Request: Disconnect reader from accessibility

Soraka

Hello,
Is it possible in the future to make the zone chat reader an option without turning on accessibility mode? Wanted to use this feature, but I don't like the UI and gameplay changes accessibility mode caused.

Danikat

I agree. I was thinking this would be a really useful feature until I saw that it was stuck in 'accessibility' mode.

Accessibility is not a one-size-fits-all system. What helps one person will be useless or may even make things worse for another so the best thing you can do for accessibility is let players choose for themselves which of the features they use.

Other accessibility features like subtitles and the option to change font sizes are not tied to this ambiguous accessibility mode, and I can't see any reason a text reader would only work if you're also using a modified gamepad UI, so it seems strange to me to tie them together.

redspecter23

I have to turn on accessibility mode to use the zone chat reader?
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Why?

I don't get it. These are 2 different accessibility features. Wanting to use one doesn't necessarily mean you want to use the other.

virtus753

redspecter23 wrote: »

I have to turn on accessibility mode to use the zone chat reader?
.
.
.
Why?

I don't get it. These are 2 different accessibility features. Wanting to use one doesn't necessarily mean you want to use the other.

Unfortunately it seems their approach is that if we want one form of accessibility, we must use them all. I’m equally as confused as to why.

I use gamepad mode for combat but keyboard mode for chat and admin purposes, and I find “accessibility mode” significantly worse than either. I enabled it to test the text to speech, which did impress me in some ways.

It will read all text it can recognize, including text printed by pchat or other add-ons, such as timestamps and channel names and character names alongside account names, if you enable that. But it doesn’t always know what to do with emoji: : ) gets “smiley face”, while : < is silent. (I used spaces here to avoid the forum software converting that to actual emoji, but I did not use spaces in game.)

It doesn’t always know how to pronounce names, understandably: the voice got Virtus as I expect most people who don’t know Latin would pronounce it - VUR (or VER) tuss. Fair enough, since this is not an English word.

Interestingly, it also gives us a fourth (or fifth?) way to pronounce dreugh: the devs once said “drew” was the official way, but they themselves and NPCs in game say variously “drew,” “dreg,” and “drug,” while the automated voice says “dray-ugh” in two syllables. (I might be forgetting another way it’s been said.)

But on the whole I’m glad it’s been implemented, even if it should not be a sub-setting of accessibility mode.

whitecrow

I'm pretty sure it is a separate setting on its own. I was just looking at it yesterday.

virtus753

whitecrow wrote: »

I'm pretty sure it is a separate setting on its own. I was just looking at it yesterday.

It can only be enabled when accessibility mode is enabled. That was stated in the notes as well. The option is a sub-setting under accessibility mode.