Analysis and review of apps and serious games on mobile devices intended for people with visual impairment

Abstract

Serious games can be very useful for people with visual disabilities because they can help them to learn and discover the world, and also to perform activities of daily living. However apps repositories do not allow them to be easily found. Besides, most mobile devices or their apps are not accessible to people with a visual disability. Recently attention has focused on accessibility issues in this technology. This paper presents an analysis of 94 apps that have been specifically designed for people with visual disability or that could be used by them. The main characteristics of the apps will be examined in order to determine if could be considered as serious games and if they are suitable for users with visual impairments. We will encounter some difficulties in getting information about them because of current inappropriate classifications, unsuitable search terms and incomplete descriptions. Our objective is to improve their classification and therefore their searchability and their ability to make recommendations to users with visual impairment based on the user's profile and on information from their current context. We propose some changes aimed at apps repositories to improve search and classification.