Earlier this week, we published a glossary of WCAG 2.1 AA terms for game developers – a plain-language breakdown of the technical vocabulary behind today’s most important accessibility standards. In that post, we briefly introduced the POUR framework: Perceivable, Operable, Understandable, Robust. Now we’re following up with a deeper dive. POUR offers a flexible design lens that’s surprisingly useful for building better games.
Whether you’re new to WCAG or looking to refine your company’s accessibility practices, POUR can help you make educational games that are not only compliant, but more usable and rewarding for every player.
Perceivable: Design for every sense
Perceivability ensures that players can see, hear, or otherwise process game content regardless of their sensory profile. For games, this often means reinforcing essential information through multiple channels.
Key examples include:
- Subtitles for spoken dialogue and game sounds
- Visual indicators for audio cues or timers
- Adjustable text size and contrast modes
- Alt text or audio descriptions for non-text UI elements
Redundant cues support learners with sensory differences / sensitivities, cognitive differences, or attention challenges.
Operable: Ensure control is possible
If a player can’t navigate or interact with your game, they can’t learn from it. The “operable” principle addresses interface accessibility, especially for players using assistive tech or nonstandard input devices.
In game design, this includes:
- Remappable controls and keyboard-only navigation
- Logical tab order and consistent focus indicators
- Alternatives for drag-and-drop or timed sequences
- Built-in pause and skip options for long animations
Good operability also benefits players who are young, fatigued, or recovering from injury. The goal is for every player to participate meaningfully.
Understandable: Keep it clear
Understandability is reading level, interface consistency, and behavioral predictability. Players should always know what’s happening and how to proceed.
Designers can support this by:
- Using consistent icons, colors, and labels
- Providing clear feedback on correct and incorrect actions
- Avoiding misleading metaphors or ambiguous button behavior
- Structuring tutorials and menus with intuitive flow
Accessible doesn’t mean oversimplified. It means reducing unnecessary friction so learners can focus on the content instead of getting bogged down in the interface.
Robust: Build for real-world use
Robustness means your game should work across a range of devices, platforms, and assistive technologies. For educational games, this is where compliance often meets reality: if it doesn’t work on a school-issued Chromebook, it doesn’t work at all.
To build robustly:
- Use semantic HTML wherever possible
- Support screen readers and common browser extensions
- Ensure input works across mouse, keyboard, and touch
- Avoid elements that break under magnification or zoom
Robustness is foundational to accessibility and keeps your content viable as technology evolves. It’s just good business!
Accessibility is design, not decoration
POUR gives game developers a way to think about accessibility beyond the checkbox. It’s a powerful framework for building systems that are flexible, inclusive, and resilient. Educational publishers that build for accessibility are helping both their learners and themselves, creating sustainability benefits for their businesses and for society at large.
Want help translating POUR into your next learning game? We’re ready when you are.
