(Almost) deaf online. Why ease of access is usually empty PR
Table of Contents
And here we come to what might be the most interesting part for you. How am I supposed to play games heavily based on sound interpretation, including its direction? I don't know, and perhaps that's why I do so badly in these games.
The worst thing that shouldn't come as a surprise to anyone is that I go online in shooters, where listening to steps, opening doors or gunshots is basically equivalent to having good reflexes. Mono people cannot recognize the direction from which the sound is coming.
I can only hear footsteps from the right side – so if somebody flanks me from the left, I'm quite helpless. And even if it is on the right, I'm not sure if it's really right rather than behind, above, below or even in front. I cannot locate the source of sound in space and thus determine the direction from which the threat is coming. In practice, I turn around much more often than the rest of the players, often dying like a knob. Which is an insult I often get. Once, when I was still playing CS:GO, I tried to write after such death: "Sorry, I'm deaf on one ear." When someone again replied to me: "l2p noob," I decided to quit.
So, in online games I tend to take up positions that only let enemies attack me from the right. I also remember the type of ground on which characters run. If I enter a cottage with part of the flooring made of stone and part of wood, I try to remember it. I can distinguish the sound of walking on a wooden floor from stone or metal one – if I remember the location of a given floor, I know more or less where the opponent is.
But not always, of course. If I play with my friends, Discord seems to cancel out with the sounds of the game. So I spend far too much time adjusting volume sliders, once lowering the volume of voice chat, the of the game.
Another example: recently, I played Call of Duty – Cold War with a few friends. My friends were on Discord, but we had an additional random dude to play. That random dude said something to us, the game would send it into the headphone that wasn't working. And that's the bread and butter of me, and thousands of gamers like me. With a sense of absurdity I recall the moment when I had to write an article based on an interview with the team responsible for Frostpunk. I recorded it on my cell phone and decided to listen to it in its entirety during a walk. I put on my headphones and left the house. But I only heard the questions – the answers sounded in the other earpiece. So during the walk, I kept switching the headphones in my ear.
I am not complaining and I'm not losing any sleep over it. Most often, I just laugh about it. I got used to this. It's possible and – although more difficult – still can be satisfactory. What seems most beautiful in the culture of people who hear the world in mono is their optimism. Most of those who cannot hear from birth or have lost their hearing in one ear a long time ago are absolutely compatible with their perception. You see, I don't know what your world sounds like. Even if I did hear it fully at some point, I don't remember it anymore – for us, one active ear is the most normal way of perceiving sounds. We do not feel anything missing. Those unwilling to accept this (and are brave enough) opt for a titanium implant in the skull bone (the BAHA implant) and then undergo rehabilitation. They don't regain the full hearing capabilities of a healthy person, but it undoubtedly helps them to perceive the world in more directions.
WHAT IF I CAN'T HEAR AT ALL?
It's not just about subtitles. I use them on the regular, as, in fact, many of my colleagues do, simply because it's convenient.
But deaf people also play FPS, MMOs and MOBs. Of course, it involves some modifications and it's extremely useful to have support from teammates who understand and support us, but in principle, it is possible and practiced. There are games that allow for easy configuration of text-based communication – sending appropriate messages to the team with a single key or mouse button. All mechanics of "pinging" on the map become extremely important, even necessary, for quick communication. Sound visualization – whether via game settings or external applications like the Sonic Radar discussed below – is also helpful. There are also those who – and this is amazing – use external communicators with webcams to show commands with sign language (sic!) during the game.
However, it all depends on the game and its configuration possibilities. There are some games that base their mechanics on intuitiveness, and have a lot of options in the settings that – although theoretically not designed with the deaf in mind – prove most useful to them. Comfort depends on the number of options and the willingness of the designers of a given game. For example, when you play an FPS, where the ammunition is collected by running over enemy bodies, you hear a characteristic, corresponding sound. However, the game also should have a subtle graphic suggestion, e.g. a pop-up ammunition icon or a counter of remaining mags, which instead of immediately changing, uses an animation for each change. In this video, pay attention to the pop-ups at the bottom of the icons indicating what the player has collected during the fight. These can be icons or even a split second flash of the screen. The only thing important is to somehow make the deaf person aware of the interaction. Converting sonic stimuli into visual is key.
