Action symbols

[VikingGoth]

I have scotopic sensitivity, which is basically dyslexia caused by eye strain. I find that the new action symbols are hard to read for the multi action activities, as the lateral weight is wonky when they are "stacked" the symbols having 1 more 'square' than the number of actions they represent (the little one contained in the leftmost square) makes them hard for me to read at a glance.

Anyone else having this issue?

[OatsMalone]

I was impressed with the symbol as a neat piece of graphic design, but I could see how it could be difficult to parse. If the little box w/ the first arrow wasn't separated, but rather seamless with the first square, would that fix the issue?

[Malckuss76]

Another thread noted it wasn't accessibility friendly for folks with text to speech software or other software needs as they generally cannot interpret these proprietary symbols. I think some symbols as part of the Noun Project are accessible-friendly.

[CrystalSeas]

Vic said

Vic Wertz wrote:

Terminalmancer wrote:

Hmmm. Accessibility of the PDF is low, as expected--the icons don't have any text associated with them, so in the event you're using text-to-speech you can't tell what's an action, what's a reaction, and so on.

We are preparing a separate accessible version of the PDF that should be available soon.

[William Ronald]

I think that adding a letter, such as A for Action, R for Reaction, and F for Free would help. I think that the action symbols are a good idea, but need just a little more work. (By the way, the 3 action symbol reminds me of the Cardassian symbol in Star Trek.)

[JoelF847]

I thought the 3 action symbol and the 2 action symbol looked to similar. It was easy to tell at a glance the difference between 1 action and either 2 or 3, but without paying close attention, I found it pretty easy to mistake the 3-action symbol for the 2-action symbol.

[Vic Ferrari]

JoelF847 wrote:

I thought the 3 action symbol and the 2 action symbol looked to similar. It was easy to tell at a glance the difference between 1 action and either 2 or 3, but without paying close attention, I found it pretty easy to mistake the 3-action symbol for the 2-action symbol.

I am vision-impaired and this has proven to be my exact problem, I also find them aesthetically unpleasant (do not really like them in RPGs, great for CCGs), would prefer, simply:

2 Actions, 3 Actions, or Actions (2), Actions (3), or something.

[Elleth]

They should probably make it easier for the visually-impaired folk.
Otherwise I think I like them being a thing, esp with reading spell entries and in the bestiary. Let's me skim everything faster and find the right bit.

Edit: I wouldn't object to a giant A, R, or F though. As again, that could help some folk.

[Laik]

I would prefer A, 2A, 3A, R etc. No symbols or icons at all.

[Stack]

I can see them fine and still don't like them. Shouldn't let graphic design supercede useability and words or letters/numbers would be more natural.

As far as a seperate accessibility document, do you really want to be obligated to make one for every single release? Because every book is going to have some abilities in it.

[Dire Ursus]

I like em.

[houser2112]

I'm in the process of html-ifying the playtest (since the pdfs lack links, and this heavily-referential game requires the ability to jump back and forth to understand it), and I just use the convention that I think I saw in the blogs: [F], [R], [A], [A][A], [A][A][A].

I like this better than A, 2A, 3A, since it's easier at a glance to see the difference between them.

[Mats Öhrman]

I prefer simply 1, 2, 3, R, F. Old, well-worked-in and instantly recognizable symbols that are easily printed in a large variety of media.

[Mekkis]

Why not use ◆⃟ ?

[houser2112]

Mekkis wrote:

Why not use ◆⃟ ?

To represent what? I'm not sure that's an improvement from what we have.

[graystone]

Mekkis wrote:

Why not use ◆⃟ ?

Why use ◆⃟ ? It doesn't format correctly, running into words before it and for me is less useful/recognizable than actual letters and numbers.