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GAMES The Vale: Shadow of the Crown ACCESSIBILITY REPORT
We've documented 18 accessibility features for The Vale: Shadow of the Crown. Strongest in Getting Started and Visual but also has features in Navigation, Difficulty, Reading, 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.
The Vale: Shadow of the Crown is an audio-based role-play adventure where you play Alex, a blind princess. After your brother takes his place as king, you are made warden of a small castle on the outskirts of the kingdom. Without sight from birth and sheltered for much of your childhood, you want a chance for adventure. On the way to the castle, your convoy is attacked. You find yourself alone in hostile lands and must search out supplies and find allies if you are to survive the long journey home.
Game DetailsRelease Date: 19/08/2021
Out Now: Xbox One
Coming Soon: PC
Content Rating: PEGI 7
Skill Rating: 10+ year-olds
Players: 1
Genres: Fighting, Role-Play (Action, Adventure and Narrative)
Accessibility: 18 features
Components: 2D Overhead, Day and Night, Hand-Made and Open World
Developer: Falling Squirrel (@FallingSquirrel)
Costs: Purchase cost
ControlsWe've documented 1 accessibility feature for Controls in The Vale: Shadow of the Crown which deals with how you control the game, different options for alternative inputs and whether you can remap these settings to suit your needs.
Can play with the following:
Multiple Buttons & Two Sticks: Can play with multiple buttons and two sticks.
If you want to play The Vale: Shadow of the Crown, but it doesn't offer the Controls accessibility features you require, these similar games extend the Controls accessibility:
DifficultyWe've documented 2 accessibility features for Difficulty in The Vale: Shadow of the Crown 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.
Select Difficulty: Select the level of difficulty from a range of presets. This not only offers a way to adjust the challenge of a game but enables you to do so without dealing with individual criteria.
Adjustable Anytime: You can adjust the difficulty while playing, without having to restart the level you are on. This enables you to quickly adjust the game to suit your needs and see the difference immediately.
Getting StartedWe've documented 6 accessibility features for Getting Started in The Vale: Shadow of the Crown 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.
Before you are presented with the home screen, onboarding settings aim to aid you accessing the menus you need to adjust the game to your requirements. They can also provide an easier way of turning on important adjustments without digging through menus.
Onboarding: The first time you open the game, you are asked to confirm options for control, navigation and accessibility settings. Games can differ in what they present at this stage, but will count for this, provided they include a streamlined onboarding process.
Sightless Onboarding: For games playable without sight, the first time you open the game, all menu options and explanations are narrated by default and menus are controlled via a button or stick presses rather than an analogue cursor. This enables blind players without sight to get ready to play.
Low Vision Onboarding: The first time you open the game, the default text is high contrast and font size is at least 1/20 (46 pixels on 1080 screen) the height of the screen and in an easy to read font. This enables legally blind visually impaired players to get ready to play.
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.
View Control Mapping: You can view a map of controls during play. This clearly displays the mappings of actions to buttons/keys/mouse/keyboard without having to leave the game. This includes games that always display buttons to press during play.
If you want to play The Vale: Shadow of the Crown, but it doesn't offer the Getting Started accessibility features you require, these similar games extend the Getting Started accessibility:
ReadingWe've documented 2 accessibility features for Reading in The Vale: Shadow of the Crown 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.
How much reading is required to play the game's main path or story and how complex the language is. This doesn't include subtitles as required reading if they are fully voiced.
Moderate Reading: Moderate reading required. The quantity and complexity of reading are at a level that a high school student (14-year-old) would appreciate.
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.
If you want to play The Vale: Shadow of the Crown, but it doesn't offer the Reading accessibility features you require, these similar games extend the Reading accessibility:
NavigationWe've documented 4 accessibility features for Navigation in The Vale: Shadow of the Crown 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.
Audible Directional Cues: Additional in-game audio cues that indicate where to go next and how close you are to arriving. This is offered as a sonar-style ping with positional/stereo audio and volume to guide you in the right direction. This is useful for blind players.
Head-Up Display Narrated: Key information displayed via text or icons is narrated. This enables the player to know their health, weapons, ammunition and other items without reading the head-up display.
Menu Narrated: All of the game menus can be narrated for easier navigation. The game menus can therefore be navigated without reading text.
Game Choices Narrated: Player choices through textual user interface are narrated. This enables selections such as dialogue, weapon-choice or character upgrades to be made without reading text.
If you want to play The Vale: Shadow of the Crown, but it doesn't offer the Navigation accessibility features you require, these similar games extend the Navigation accessibility:
VisualWe've documented 5 accessibility features for Visual in The Vale: Shadow of the Crown which deal with how you can adjust the visuals to suit your needs, and offer additional information if you can't hear the game.
This is the audible narration of in-game text. Sometimes talk about as Text To Speech, although it may include the narration of no-textual elements. This is different to Text To Voice, which provides player-player textual communication audibly.
Menu Narrated: All of the game menus can be narrated for easier navigation. The game menus can therefore be navigated without reading text.
Game Choices Narrated: Player choices through textual user interface are narrated. This enables selections such as dialogue, weapon-choice or character upgrades to be made without reading text.
Head-Up Display Narrated: Key information displayed via text or icons is narrated. This enables the player to know their health, weapons, ammunition and other items without reading the head-up display.
Colour blind friendly: Game doesn’t rely on colour or can switch to colour blind friendly mode with double coding or similar way to avoid colour dependance.
Play Without Sight: The game can be played without sight. Positional/stereo sounds and haptic feedback enable play without the need to see the screen. This is useful for blind low-vision and sightless players.
If you want to play The Vale: Shadow of the Crown, but it doesn't offer the Visual accessibility features you require, these similar games extend the Visual accessibility:
AudioWe've documented 1 accessibility feature for Audio in The Vale: Shadow of the Crown which deals 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.
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.
If you want to play The Vale: Shadow of the Crown, but it doesn't offer the Audio accessibility features you require, these similar games extend the Audio accessibility:
In addition to the accessibility features provided in the game, you can also use system-wide accessibility settings:
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.
Xbox One
Xbox One has a system features, the excellent co-pilot share controls mode and adaptive controller support for all games.
Read more about system accessibility settings.
Accessibility Report supported by VSC Rating Board, PlayabilityInitiative and accessibility contributors Andy Robertson
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Written by parents for parents, the database complements the in-depth discussion about video game addiction, violence, spending and online safety in the Taming Gaming book. We are an editorially independent, free resource without adverts that is supported by partnerships. |
The Vale: Shadow of the Crown
