Touching Base on Children’s Interactions with Tablet Games

Abstract

This paper describes work commissioned by the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) to investigate how children with multiple disabilities use tablet games in their homes. An extended study of 20 children in their families, using surveys, diaries, interviews and observations, is described. The findings from the study are captured in themes which bring together the game play difficulties. A set of six personas are included that describe some of the difficulties faced by some of the children. Five key challenges for designers of games for children with disabilities are presented. The paper includes reflections from the BBC, on how this work has found its way into their product lines and the benefits of working in an academic – industrial partnership are highlighted.