Accessibility shouldn’t only apply to Survivors. Killer players need accessibility too.
The Judgment is a good example: BHVR has discussed and implemented extra visual information around Divine Light to make reacting to it more accessible for Survivors. That goal is completely fair, but accessibility should work both ways. If playing the Killer requires uncomfortable camera movement, precise flicks, or mechanics that can cause motion sickness, those concerns deserve the same attention.
Spirit is another obvious example. Her gameplay relies heavily on directional audio. Deaf or hard-of-hearing players can be at a major disadvantage when tracking Survivors during Phase Walk, yet Killers still lack an equivalent to Survivor features like the Visual Terror Radius.
Accessibility isn't a Survivor buff or a Killer buff. It's about making sure a disability doesn't prevent someone from meaningfully playing either role.
If accessibility matters, it has to matter on BOTH sides.
Comments
While I get your point, how do you make sure killers aren’t straight-up told where survivors are, regardless of them being hard of hearing?
Will the game suddenly display a subtitle “Meg breathing” when she’s right next to you, even though you didn’t actually see her?
While I agree that no killer should be unaccessible to players, I think that lays lower into the liat of priorities since players can choose what killer to play but cannot choose what they go against
maybe after 60 seconds of not having chased a survivor a crow could fly in the sky towards a general direction of a random survivor?
Hmm…
I’d like that.
Idk how that works out balance wise
But having a crow buddy? Hmm…
i get it but you also have to consider that the Killer is choosing to play this specific killer while survivors cant choose which Killer they will Face. So specific changes just for Spirit for example are not as highly needed but there of course are still general killer mechanics that could use some accessibility stuff.
We did get the FoV as beta btw and imo the Aura/scratchmark colors are mostly affecting killers as well so it’s not like we didn’t get nothing.
I think mobile had a feature for visual audio cues Like footsteps and breathing? Not sure how well this would work directly translated but thats another general thing that should at least be tested.. which is what the Beta tab is for? Not sure how Long the other stuff is supposed to stay there..
Exactly. Plus the main accessibility feature for Survivors is the visual heartbeat. And while many people use it, even if they are not hard of hearing (personally, I dont think you need it if your ears are not impacted and I am not using it), the main reason is to help those who have problems hearing. And every Killer has a Terror Radius.
@Topic:
As others have said, this would just be way more than accessibility. E.g. to make Spirit better to play for people with hearing issues, you would need directional sound indicators. And those are way too strong and would be used by everyone who would play Killer. You can use something like a popup when a sound was nearby, but even then it might be too good, since even if you are not able to see the direction the sound came from, you can pinpoint it way more easy.
I dont think this would really be useful, because it would be very weak. This would mean that 4 Survivors had 60 seconds of uninterrupted time to do everything they want. But it is understandable that you made your idea weak, because otherwise it might be too good to have free directions from time to time.
I dont think that this is something which can really be solved by something like a crow flying to a location, because it would either be too weak or too strong.
I would just love to see more killer specific options and toggles like with what they implemented with judgement.
Something like overwatch’s system where you can tweek your settings for each individual character, and some even have character specific option like changing certain button presses, to either be hold or tap and specific key bindings.
It’ll take a lot of work overhauling the menu and UI but someday I’d like to see specific settings for all killers
These next idea lean away from accessibility and more QoL, but for survivors id like to see more loadout slots, copy and pasting loadouts (or a loadout code system like seen in Pokemon champions could be fun but I don’t see the point), and shared offering pools (I like to items to be shared too but bhvr might not go for that), a random favorite option for cosmetics (for all the feng and sable players) this could be added to killers.
Just some ideas I had.
@Mooks @Aven_Fallen
Here is a stronger version that responds directly while keeping the discussion focused on accessibility and balance.
So, in other words, should we exclude players from experiencing a Killer they like simply because they were born with physical limitations? Should we just tell them, “We don’t need to make the game more accessible for you. Just don’t play that Killer and move on”?
I don’t think that should be the answer. If reasonable accessibility options can let more players enjoy a Killer without giving them an unfair gameplay advantage, then those options should be considered.
I understand the argument that the Killer player chooses which Killer they play, while Survivors cannot choose which Killer they face. But I don’t think that means Killer-specific accessibility needs should automatically be considered less important.
Choosing a Killer does not remove the accessibility problem. If someone really enjoys Spirit, for example, but cannot properly use audio cues because of a hearing impairment, telling them to simply play another Killer is not really an accessibility solution. The point of accessibility is to reduce unnecessary barriers so more people can experience the same content.
That also does not mean Spirit should receive perfect visual tracking or anything that gives additional information. A visual audio system could be designed to represent roughly the same information a hearing player already receives, while keeping the same uncertainty and limitations.
And I agree that general Killer accessibility should probably be the priority where possible. Things such as visual sound cues, camera shake reduction, better input options, clearer power UI, contrast settings, FoV options, and customizable visual indicators could benefit many Killers rather than only one.
The FoV option and aura/scratch-mark customization are good examples of progress. I’m not saying Killer players have received nothing. I’m saying there are still areas where accessibility could be expanded.
The mobile visual-audio system is also exactly the kind of feature I think would be worth testing on the main game. It does not necessarily need to be copied directly. Put a version in the Beta tab, test how accurate it is, determine whether it gives too much information, adjust the range and directionality, and collect feedback from both disabled players and the wider playerbase.
That is what the Beta tab seems perfect for.
The goal shouldn’t be to make a Killer easier to play. It should be to make sure a player is struggling because of the Killer’s intended gameplay difficulty, not because important information is only available through a physical ability they may not have.
pretty much what I was saying
The problem is that there will somehow always be people against it that will claim anything would be Not reasonable. There is still people claiming that the visual terror radius is a direct buff for survivors after all…
ideally we wouldnt have to consider these features more or less important but those do need resources to be planned/designed/implemented and prioritation is needed.
also imo Spirit wouldnt need specific adjustments when we would get general visual cues for sounds in similar way to mobile, so probably just a not so well selected example.
killer specific sensitivity like Judgement got should definitley be rolled out for every Killer with aiming though, also survs with flashlight and exile thingies. The code is pretty much already here. But the devs did say thats the plan i think and Judgement is just the first test for this
Say Hi to chatGPT from me. You can just use your own words though.
I do agree (I'm disabled myself and there are things about the game as Killer that I distinctly struggle with) but I also agree with other commenters that it's a difficult one to balance correctly.
I think an audio indicator when in chase that a Survivor is making noise within a certain radius (without revealing direction) would be something to start with, as would a general overhaul to audio to make Survivor noises more consistent and less buggy for those who are not deaf but hard of hearing or have sensory processing issues.
I know BHVR have basically said they won't do it because they can't be bothered but a basic universal crosshairs option would really help with dealing with some of the VFX or movement you get as Killer (kinda like the one you get as Survivor when hit with a Clown bottle to offset the screen shake and blur).
oh their reasoning for not providing in-game Option for a crosshair was way off!
Acknowledging that many but definitley not all have Access to it through Hardware (monitor setting) and then saying those that don’t have that can use the addon?? Kinda infuriating to expect people to use an addon for an accessibility Feature that is just… so basic.. AND it exists in the game already 🫨
Your argument would probably be better than what the AI cooked up as like a lot of AI its pablum without any real depth.
This long post amounts to - 'I want something better, but also not unfair.'
So would everyone. That's a goal, not a process, and doesn't deal with the difficulties of actually doing it.
The issue is that a game (any game that's not 100% chance) needs to have some form of mechanic or skill. Inevitably some human people will have an advantage or disadvantage at that activity. DbD is a game that relies on visual cues, audio cues, quick decision making, reflexes, etc. You can argue any of those should have more or less emphasis in the game, ultimately that's going to advantage some people and disadvantage others.
The devs dont truly care about accessibility or we would have had a dark mode blinds in the game a plague audio change and a doctor clash change. Its insane peopel are using the accessibility defense for nerfing the judgment.
Looks at replies
Is it time to play "It's only okay when I do it" again? So soon?
Spirit has Cherry Blossom. So people who struggle to hear can use that.
Add-ons are not accessibility features, they are consumables. That's not comparable.
they should just people back Father's Glasses
If spirit gets the subtibles "meg is walking this location" I might be able to play her. Im bad listening somehow going in complete wrong place even I hear someone moaning next to me. Though I played her once every blue moon and never used headphones or wanted to learn her.
Accesibility options are always going to be advantage. Even small visual cues for footsteps would be buff for killer. For survivors the current visual terror radius advantage is pretty minimal. Could argue it sometimes distract you. Just how the game is designed killer job is to find survivors so naturally anything that helps with that is bigger buff.
How about this? If you are hard of hearing then everything is muted since you don't need audio anyway and instead there are vague markers that show up if you are currently hearing an injured survivor.
Right now, accessibility is mostly a problem for a few specific Killers because of how unique their gameplay is. But I think this could become a much bigger issue later on.
The devs have already shown that they want to add more environmental effects, like weather, that can affect both what you see and what you hear. If that becomes a bigger part of normal gameplay, some players with hearing or visual impairments could end up having a much harder time playing.
That’s why I think it would be better to start working on these accessibility problems now instead of waiting until they become worse.
DBD has already taken a long time to add some accessibility features in the past, so it would make sense to prepare early and then adjust those features when bigger updates come out.
For deaf or hard-of-hearing players, the best idea I can think of is a very simple visual sound indicator.
For example, if a sound comes from the left, a small part of the left edge of the screen could lightly flash or change color for a moment. Same thing for the center or right side.
It wouldn’t show the Survivor.
It wouldn’t show an exact direction.
It wouldn’t show distance.
It would just give a very general idea of where the sound came from.
Something like:
Left / Center / Right
And to keep it fair, it could actually be less sensitive than normal hearing.
For example, if an average player could barely hear a Survivor from far away, the visual indicator wouldn’t activate yet. It would only show once the sound became louder and more obvious.
So instead of giving deaf players better tracking, it would actually give them less accurate information than someone with normal hearing, while still giving them something to work with.
The point isn’t to tell the Killer:
“The Survivor is exactly over there.”
It’s just to communicate:
“You heard something somewhere on your left.”
I think something like this would be perfect for the Beta tab. BHVR could test the range, sensitivity, colors, and how accurate the direction should be, then adjust it if it feels too strong.
Accessibility doesn’t have to mean making the game easier. It can just mean giving players another way to receive information that other players can already hear or see.
Small note: I use AI to help me write these posts because my English is not very good. I’m not using it to make arguments for me or pretend these ideas are not mine. I just want to make sure my point comes across clearly and people can understand what I’m trying to say.
You can still use your own words and get better Communication skills that way instead of relying on AI. Maybe that way you could have avoided paraphrasing a Feature that was already covered in this thread multiple times and pretty much everyone agreed with in some way. but somehow while paraphrasing and repeating it you also described it unnecessarily longer..
And you also don’t need to write perfectly in English anyways. I am far off from that as well and if someone actually wants to discuss a topic they will understand you or just ask or respectfully point out when something needs to be phrased differently. This is an international forum, many of us are not native English speakers and it works just fine. If you can understand whatever this AI is spitting out thats enough to be able to form your own words, but way more authentic and actually ground for discussion. This is not it.