Menus
Menu readability is important for players with low visual acuity or field-of-view, but good menu design helps everyone.
Best practices for menus
When a menu is styled badly, it can break the immersion of the game for some players. But when the interface is poorly laid out, everyone gets frustrated. The standards for menu layouts are relatively nascent (Are subtitles under audio or accessibility? Is difficulty under gameplay or controls?) but if we all agree where to put menu options, gamers of all abilities will have a more enjoyable experience.
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- Navigation
Navigation
Multi-input navigation
Make sure no player gets left behind by providing alternate inputs for menu navigation. On console games, allow both control stick and directional-pad (D-pad) movement to scroll through menu options. On PC games, allow both mouse and keyboard controls.
Menu Looping
Don't loop your menus. This means when they player reaches the bottom of your menu, the visuals and sound should indicate that they have reached the bottom. This is crucial for allowing blind players to know where they are in your menus! When they hear a "bonk" sound, they know they've reached the bottom, and can use spatial awareness to locate their cursor.
In addition to being highly readable and brightly contrasted, players can tell via audio when the cursor reaches the bottom of the screen in Diablo III.