We've documented 21 accessibility features for Angry Birds, including Fully Voiced (Or No Speech), Low Pressure, No Quick Reactions, No Repeated Pressing and Play Without Hearing. Its accessibility is strongest in Getting Started and Reading but it also has features in Navigation, Visual, Controls and Audio to reduce unintended barriers.
This report is created with input from accessibility experts and the player community to help people find games that have the accessibility features they require. Once you have found potential games on the database, there are excellent specialist accessibility sites that offer in-depth reviews to guide your purchasing decisions.
Our accessibility examiner, Ben Kendall, first checked Angry Birds (Series) accessibility 17 months ago. It was re-examined by Andy Robertson and updated 17 months ago.
Accessibility Notes
While you can play most of the game with only a single finger, to zoom in and out you need to do a punching action. To pull back the slingshot, you need to hold down on the screen. You also need to be able to keep the slingshot steady as you line up your shot. You sometimes need to activate a bird's ability at just the right time, so some timing is involved, but in between shots, you can take as long as you need.
Text is high contrast, but not always 1/20th of the height of the screen.
The structures are made out of different materials, which can sometimes be hard to tell apart save by colour which is important to note for colour-blind players.
Game Details
Release Date: 11/12/2009, updated in 2021
Out Now: 3DS and 2DS, Amazon Fire, Android, Mac, PC, PS Vita, PS3, PS4, PSP, Web, Wii, Wii U, Xbox 360, Xbox One, iOS and iPhone, iPad
Skill Rating: 4+ year-olds
Players: 1
Genres: Shooting, Simulation (Puzzle, Sequencing and Strategy)
Accessibility: 21 features
Components: 2D Side-On and Hand-Made
Costs: Purchase cost, In-Game Loot Boxes and Advertising
Controls
We've documented 2 accessibility features for Controls in Angry Birds which deal with how you control the game, different options for alternative inputs and whether you can remap these settings to suit your needs.
Touchscreen
Can play with the following. Additional gestures may be required for games played with a screenreader like VoiceOver.
Two Motions Targeted: Can play with touchscreen, two simultaneous taps, swipes or hold gestures.
Button Combinations
Specific button operation required to play
Rapid Repeated Pressing Optional: Quick, repeated button pressing (more than 2 times a second) is not required, can be skipped or switched to holding a button to trigger a repeated action.
Similar Games With More Accessibility Features for Controls
If you want to play Angry Birds, but it doesn't offer the Controls accessibility features you require, these similar games extend the Controls accessibility:
- Minecraft Legends (10 Controls Features)
- Plants Vs. Zombies (10 Controls Features)
- Bridge Constructor (6 Controls Features)
- Bloons TD 6 (6 Controls Features)
Difficulty
We haven’t documented any accessibility features for Difficulty in Angry Birds which deal with how you can adjust the challenge of play, and whether this is locked once chosen or can be adjusted as you play. The following games are similar to Angry Birds, and offer accessibility features for Difficulty:
- Minecraft Legends (2 Difficulty Features)
- Bloons TD 6 (2 Difficulty Features)
- Grapple Dog (2 Difficulty Features)
- Plants Vs. Zombies (1 Difficulty Feature)
Getting Started
We've documented 7 accessibility features for Getting Started in Angry Birds which deal with what support is offered to get started with the game. This includes customising the experience when you first open the game via any onboarding processes it provides as well as tutorials and other assistance when you first start playing.
Assistance Getting Starting
These features aid your play of the game in terms of cognitive load on learning controls, dealing with pressure and coping with the environment and challenges.
Tutorials: There are helpful tutorials and instructions on how to play. Information is provided in a timely manner, with appropriate level of detail.
Practice Area: You can practice freely without opponents or time pressures. This can be a specific practice option, or the ability to play levels with the easiest opponents to improve understanding and skill.
Reaction-Time Not Critical: Individual game actions don’t need quick reactions, or there are settings to lower the requirement for quick reactions. This means you don't need to quickly press a button in response to an on-screen prompt, target a fast-moving target or skillfully complete a scenario against the clock.
Low Pressure: Game tasks aren't time-limited or there's a low-pressure mode. This avoids the pressure of being put on the clock for overarching missions, or failing tasks because you didn't reach a destination in time.
No Jump Scares: No sudden loud noises or popping-up scary visuals that unexpectedly appear without warning, or the option to disable them.
Assistance For Progressing
These features aid your progress through the game offering different ways of maintaining your progression.
Bank Progress With Frequent Checkpoints: If you fail you can retry that level or aspect of the game without losing a lot of progress (less than 5 minutes). This is often provided via Frequent Checkpoints combined with restarting without losing time, equipment or score.
Assisted Progress With Hints: The game notices if you get stuck (or you can press a button) and provides information to help you progress. This can offer hints or tutorials popping up during play. This includes hints after you have died, where it can suggest strategies or difficulty settings to adjust or offer to skip past problematic levels.
Reading
We've documented 4 accessibility features for Reading in Angry Birds which deal with how much reading or listening comprehension is required, how well the game provides visual and audible access to the text and whether subtitles and captions are a good fit for purpose.
Reading Level
How much reading is required to play the game's main path or story and how complex the language is. The presence of voiced characters doesn't reduce this requirement, as it's recorded as a separate datapoint.
Simple Minimal Reading: Minimal reading is required. The quantity and complexity of reading are at a level that a primary/elementary student (9-year-old) could understand.
Text Visibility
High Contrast Text: Text colour contrasts to the background or can be adjusted to be. The text in menus, instructions and other information is presented in high contrast with a solid background.
Subtitles
All Speech Subtitled (Or No Speech In Game): All spoken content has subtitles, or there is no speech in the game. This means there is no requirement to hear spoken dialogue or narrative to play the game.
Voice Acted
All Dialogue is Voice Acted (Or No Speech In Game): All of the game dialogue and narrative can be voiced, or there is no speech in the game. This means there is no requirement to read the dialogue and narrative text to play the game.
Similar Games With More Accessibility Features for Reading
If you want to play Angry Birds, but it doesn't offer the Reading accessibility features you require, these similar games extend the Reading accessibility:
- Grapple Dog (7 Reading Features)
- Bridge Constructor (6 Reading Features)
- Minecraft Legends (5 Reading Features)
Navigation
We've documented 3 accessibility features for Navigation in Angry Birds which deal with how the game provides guidance and assistance to navigate its worlds. These are only for games that have traversal and exploration in 2D and 3D spaces.
Clarity
Large Clear Navigation: The in-game navigation and maps are clear to read. They offer large text and offer markers that are large and of high contrast. Where text or information is small, there are settings to zoom-in and increase visibility.
Clear Mission Objectives: The game provides clear, structured missions with directional guidance and advice on which can be attempted next. This also indicates (ideally on maps where they are provided) which missions can't be attempted because you do not have the appropriate items yet.
Menu Navigation
Menus Don't Wrap: Menus don't wrap and stop the cursor at the bottom of the list if you press down. Or menus do wrap but make it clear that you are back at the top of the list with sound or narration.
Similar Games With More Accessibility Features for Navigation
If you want to play Angry Birds, but it doesn't offer the Navigation accessibility features you require, this similar game extends the Navigation accessibility:
- Minecraft Legends (7 Navigation Features)
Visual
We've documented 3 accessibility features for Visual in Angry Birds which deal with how you can adjust the visuals to suit your needs, and offer additional information if you can't hear the game.
Contrast
Medium Contrast: Game uses generally well contrasting and bright visuals, or has a slider to make this the case.
Visual Distractions
No Busy Backgrounds: No distracting backgrounds or you can make them static or blank. This includes the absence of other movement elements in the background that might distract or confuse the action. Where foreground contrast is high, this includes games with some movement in the background that doesn't make it overly difficult to distinguish what is happening.
Motion Sickness Friendly
Motion Sickness Friendly: Doesn't have 3D movement elements that may trigger motion sickness, like motion blur, depth of field and field-of-vision. Or includes the ability to disable motion blur, depth of field and field-of-vision effects.
Similar Games With More Accessibility Features for Visual
If you want to play Angry Birds, but it doesn't offer the Visual accessibility features you require, these similar games extend the Visual accessibility:
- Grapple Dog (7 Visual Features)
- Minecraft Legends (6 Visual Features)
- Isle of Arrows (5 Visual Features)
- Skies of Chaos (4 Visual Features)
Audio
We've documented 2 accessibility features for Audio in Angry Birds which deal with how you can adjust the audio of the game and whether audio cues compensate for aspects of the game that are hard to see.
Adjustable Audio
Balance Audio Levels: Set music and game sound effects separately. This enables you to select your preference as well as ensure critical game sounds aren't obscured by other audio.
Play Without Hearing
Play Without Hearing: No audio cues are necessary to play the game well.
Similar Games With More Accessibility Features for Audio
If you want to play Angry Birds, but it doesn't offer the Audio accessibility features you require, this similar game extends the Audio accessibility:
- Grapple Dog (3 Audio Features)
System Accessibility Settings
In addition to the accessibility features provided in the game, you can also use system-wide accessibility settings:
Android
Android has accessibility settings including ways to navigate and interact, although not all games support this.
Nintendo Wii
The Wii has a few helpful settings, like disable rumble, but you have to use gesture controls for most games and the system menu.
Nintendo Wii U
The Wii U has some limited settings, such as disabling rumble and selecting mono audio.
PC
Windows has extensive accessibility features. Some, like colour correction, work with games. Lots of accessibility software can be used with PC games, from voice recognition to input device emulators.
PlayStation 4
PlayStation 4 has a range of accessibility settings. Some are system only, some work in games (invert colours and button mapping).
Xbox One
Xbox One has a system features, the excellent co-pilot share controls mode and adaptive controller support for all games.
iOS
iOS has a very extensive suite of accessibility settings including ways to navigate with voice and comprehensive screen reading, though most of the features don't work with games.
iOS Apple Arcade
iOS has a very extensive suite of accessibility settings including ways to navigate with voice and comprehensive screen reading, though most of the features don't work with games.
Read more about system accessibility settings.
Accessibility Report supported by VSC Rating Board, PlayabilityInitiative and accessibility contributors Ben Kendall and Andy Robertson