Accessible Escape Rooms

I visited the St Andrews HCI Research Group (@sachi) once again (April 2019), this time to talk about Escape Rooms, and whether or not they are accessible to those with disabilities.

Overall, there is an odd set of contexts at play here and it’s not clear where to start solving these problems. Designers do not appear to value or understand accessibility, but indicate that there is not a market need (that they can observe). Users or players find it difficult to engage with all elements of the room. There is some balance to be struck between an induced situational impairment to add complexity to a puzzle, and an underlying disability that means someone is excluded and reliant on others to engage with the experience.