Accessibility
Dungeon's support for blind and visually-impaired players
About 60% of our current players are blind or visually impaired. We work hard to make Dungeon welcoming to them. Our iOS app works well with VoiceOver. The web site is optimized for screen readers. Dungeon is accessible via MUD clients such as VipMUD, TinTin++, Mudlet, or MUDRammer. There's a command-line alternative to every mouse or menu option available in the GUI. Here are some of the details:
iOS and newer Macs
Many of our blind players use our iOS app on their iPad or iPhone. It's also compatible with the newer generation of Macs and MacBooks. If you're an Apple user, you'll be able to use VoiceOver as you normally do.
Windows and older Macs
On Windows, you'll need software which integrates with your screen reader. Many of our blind players use VipMud. But any standard MUD client should be fine. On older Macs, you can use the build-in Terminal app, which integrates nicely with VoiceOver. Or your favorite MUD client. Direct your secure client to: dungeon.smartmonsters.com port 9295. Insecure connections are available on port 9294. Some information re settings for specific clients is here.
Commands for the visually impaired
Because Dungeon was written in the days before GUIs were widespread, we've essentially turned our standard GUI into a command-line emulator. No Dungeon commands require a GUI. While logged-in with a MUD client, messages displayed to GUI users as popup windows are instead written to the Game Channel.
Web site optimization
- The SmartMonsters web site is HTML5 and implements WAI-ARIA Landmark Roles for screen reader optimization.
- Our site markup is straightforward, doesn't rely on images, and implements sensible tab orders.
- An account setting called "Blind-Friendly" replaces images throughout the web site with text equivalents, making the site 100% textual, 100% image-free.
- We test with VoiceOver, NVDA, and ChromeVox.
