Age of Empires IV
A real-time strategy game from Microsoft's Xbox Game Studios.
Where Age of Empires IV comes up1 episode or test
Age of Empires IV shipped with a menu screen reader and UI scaling, part of the accessibility features Microsoft pushes across its games. Forza Horizon 5 and It Takes Two offer similar menu narration. The sources give no figures. The lesson: cheap baseline options like narrated menus and scalable UI let blind and low-vision players start your game at all.
What was said about Age of Empires IV
Age of Empires IV includes a menu screen reader so blind players can start the game. The game narrates its menus, so blind players can get through the menus and reach the settings without sighted help. Mark Brown lists it among the many 2021 games that now ship with menu narration.
Forza Horizon 5, It Takes Two, Far Cry 6, Riders Republic, Battlefield and Back 4 Blood also have it, and some turn it on by default. Brown remarks on "just how many games provide a screen reader for menu narration."
Age of Empires lets players enlarge the UI so key screen elements stay readable. UI scaling is one of the ways the game helps players see and read the important parts of the screen. Brown groups it with other visibility options such as font swaps and custom highlight colours.
The comparison examples he gives are other games: Life is Strange: True Colours swaps handwritten text for a clean font, and Far Cry 6 outlines enemies and pickups in a colour the player picks.
How Accessible Were 2021's Games?
It includes a menu screen reader and lets players scale up the UI. It carries many of the features Microsoft pushes across its games.
Age of Empires IV includes a menu screen reader so blind players can start the game. The game narrates its menus, so blind players can get through the menus and reach the settings without sighted help. Mark Brown lists it among the many 2021 games that now ship with menu narration.
Forza Horizon 5, It Takes Two, Far Cry 6, Riders Republic, Battlefield and Back 4 Blood also have it, and some turn it on by default. Brown remarks on "just how many games provide a screen reader for menu narration."
Age of Empires lets players enlarge the UI so key screen elements stay readable. UI scaling is one of the ways the game helps players see and read the important parts of the screen. Brown groups it with other visibility options such as font swaps and custom highlight colours.
The comparison examples he gives are other games: Life is Strange: True Colours swaps handwritten text for a clean font, and Far Cry 6 outlines enemies and pickups in a colour the player picks.
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