Steam Deck proves that mobile phones are not yet designed for disabled players

Recently, Valve introduced it du Steam Deck, a system that allows players to access their Steam libraries. With a similar design to the Nintendo Switch, Steam Deck is the latest attempt by the development studio to enter the handset market. While it is beneficial for those who travel or can’t afford a gaming computer, its ads emphasize the idea that handheld devices aren’t always the most accessible for people with disabilities.

Nintendo Switch is the standard Switch Lite Backbone One driver, or simply a mobile phone, handheld devices make up the wide range of the gaming market. And despite the usual Switch model it includes many driver and accessibility features, such as fully customizable controls, disability is not the same. Some accommodations and options that work for one person may not be beneficial to another. Players with blind / low vision, those with arthritis, or a disability that reduces hand use may not be able to properly see screens or control controllers or systems while playing.

Steve Content Creator “BlindGamerSteve”Saylor strives to use handheld devices properly due to low vision. Together nystagmus, a disability that causes involuntary eye movement, Saylor’s view with glasses is 20/200 and roughly 20/1400. As a result, it needs to sit very close to the screens to play properly. Despite the handheld capabilities of handheld devices, the screens tend to be too small.

“When I have to use an iPhone or tablet, I have to keep the screen fairly close to my face,” Saylor says. “Every time I’m using a handheld device like the Nintendo Switch, I usually have to hold it close to my face to see everything that’s happening on the screen. I can’t hold it in a more comfortable and ‘normal’ angle because I’d lose a lot of information and a lot of detail.” says Saylor.

To help alleviate the small size of screens, Saylor will often use accessibility features on devices such as the zoom or magnification switch. However, if a system lacks this setting, it should be based on user interfaces integrated into individual games and individual games, if the games offer these features. However, overall size creates another problem: physical tension.

“Generally, because I have to sit pretty close or hold the device to my face, it hurts a lot in my neck, also because I have to bend a lot to see the screen,” he says. “So I can do 2 or 4 hours, which I can usually do without physical pain, after which it can become a problem.”

In addition to squeezing the neck, Saylor notices that awkward positioning can also hurt the eyes. He hopes that future devices will offer larger screens and that more players will set accessibility features, allowing players to customize screen fonts and UIs, as well as the ability to transfer games to different screens like a TV or computer monitor. “Actually, it would be a good time to play on the console or computer if that opportunity were available in the game.”

Samantha Blackmon, a podcast producer and associate professor at Purdue University, echoes Saylor’s feelings. People with arthritis or disability that affect the muscles or tendons in the hands may have difficulty playing for long periods of time, and the design of the Steam Deck or Switch is no exception. For Blackmon, extensive gaming sessions on mobile or handheld devices are not feasible due to its inability.

“I find that if I play on these devices for too long (usually more than 45 to 60 minutes), it can take not only hand and wrist pain, but also the muscles in my hands and cause my left thumb. Stick in the position to use the analog stick,” says Blackmon . “Furthermore, it seems to me that using these devices for days on end can cause the back tendon of the hand to ‘leak’ and cause a small but painful knot in the right back.”