Deaf Accessibility

[Unblinking]

Hello! I love the game and all of the DLCs. I was wondering if a bit of a tweak could be done to a couple of things to help for accessibility for deaf or hearing-impaired players. Overall the game can be played very well without being able to hear it (certainly it's better with the music and sound effects of course).

There are a couple of things that are noticeably degraded without sound. I was wondering if it might be possible to make a couple tweaks to make these better. Possibly as a menu option similar to "show charging bars":
1. Mom's Hand. When playing with audio it has the very distinct Mom's laugh that lets you know it's going to be coming at some point. Without audio, there is a bit of a screen shudder, but it can be easy to miss especially if the room has other enemies that draw your attention. Maybe the option could add a subtitle or a comic-book style graphic sound effect or something?
2. Hound's Tooth item. This item is very useful if you have audio, to find secret rooms and tinted rocks, but it is completely useless without audio. Likewise, maybe some kind of visual indicator.

Just a thought, I would find that helpful, and I'm sure I'm not the only one!

best,
David

[The deadly Cutsman]

But wouldn't that add to the hecticness of the room? Imagine a comic book onomatopeia appearing in the middle of the screen in a room full of projectiles, or a very small alert text appearing in the bottom of the screen, there's no way you'll notice that while trying to dodge stuff. There's also a lot of bosses and enemies that signal attacks with specific sounds, and is essential for players to hear specially in huge rooms like the boss rush. The game is just too dependant on sound IMO.

[Wedge]

I'm deaf and plays Binding of Isaac. I HAD NO IDEA that the Dog's Tooth literally indicate sounds if you enter the room with undiscovered secret room until this thread points out.

I kind of wish there were some kind of accessibility with visual cue now for all type of items or mechanics that involves sounds that will tip the players off like Dog's Tooth.

[Penguin Council]

Originally posted by The deadly Cutsman:

There's also a lot of bosses and enemies that signal attacks with specific sounds, and is essential for players to hear specially in huge rooms like the boss rush.

That's exactly why we need it jfc

[mr worldwide]

I think the closest solution is when mods get reenabled someone will make a mod that adds visual cues. I don't think they'll take the time to implement it into the game because it impacts just a few players. Next best thing is to perhaps message a big modder who could help out so you won't have to wait for someone to make it randomly

[Unblinking]

Originally posted by The deadly Cutsman:

But wouldn't that add to the hecticness of the room? Imagine a comic book onomatopeia appearing in the middle of the screen in a room full of projectiles, or a very small alert text appearing in the bottom of the screen, there's no way you'll notice that while trying to dodge stuff. There's also a lot of bosses and enemies that signal attacks with specific sounds, and is essential for players to hear specially in huge rooms like the boss rush. The game is just too dependant on sound IMO.

There are ways to do it that would not obscure the whole screen. A subtitle size and location would be helpful. It would take some getting used to, but I would absolutely find it useful, and something like the Hound's Tooth works without enemies as well.

I wouldn't say the game is too dependent on sound, though it is surely improved by it, probably made easier to predict boss attacks etc. I have all of the pre-Repentance achievements, almost all of it without audio.

[Unblinking]

FWIW, I am not deaf, though I am intermittently hearing impaired.
I do tend to spend play-time without sound while my family is watching something on TV I'm not interested in. I tend to not play games that are unplayable without audio for that reason.
Just these couple specific scenarios would make a noticeable improvement. (there might be other scenarios that would make a difference but these are the ones I've consistently noticed)

[The deadly Cutsman]

You all gotta remember that adding this option would make sound irrelevant, as sometimes in the middle of a fight you won't hear every sound, but if you could SEE the sound, it would be like cheating... Now hear me out, imagine you are rushing B and suddenly you see on the screen "steps" - "reloading"(cs:go), or you got a sentry protecting the intel and you see "spy decloacking" on your screen (tf2)... why wouldn't everyone use this option as it is superior than being alert to sound? I know, it's not the same type of game, but you are adding a superior way of playing the game, why would people want to handycap themselves by depending on their hearing while you can just get the alert on-screen? Plus, adding an item that makes a sound, and then adding this, would make the sound part kinda irrelevant... why not change it to a visual cue al toghether? (I'm not sh*tting on deaf people, it's just that not everyone CAN do everything, you gotta understand that).

[Unblinking]

Depends on how it were implemented. Again, the two main scenarios I'm suggesting are Mom's Hand sound and Hound's Tooth sound.

Both are super obvious sounds, the meanings may not be obvious immediately until you read a wiki or learn from experience.

The "spy decloaking" example does not make sense in this context.

>>Plus, adding an item that makes a sound, and then adding this, would make the sound part kinda irrelevant...

Is the point the sound, or is the point that it is letting you know something important about the room in a way that you can learn to recognize? Seems like the latter to me. And, again, this would probably be best implemented as a menu toggle for accessibility. So, if it were available and you don't like it... don't use it.

>>I'm not sh*tting on deaf people, it's just that not everyone CAN do everything, you gotta understand that

I mean, I guess one COULD make an argument that a game that doesn't obviously require sound should be some percent harder for deaf people? I can't say it's a convincing argument though, when there are ways to make it more accessible.

[Dyne]

Originally posted by The deadly Cutsman:

You all gotta remember that adding this option would make sound irrelevant, as sometimes in the middle of a fight you won't hear every sound, but if you could SEE the sound, it would be like cheating... Now hear me out, imagine you are rushing B and suddenly you see on the screen "steps" - "reloading"(cs:go), or you got a sentry protecting the intel and you see "spy decloacking" on your screen (tf2)... why wouldn't everyone use this option as it is superior than being alert to sound? I know, it's not the same type of game, but you are adding a superior way of playing the game, why would people want to handycap themselves by depending on their hearing while you can just get the alert on-screen? Plus, adding an item that makes a sound, and then adding this, would make the sound part kinda irrelevant... why not change it to a visual cue al toghether? (I'm not sh*tting on deaf people, it's just that not everyone CAN do everything, you gotta understand that).

Are you unironically comparing seeing enemy footsteps subtitled in CS:GO and TF2 to Isaac? A more fair comparison would be something like Minecraft which has subtitles for enemy noises, and most people have that turned off anyways.

The game already has visual accessibility with the bullet visibility option, toggleable visual effects for certain items/enemies such as the things OP mentioned wouldn't harm anyone. I'm not deaf at all myself but I play the game muted w/ music on in the background so I'd like to see some kind of toggleable visual effect option. I'd probably do it in a different way over just using subtitles (maybe a different coloured shadow under Isaac when Mom's Hand is in the room, or a mark on the map with Dog's Tooth or something).

[The deadly Cutsman]

Originally posted by Unblinking:

Depends on how it were implemented. Again, the two main scenarios I'm suggesting are Mom's Hand sound and Hound's Tooth sound.

Both are super obvious sounds, the meanings may not be obvious immediately until you read a wiki or learn from experience.

The "spy decloaking" example does not make sense in this context.

>>Plus, adding an item that makes a sound, and then adding this, would make the sound part kinda irrelevant...

Is the point the sound, or is the point that it is letting you know something important about the room in a way that you can learn to recognize? Seems like the latter to me. And, again, this would probably be best implemented as a menu toggle for accessibility. So, if it were available and you don't like it... don't use it.

>>I'm not sh*tting on deaf people, it's just that not everyone CAN do everything, you gotta understand that

I mean, I guess one COULD make an argument that a game that doesn't obviously require sound should be some percent harder for deaf people? I can't say it's a convincing argument though, when there are ways to make it more accessible.

There's a lot of items that let you know there's a secret in the room (example "Yo, listen"), not every item has to be based on visual cues, because that would basically make all items the same, just that one marks you where the secret is, an the other just tells you "hey, there's a secret here".
Also, the hand already has it's own visual cue, you can see a shadow form below Isaac, so you already have a way to tell what's coming with no sound.

>>The "spy decloaking" example does not make sense in this context.

I said it's not the same, but I'm comparing with other games where sound to text was a thing that caused "controversy" (example: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JCkGoAYfhEQ )

[The deadly Cutsman]

Originally posted by G.:

Are you unironically comparing seeing enemy footsteps subtitled in CS:GO and TF2 to Isaac? A more fair comparison would be something like Minecraft which has subtitles for enemy noises, and most people have that turned off anyways.

The game already has visual accessibility with the bullet visibility option, toggleable visual effects for certain items/enemies such as the things OP mentioned wouldn't harm anyone. I'm not deaf at all myself but I play the game muted w/ music on in the background so I'd like to see some kind of toggleable visual effect option. I'd probably do it in a different way over just using subtitles (maybe a different coloured shadow under Isaac when Mom's Hand is in the room, or a mark on the map with Dog's Tooth or something).

Again, it's not a direct comparison, but it's similar in the sense that replacing sound with visual cues would offer a superior way to play.

[Dyne]

Originally posted by The deadly Cutsman:

Originally posted by G.:

Are you unironically comparing seeing enemy footsteps subtitled in CS:GO and TF2 to Isaac? A more fair comparison would be something like Minecraft which has subtitles for enemy noises, and most people have that turned off anyways.

The game already has visual accessibility with the bullet visibility option, toggleable visual effects for certain items/enemies such as the things OP mentioned wouldn't harm anyone. I'm not deaf at all myself but I play the game muted w/ music on in the background so I'd like to see some kind of toggleable visual effect option. I'd probably do it in a different way over just using subtitles (maybe a different coloured shadow under Isaac when Mom's Hand is in the room, or a mark on the map with Dog's Tooth or something).

Again, it's not a direct comparison, but it's similar in the sense that replacing sound with visual cues would offer a superior way to play.

No, it's really not even similar - who is there to gain an advantage over in Isaac like you would in CSGO? The AI? And I really don't see how it'd offer a 'superior' way to play. There's only two things that'd need visual effects anyways and if anything it'd let those without sound be on an even playing field for said things. Even then if you get an advantage somehow from accessibility options then who even cares lol its a singleplayer game

[The deadly Cutsman]

Originally posted by G.:

No, it's really not even similar - who is there to gain an advantage over in Isaac like you would in CSGO? The AI? And I really don't see how it'd offer a 'superior' way to play. There's only two things that'd need visual effects anyways and if anything it'd let those without sound be on an even playing field for said things. Even then if you get an advantage somehow from accessibility options then who even cares lol its a singleplayer game

Ok my guy, you got me, I'll proceed to post clown emoji.