Accessibility
Icesus is a text-based multiplayer RPG, online since 1995 and run by volunteers. The whole game is text, so a screen reader reads the same rooms, fights and conversations that every other player sees. The game has no graphics and no visual puzzles.
Playing with a screen reader
Web client (play.icesus.org)
The browser client works with screen readers without extra setup:
- Game output (rooms, combat and chat) goes to an ARIA live region, so your screen reader reads new text as it arrives.
- HP, SP and EP are labelled progress bars that read out their percentage.
- The screen reader announces when you enter or leave combat.
- Every control can be reached with the keyboard and shows a visible focus outline. A skip link goes straight to the command input.
- You can play without a mouse: type a command and press Enter.
- When you turn on screen reader mode in the game, the client hides the map, the gauge animations and the change numbers beside the gauges, and reads its announcements at once.
Screen reader mode in the game
Character creation asks first whether you use a screen reader: type reader there. An existing character can type screenreader on at any time. The mode:
- turns off the ASCII maps
- strips colour codes
- lists each exit with the name of the room it leads to
- hides repeating weather and room ambience messages
- shows channel messages with a plain prefix instead of brackets
- sums up melee combat once per round, while poison and bleeding ticks and spell damage are still read as they happen
- sets a short prompt with HP, SP and EP as percentages
nearby takes the place of the map: for each exit it names the room it leads to and the players and creatures there. map lists landmarks, and hike to followed by a landmark walks you there.
screenreader off puts your earlier settings back, and screenreader status tells you whether the mode is on.
Telnet and MUD clients
Any MUD client (Mudlet, TinTin++, MUSHclient and others) or plain telnet connects to icesus.org port 4000, or port 4443 with TLS. Screen reader mode works the same in every client.
Web standards
The web client, this website and the wiki aim for WCAG 2.1 Level AA. Besides the client features above:
Web client
- ARIA landmarks (banner, main, navigation, complementary)
- Labels on the direction pad, hotkeys and momentum buttons
- Contrast of at least 4.5:1 for text and 3:1 for other controls
- Animations stop when the operating system asks for reduced motion
- Icons and decorations are hidden from screen readers with aria-hidden
- Exit buttons spell out the direction (north, northeast), and special exits such as enter or gate are shown in amber
- Escape returns focus to the command input from anywhere on the page, and End scrolls to the newest output
This website
- Semantic HTML with landmarks and a skip link
- Labels on icon links and external links
- Keyboard navigation with visible focus outlines
- Animations stop when the operating system asks for reduced motion
Wiki
- Works at browser zoom up to 200%
- Contrast fixes for the dark theme
- Keyboard focus outlines
- The accessibility features built into MediaWiki
Known limitations
- Some game text uses colour for emphasis, such as red for damage. A screen reader does not read the colour, so that emphasis is lost; the words themselves are all there.
- Some older help files and area descriptions use ASCII art, which reads poorly through a screen reader.
- The ASCII maps are visual. nearby and the landmark list from map stand in for them.
Reporting a problem
Type bug report followed by a description in the game, or open an issue on GitHub Issues. Both go to the same tracker. You can also ask on Discord, where players and developers answer.
This page was last reviewed on .