Accessibility Menu Maker is a tool and plug-in for the Unreal Engine that allows you to quickly create Options Menus with a wide range of accessibility features for video games, serious games, and other AR/VR applications.
Fully customizable in a specific external editor, these menus are based on a series of tabs and options. They are then integrated into Unreal Engine through a plug-in that links the menu design with a series of easily modifiable Blueprints.
These menus work for PCs, as well as Sony, Microsoft, and Nintendo consoles.
The plug-in’s open source license will allow porting to other engines (Unity, Godot, etc.) without necessarily having to touch the editor. However, the editor is also open source, allowing for the addition of features not currently available.
1. Features
Based on 10 years of research and studies by the CapGame association (www.capgame.fr) on video game accessibility, as well as Ukiyo Studio’s expertise in interfaces, Accessibility Menu Maker is both a PC/Mac tool and a multi-platform Unreal Engine plug-in that allows you to quickly create Options Menus with a wide range of accessibility features.
Fully customizable in a specific external editor, the menus are based on a series of tabs and options. The editor’s intuitive graphical interface allows you to add, delete, or rearrange tabs and options.
It also allows you to customize the appearance of the menu with a series of predefined layouts and a system of skins (png, mp3, etc.) that preserve the visual and audio identity of the game.
Finally, the menu is exported in JSON format, associated with a library of customization assets.
Then, in Unreal Engine, the Accessibility Menu Maker plug-in allows you to integrate this menu and, above all, automatically link a series of Blueprints to each of the settings defined in the menu. The newly created options can be associated with new Blueprints and, of course, existing ones can be modified and optimized at will.
The goal is to enable as many people as possible to easily create accessibility options in their games. The project is entirely open source and free, and its structure (an external tool and a small engine plug-in) will allow for easy porting to other engines and platforms.
- Four tabs for accessibility: Accessibility options are divided into “classic” tabs in an Options menu: General, Graphics, Audio, and Controls.
- Numerous accessibility options: Options to ensure inclusivity for as many players as possible (hearing impaired, visually impaired, etc.), based on research by the CapGames association.
- Modularity: The Accessibility Maker editor allows you to enable/disable or move each option, create tabs, and add your own options.
- Theming: Ability to customize themes and styles to match the visual identity of the game.
- Multi-platform compatibility: Works on PCs and Sony, Microsoft, and Nintendo consoles.
- Localization: The menus are in English and French. It is very easy to add a new language.
- Documentation: The use of AMM will be extensively documented, but the project will also be accompanied by a “best practices guide” written by CapGame, allowing you to go even further…
- User profile: Manage multiple option profiles, save and restore custom configurations.
- Automatic backup: Enable/disable periodic automatic backup – set the frequency.
- Language: Select the language used in the game (text and audio).
- Interface: Theme options (light or dark) and magnification (x1, x2, x4, etc.).
- Text and subtitles: Options for font magnification, anti-aliasing, and higher contrast for text, as well as message display speed.
- Display mode: Full screen, windowed with or without border.
- Screen resolution: Resolution options.
- Texture quality: Choice between low, medium, and high quality.
- Anti-aliasing: Different modes to smooth edges.
- Visual effects: Settings for shadows, reflections, particles, and post-processing.
- Visual effects removal: Option to reduce visual effects (blur, flickering, etc.).
- V-Sync: Option to synchronize the refresh rate.
- Contrast and brightness options: Adjustment of contrast and overall brightness using a filter system.
- Color management: Option to change the main color of important interactive elements.
- Master Volume: Adjusts the main volume.
- Sound Effects: Independently controls the volume of SFX.
- Music: Independently controls the volume of music.
- Voiceover: Independently controls the volume of narration.
- Audio Mixing: Enables/disables stereo mode and spatialization.
- Audio description: Enable voice assistance for menus and other text (text-to-speech) – voice options (gender, speed, etc.).
- Keyboard configuration: Key reassignment using predefined settings.
- Macro creation: For games requiring complex key sequences (combos) or simply for users who cannot use more than one or two keys.
- Mouse and cursor: Mouse sensitivity and movement speed – cursor size.
- Controller: Selection of a controller (joystick, etc.) or assistive technology (speech-to-text, eye-tracking, etc.).
- Controller settings: Various settings dedicated to the selected controller (e.g., vibration feedback or stick inversion for the joystick, speech-to-text configuration, etc.).
2. Advantages and competition
Distributed on digital marketplaces ( fab.com , etc.) aimed at video game studios and publishers, Accessibility Menu Maker is designed for creators around the world, to include even more players.
As mentioned above, this is a unique product that offers a number of advantages for video game development:
- Inclusivity: Comprehensive support for accessibility options ensures that games are suitable for a larger and more diverse audience, meeting the requirements for inclusive design.
- Time savings: Automation of menu creation, allowing developers to focus on other aspects of the game.
- Reusability: The tool can be reused indefinitely for all kinds of development.
- Ease of integration: Compatible with existing Unreal Engine workflows, the plug-in can be quickly configured and adapted to the specifics of each project.
- Intuitive user interface: The editor used to design the menu’s appearance offers a user-friendly drag-and-drop interface and real-time preview options to facilitate customization.
- Extensibility and customization: The system allows developers to customize menus via configuration files or Blueprints, but also allows them to add specific modules according to the needs of their game.
But using Accessibility Menu Maker will also have advantages for gamers because, in addition to “traditional accessibility options” (subtitles, separate audio settings, etc.), and thanks to the implementation of CapGame’s research, our tool will offer a series of unique and original options, such as color management for interactive elements and a macro system for combos.
In short, this tool and its plug-in for Unreal Engine represent a fairly comprehensive and scalable solution for creating robust and accessible options menus that meet the diverse needs of players while complying with modern accessibility standards.
3. Technical resources
We plan to use Unreal Engine to import a JSON file containing all the menu items and dynamically build the interface from that file. The advantage of this approach is its total modularity, allowing us to create any type of menu, as well as its portability, since only the plug-in will need to be developed for use on another engine.
Since the open source model does not allow us to simply use a web version (server costs, etc.), we are considering developing a standalone application with its source code also in open source. This application could be written in Python, published on GitHub, and compiled for Windows and macOS.
The idea would then be to statically recreate the menu from JSON to re-edit it in Unreal Engine 5 in any existing Unreal interface.
In other words, the tool would be a standalone WYSIWYG editing application for creating menus from templates (extensible by the community), which exports to JSON. An Unreal Engine plugin would then import this JSON and expose the necessary features.
Here are some technical details on some of these features, which often rely on other open source technologies:
The subtitles feature allows text to be displayed in sync with the audio, making the game accessible to players with hearing impairments. Options allow you to customize the font size, contrast, color, and display speed of the subtitles. For implementation, this feature could be integrated directly into Unreal Engine via a Blueprint or a custom UI system. A specific subtitle widget will be created, and the subtitles themselves could be linked to audio cues via events in the game’s animation system. Integrating an external open source solution could facilitate this latter feature (several solutions are possible, such as CirspCover ).
Text-to-speech allows text to be converted into speech, which is essential for visually impaired players. One possible implementation could be based on external APIs such as eSpeak or Festival , two free, open-source solutions that can be integrated into Unreal Engine via calls to a DLL or external API.
This feature is designed to improve legibility for players with visual difficulties. Unreal Engine offers native font size management via Text Render Components and UI Widgets. For implementation, a dynamic system can be created in the options menu, allowing text size to be changed on the fly by adjusting the text properties in the Blueprint Widget.
The option to adjust contrast and colours will better meet the needs of players with visual impairments. This could be achieved by using post-process effects in Unreal Engine, where dynamic contrast and saturation filters can be applied directly to graphical elements. An internal shader could be used to adjust these parameters, or an external open source solution such as Tonic could be used.
CapGame’s studies have shown that the colour filter systems specific to the different forms of colour blindness (protanopia, deuteranopia, tritanopia) don’t work very well and are not very well received by the community because they generate graphic aberrations. So, in addition to the previous system for subtly changing background colours, it is now possible to assign colours to specific elements, mainly interactive objects, NPCs and so on.
As of version 5 of the Unreal Engine, it is now possible to define several stencils for different graphical elements or types of element during the Render Death Pass, making it fairly simple to colour certain elements of the game.
These settings allow you to customise the volume of the various sound elements (music, sound effects, narration). Unreal Engine has internal systems for managing audio via Sound Cue and Audio Components. For implementation
purposes, a system of Volume Sliders will be created in the menu, allowing different types of sound to be adjusted independently. Internal development on the Unreal Engine will enable these options to be integrated seamlessly
by manipulating volumes via modifiable variables in the Blueprints.
Gamers may have specific needs when it comes to configuring their keyboard, mouse or controller. Unreal Engine allows keyboard and mouse keys to be reassigned via Input Bindings in Project Settings. An internal solution will allow these bindings to be customised directly in the menu via a graphical interface. In the same way, we’ll be creating an interface to simplify the creation of keyboard or controller macros.
Many disability-specific controllers use the same calls as a joystick, however Accessibility Menu Maker will also support voice control (see above) and some specific controllers using eye or physical movement recognition. We plan to use an external solution such as Tobii SDK or Project Iris to integrate eye-tracking management and an open source solution such as OpenTrack or PlayAbility for motion controls. However, we will need to acquire the hardware required for these kits in order to implement and test them properly.
To ensure the quality and accessibility of the features on offer, CapGame will be carrying out user tests with people with disabilities, particularly those with visual or hearing impairments. These tests will include evaluations of the Text-to-Speech functionality, as well as adjustments to subtitles and colour corrections, etc.
4. Availability
Accessibility Menu Maker for Unreal Engine will be available at www.fab.com , on our website and that of the CapGame association.
● Free and open source plugin: The Unreal Engine plugin will be open source and available for free on Github. This will allow users to contribute to the development of the plugin, while ensuring widespread adoption.
● Customisation by the community: By being open source, users will be able to modify, extend, and customise the plugin to their specific needs, encouraging innovation and community growth.
● Open API oriented “engine plugin”: Opening up the API will allow other developers to design plugins for other engines such as Unity or Godot.
On GitHub, the PC/Mac editor and the Unreal Engine Plug-in (PC/Mac/PS5/XBox/Switch 2) of Accessibility Menu Maker will be accessible to the community to suggest and make improvements. However, we will be putting in place a process for validating contributions and managing pull requests to ensure that each new feature or correction complies with the project’s standards.
