I'm a visually impaired Simmer and I've been playing sims games for thirteen years. Lately I've noticed that playing Sims 4 has gotten a lot harder to do now that I can read any of the font (not on action wheel cues, not in the gallery, not build-buy objects, not notifications) It's getting discouraging. I've been very positive and accepting of my developing vision impairment, but losing my ability to play Sims games would be devastating to me because it's always been the way I really express myself (that and with writing)
If Sims for could add a few new features to their game options, that would change a lot for me.
My ideas on those changes:
- Enlarge font options, including font size, boldness or maybe a font that's easier to read. There are fonts that are very dyslexic friendly because their characters all have individualized appearances that would also be beneficial to the blind because letters look more distinct from each other. I actually read ALL-CAPS better than I read normal font because the letters are bigger and look different from each other. (e, a, c, and o all look the same to me. same with l and capital I. p,q,g, also look very similar.) So a change like that might make it easier for dyslexic simmers too, of which there must be a lot.
- Screen Magnifier that is tuned to work just for Sims 4. I use Windows, but the screen magnifier there doesn't work efficiently. The sensitivity and zoom options are very limited and playing Sims seems to get harder instead because of sensitivity changes. A magnifier in Sims that moves with the mouse would be excellent. Other magnifier options people like at magnifiers set to a fixed part of the screen, such as the center or top or bottom because it allows them to focus on one place of the keyboard instead of trying to track a moving magnifier. All visually impaired people see differently, so different magnifying options are a necessity. Some can track a magnifier easily, some can't because of eye strain or eye motor control issues.
- Voice over would be amazing. Even more ideally if it had options about what it would voice over. For example, I'm someone who just needs action wheel options and notifications and gallery windows to be spoken aloud. I can still build somewhat efficiently and find what I need in the buy catalog without voice over, it's just Live Mode that has become near impossible for me. But some simmers see less than me, and might need something like a Sim's name being read to them before they click, because they can't identify the Sim easily anymore. Or objects in live mode being spoken (chair, couch, microwave, for example, instead of the long names in the buy catalog) Some simmers see more than me and don't need as much voice over as I do and might get frustrated when everything is voiced over when they only need notifications read.
Visually impaired or legally blind people all see different from each other and everyone has different needs, but something like this would be a very literal game changer. I found a few Simmers on Twitter who either struggle to play the game or have given up on it because their vision makes it too difficult. I think making a more accessible game would change a lot for both the people who play it, and the people/company who make the game.
I came here Friday to post about this, but I felt I wouldn't be heard so I never posted it. Then I saw another thread I commented on got the attention of a community manager, so maybe it is possible that I will be heard, because this is something important to me and it would change a lot for me. I don't want to lose Sims or one of the ways I can express myself creatively (specifically in build/buy mode)
