Accessibility
Covers Void Swarm 1.0.1 for iPhone and Android, and this website.
Everyone should get to just play. Here's what Void Swarm and this website support today, what they don't yet, and how to tell us when something gets in your way.
Void Swarm
Dark screens, no flashes
Every screen is dark, and nothing ever flashes the whole screen bright.
Clear contrast
With the standard settings, text stands out from its background at a contrast ratio of at least 4.5:1, and buttons, gauges and other indicators at least 3:1.
More than color
Nothing depends on color alone: each pickup gauge has its own symbol, empty health segments are hollow, the boss bar has a label, every pickup has its own icon, and each difficulty level is written out, with a padlock on the locked one.
Reduced motion
Void Swarm follows your phone's Reduce Motion (iPhone) or Remove animations (Android) setting: no screen shake or laser shudder, the mothership simply fades in, the warp's star streaks calm down, and the menus stop animating. The aliens, bullets and explosions still move — that's the game.
Text size
Help & Settings has a Text size option, Default or Large, for the tips, the settings and the end-of-game screens. Until you choose, Void Swarm uses Large whenever your phone's text is set larger than standard.
Bomb button on either side
Put the Nova Bomb button in the bottom-left or bottom-right corner in Help & Settings, so it sits under whichever thumb isn't steering. Bullet Time takes the other corner.
Vibration is optional
Void Swarm asks once whether you want vibration feedback, and Help & Settings turns it on or off at any time.
No sound needed
Everything you need is on screen, so you can play with the sound off. When your iPhone is set to silent, Void Swarm stays silent too.
A gentler level
Easy brings fewer and slower enemy shots, slower and less frequent dives, and a weaker boss. It's free, and it keeps its own saved game.
Pause any time
Tap ⏸ to pause and catch your breath. Void Swarm also pauses itself whenever you leave the app.
What Void Swarm doesn't support yet
Screen readers
VoiceOver and other screen readers can read Void Swarm's menus, settings and buttons, and announce when you lose a life or the game ends. The game itself is fast action you steer by sight, so it can't be played with a screen reader.
Voice Control and switch access
Playing takes quick, continuous steering, so the game can't be played with Voice Control or switch access.
The largest text sizes
The Large option helps, but Void Swarm doesn't follow your phone's text size all the way up, and the score panel and the numbers in play keep their size. We'd like to improve this in a future update.
Captions and audio descriptions
The game has no spoken dialogue and no video, so there's nothing to caption or describe.
This website
Every page works with a keyboard: a Skip to content link comes first, and the focus is always visible. Images and screenshots have text descriptions, controls have names for screen readers, and text meets the WCAG AA contrast guidelines in both the light and dark themes. The home page's animated logo holds still when your device asks for reduced motion, and the Void Swarm preview video plays muted, with controls to pause it.
Tell us
If something in Void Swarm or on this site gets in your way, email play@bitslingergames.com. A real person reads every message, and what you tell us helps decide what we improve next.