Apple has announced a new open-source accessibility plugin for Unity. The plug-in can be used to include support for iOS assistive technologies such as VoiceOver and Switch Control. The official Apple page for developers includes a video hosted by Eric Liang, a software engineer at Apple, detailing how this can be used and implemented.
Some of the features described indicate that this plug-in can allow for automatically scaling text with Dynamic Type, reduced transparency, increased contrast, and more. The video goes through three areas.
- Accessibility elements allow support for technologies such as VoiceOver and Switch Control.
- Dynamic Type Support helps to scale text according to a user’s preferences
- UI accommodations such as contrast settings, reduced transparency, and reduced motion.
An example project shows a card game created in Unity with elements being given Labels, Traits, and an AccessibleCard script. This results in the project being read out by the VoiceOver tool built into iOS devices.
Another example leads to Dynamic Type Support which uses a mono behavior script. The setting up of this script and applying it to any in-game text elements from the Unity editor will allow the application to pull the user’s chosen text size settings they may have adjusted from the device’s accessibility area. In addition, another script can be used to increase the size of the UI when at larger text settings. In the example shown, you’ll see the playing cards increase.
The video then touches on the UI accommodations, showing and explaining how features such as reducing motion, transparency, and increasing contrast can help users.
The Apple accessibility plug-in is available to download now on GitHub. Those wanting a deeper understanding of accessibility features on Apple products can read the official documentation.
