An Analysis of Information Conveyed through Audio in an FPS Game and Its Impact on Deaf Players Experience

Abstract

Mainstream games usually lack support for accessibility to deaf and hard of hearing people. The popular FPS game Half-Life 2 is an exception, in that it provides well constructed closed captions to players. In this paper, we performed a semiotic inspection on Half-Life 2, seeking to identify which strategies were used to convey information through audio. We also evaluated how the loss of information in each of them may impact players' experience. Our findings reveal that six different strategies are used and how they may compromise player experience.