temporary quickbar so players can bind the "click" to some hotkey? Would be great.

[kyledll]

Character Biography

It would be great if we had a track record of our character's personal story.

[FlameYOL]

3 hours ago, kyledll said:

Character Biography

It would be great if we had a track record of our character's personal story.

Agreed!

[kitsunegirl]

In the new character creation, the background is very dark, some people have issues with seeing characters against such dark backgrounds. Allowing us to use a daytime background or something would be helpful.

[go_rogue]

The mouse cursor in game was designed for 1080p and lower resolutions. The option to make the cursor larger and to change its color would be awesome. As a healer, the orange cursor disappears too easily for me as I spend a good five seconds cursing trying to find it again while someone's rapidly losing health. Making the cursor able to be upwards of four-times the size and making it bright pink (for me that'd be easy to find) would make it so much easier. Though if this could be tied to specific UI setups where my healer UI would have that but my DPS and tank UIs would have a different cursor size because I don't need the cursor typically as much to select what I'm targeting, but I understand if this would be a much more difficult thing to implement verses just an overall change in the cursor size and color options. Either way, this change would be exceptionally beneficial, especially those of us with vision and/or neurological issues that make finding a small mouse arrow in the midst of chaos that much harder. Thanks.

[SteveTheCynic]

1 hour ago, go_rogue said:

The mouse cursor in game was designed for 1080p and lower resolutions. The option to make the cursor larger and to change its color would be awesome

You can already make it larger on Windows 10/11 (might be possible on 7, 8, 8.1 as well, but I can't confirm those).  Open the Settings "cog" from the Start menu, and choose the Accessibility page (or press Windows+U to go there directly).  On that page, choose the option that lets you configure the mouse pointer and move the cursor size slider larger.  I routinely do this when I'm playing railshooter space missions because the default crosshair size is way too small on a UHD (3840x2160) screen.

Key point: SWTOR follows that setting (but not the pointer colour stuff on the same page), and it does so on the fly if you change it while the game is open.

CAVEAT: you might need to be in Fullscreen (Windowed) rather than ordinary Fullscreen.

[go_rogue]

8 hours ago, SteveTheCynic said:

You can already make it larger on Windows 10/11 (might be possible on 7, 8, 8.1 as well, but I can't confirm those).  Open the Settings "cog" from the Start menu, and choose the Accessibility page (or press Windows+U to go there directly).  On that page, choose the option that lets you configure the mouse pointer and move the cursor size slider larger.  I routinely do this when I'm playing railshooter space missions because the default crosshair size is way too small on a UHD (3840x2160) screen.

Key point: SWTOR follows that setting (but not the pointer colour stuff on the same page), and it does so on the fly if you change it while the game is open.

CAVEAT: you might need to be in Fullscreen (Windowed) rather than ordinary Fullscreen.

Thank you so much. That would've been wonderful to know ages ago. Hopefully, now, I won't misplace my cursor in game. Wish the game would allow its own setting, though, because I don't need the cursor to be as large in Windows itself. Maybe someday. At least I have a fix now that works even if its not the most ideal.

[Ellthyr]

 

Limit the number of players in guild for conquests.

That everyone can have access to the guild reward, but that a group of members participate in the point goal to balance all guilds on the same level. This will give all guilds a chance to win a planet.

Or give us the crafting objectives!

[FlameYOL]

8 hours ago, Ellthyr said:

 

Limit the number of players in guild for conquests.

That everyone can have access to the guild reward, but that a group of members participate in the point goal to balance all guilds on the same level. This will give all guilds a chance to win a planet.

Or give us the crafting objectives!

Limiting the number of playersthat can participate in contest is a terrible idea and it isn't going to fix the issue. You could end up with a situation where guild A has 20 players participating in conquest activities for 8 hours a day and guild B also has 20 but they can only play for 3 hours at best. You'd still be unbalanced, with the added injury of only a few select members contributing to conquest which would no doubt create friction within guilds as people argue who gets chosen for conquest, and those that are never chosen feel left out.

[Ellthyr]

Limit or not, currently the guilds which have active and serious members are beaten by guilds with 200 players who do not play any objective. Where is the balance in there?

[-Garmonbozia]

On 11/4/2022 at 2:13 AM, Ellthyr said:

 

Limit the number of players in guild for conquests.

That everyone can have access to the guild reward, but that a group of members participate in the point goal to balance all guilds on the same level. This will give all guilds a chance to win a planet.

Or give us the crafting objectives!

Here's another idea for players/guilds that are conquest focused. Maybe offer them planetary conquest by tier. Sure, they wouldn't have the cool banner at the top of their screen saying who controls the planet anymore, but small guilds could compete against small guilds, etc. 

[SteveTheCynic]

On 11/5/2022 at 11:19 AM, Ellthyr said:

Limit or not, currently the guilds which have active and serious members are beaten by guilds with 200 players who do not play any objective. Where is the balance in there?

The only way to get significant numbers of points in Conquest is to meet the given objectives.  (You get tens max per enemy killed, none at all for standing around on Fleet, and thousands, tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands for meeting objectives.)

Not playing objectives is a long-standing complaint in Warzones (and, I imagine, GSF), but not in Conquest.

[SteveTheCynic]

7 hours ago, -Garmonbozia said:

Here's another idea for players/guilds that are conquest focused. Maybe offer them planetary conquest by tier. Sure, they wouldn't have the cool banner at the top of their screen saying who controls the planet anymore, but small guilds could compete against small guilds, etc. 

How would *you* define "small" (and other sizes) guilds?

[-Garmonbozia]

15 hours ago, SteveTheCynic said:

How would *you* define "small" (and other sizes) guilds?

Clearly this would have to be sorted out by devs, but obviously there are plenty of really small guilds with 10-20 or less players, a handful of huge guilds near or above cap with alts, and lots in between. It'd definitely require a good system and several tiers.

[Katahn]

2 hours ago, -Garmonbozia said:

Clearly this would have to be sorted out by devs, but obviously there are plenty of really small guilds with 10-20 or less players, a handful of huge guilds near or above cap with alts, and lots in between. It'd definitely require a good system and several tiers.

Maybe just the top X contributors to conquest count for each guild.  So a small and motivated guild could compete against a much larger guild more effectively?

[SteveTheCynic]

8 hours ago, -Garmonbozia said:

Clearly this would have to be sorted out by devs,

Obviously, but I was asking for your opinion on the categories, whence the emphasis on "*you*".

[Nee-Elder]

hi, some of you within this thread might be interested in this  new BioWare post here:  https://forums.swtor.com/topic/925984-colorblind-mode-feedback

*Sort of  OFF-TOPIC but i personally think there's far too many  *blast/bright/flash* type effects  that clutter up my screen (and tbqh aren't even all that  Star Warsy  )  especially as 'melee' during certain  Ops boss-fights.

[Shayddow]

On 2/18/2022 at 10:41 AM, Sazim said:

 

 

M1-4X and Major Pierce.

Can you guys change the mission to something other than PVP.

This discussion was made before but not considered please do something about it.

 

https://www.swtor.com/community/show...rgotten+Trophy

https://www.swtor.com/community/show...6&page=1&pp=10

It makes sense RP-wise for these 2 to be PVP considering, especially, how gung-ho M1-4x is for the republic.  Although I found it EXTREMELY amusing taking it on Iokath daily to fight for the empire on my saboteur. 🙂

 

[LadyAdmiral]

Hello I've been coming back to this thread a lot recently. It's been cool to see many of the things requested have been added over the last two years, with some more big ones like colorblind mode coming in update 7.2.

I don't know if this list is 100% complete but here's some of the things that have been added, and some that are still missing!

Accessibility Additions

• SWTOR was named the 2011 Accessible Mainstream Game of the Year by AbleGamers (January 22, 2012, link)
• Players can now customize their User Interface by moving and resizing UI elements. (April 12, 2012)
• Game becomes available free-to-play (November 2012)
• Solo-Story Flashpoints introduced for players unable to group. (December 2, 2014, Update 3.0 Shadow of Revan)
• Players may now save/load their keybinds from the Preferences window. (October 20, 2015, Update 4.0 Knights of the Fallen Empire)
• Players have the option to play the Knights of the Fallen Empire and Knights of the Eternal Throne chapters in different difficulties: Story, Veteran and Master. Story mode is the default setting and is aimed for players that want exciting combat and storytelling but are not looking for a challenging gameplay experience. Veteran mode is for those players that want exciting combat, storytelling, and are looking for a more challenging gameplay experience. Master Mode is very difficult. (December 3, 2016, Update 5.0 Knights of the Eternal Throne)
• The Guild UI has been completely reworked and includes new functionality such as the Guild Log, Guild Inspect, and Guild Mail. (December 11, 2018)
• Star Wars: The Old Republic added Steam with Steam's controller support (July 2020)
• Players will now be able to ignore a character’s entire Legacy. The Legacy Ignore list is shared across a player’s Legacy. (October 20, 2020, Update 6.1.4)
• Bioware requests community feedback on Accessibility Suggestions (January 2021)
• Camera - Added a camera shake slider to allow players to reduce or turn off the camera shake in the game. (March 2, 2021, Update 6.2.1)
• Reduced the brightness of the outline around the inventory slots to reduce scintillating dots illusion. (Mar 22, 2022, Update 7.0.1)
• Added more options to customize subtitles. Amongst the new options, players can now do the following: Increase the subtitles scale further than you could previously. Change the color of the text. Add a background and change its color (August 2, 2022, Update 7.1)
• Chat box can now be dragged larger, and font size options are even larger. (August 2, 2022, Update 7.1)
• Combat Style icon colors can be chosen by the user and there is a Colorblind preset (August 2, 2022, Update 7.1)
• Empty stat mods slots on gear have been changed from circles to rectangles in order to address reported trypophobia reactions. (August 11, 2022, Update 7.1a)
• New forums with better mobile view and better CTRL+ zoom layout (September 29, 2022)
• Increase font-size for content option made available on SWTOR.com forums by player request (November 11, 2022)
• Colorblind Mode Filters added (Update 7.2)
• Map update and customization added without popout map and checkable map icons (Update 7.2)
• Ability and Open-World Tooltips customization and size adjustment added (Update 7.2)
• Customizable utility bar added (Update 7.2)

Missing Accessibility

• No native controller support
• No adjustable cursor size or color in-game for low-vision gamers
• No ability to turn down "flashing" or bright lights like lightning attacks, or reduce ability visual effects
• No closed captions for ambient sound for deaf and hearing-impaired gamers
• No way to isolate and turn down some louder sound effects like explosions separate from other sound effects
• No ability to click-to-move or targetted jumping for mobility
• No ability to independently increase some font sizes like Codex entries and Mission log, apart from the global scale option
• No ability to solo some group content (some Flashpoints, all Operations)
• No support for totally blind players like full keyboard navigation and full menu narration (info)
• "Camera Spin" bug never fixed
• Community-created chat channel moderation tools not fixed (all other chat types work and guild chat moderation works)
• No ability to pause solo Flashpoints and resume later after logging off
• No voice commands or "pings" for gamers with speech impediments
• Some world objects are only clickable, no keybind options available