Ubisoft has released Chroma, the company’s proprietary tool to help colorblind people, as an open source. It’s available for download on GitHub and is described as “a one-stop solution for detecting colorblindness-related issues in games.”
Here’s how it works. It overlays a filter on the game screen that simulates different types of color blindness. This allows testers to identify accessibility issues in real time. The tool uses Oracle’s Color algorithm and integrates with both single-screen and dual-screen setups. It works with hotkeys, and there is a customizable overlay to adjust the parameters. Ubisoft claims that using the filter will not affect game performance.
It is important to note what this software does and who it is intended for. It simulates how a person with color blindness would experience a game, allowing developers to take action. It doesn’t fix anything by itself. However, as they say, knowledge is half the battle. This move by Ubisoft should allow other developers to address these issues before releasing a game.
Ubisoft is not the only company expanding the availability of accessibility tools. EA recently made a number of accessibility patents publicly available. These include light sensitivity and speech recognition technology.
