An Accessible Version of the Foodbot Factory Serious Game for Nutrition Education

Abstract

The Foodbot Factory serious game was developed to be used in Canadian classrooms and for online learning to teach students in grades 4–6 about nutrition. However, as with most video games and serious games, Foodbot Factory was not developed with accessibility in mind and, therefore, cannot be played by individuals with, for example, visual impairments. Following the Game Accessibility Guidelines and the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines, we converted a portion of Foodbot Factory into an audio game for visually impaired and blind players. In this article, we highlight the process required for converting the Foodbot Factory serious game into an accessible audio game. We also present the results of a preliminary user study that was conducted to examine the usability of the Foodbot Factory audio game. Although all participants were sighted individuals and our results are limited and preliminary, the Foodbot Factory audio game is usable. Based on our experience in developing the Foodbot Factory audio game in addition to our usability study results, we have shown that an existing serious game that lacks adherence to accessibility guidelines can be converted into the accessible version of the game.