Now for gamers who are disabled, StarCraft II is an amazingly accessible game. To start with motion impaired gamers; the good news is the game can be played with the mouse only - after entering your password, of course. There are keyboard shortcuts for every single menu item, unit command, camera control and building but you must use the mouse to place your buildings and command your units in battle.

There is a built in mouse sensitivity adjustment slider, however, it is set to 50% as the default setting. It was very difficult for me to use the mouse well enough to reach the options screen. In addition, the game screen comes on at a higher resolution then you may desire. It may be a good idea to have someone with you when first installing the game until you get the options situated as your desire.

Once these problems are taken care of, the game settings can actually be set to the point where everything is so sensitive it is difficult to control, which is music to the ears of those who have very little range of motion.

Whether you use a mouse, a gamepad, or a joystick, every setting from the mouse speed to the camera scroll speed and drag-box speed can be set incredibly high.

You can also put StarCraft 2 into windowed mode, which will allow your on-screen keyboard to work properly. There were some minor issues during beta that seem to have been worked out now, such as some on-screen keyboards not being recognized but most of the difficulties seem to have been ironed out.

One of the most annoying problems with both the original StarCraft and WarCraft 3 is in order to join games you have to have the ability to type in the name of the game and the password. That meant you would have to keep the game in windowed mode, which makes scrolling around the map with your mouse incredibly annoying, in order to join password-protected games with your friends.

The one nice thing about Real I.D. is that with a click of the mouse you can invite your friends into your game or have them invite you without the need for any keyboard interaction. This is especially useful for those times where you don't want to use your OSK or Voice Command software while you are on a voice chat with your friends.

In fact, in yet another positive feature for the motion impaired gamer, Blizzard included a voice chat directly into the game without the need to download any additional programs. Of course, if you are a shy person like me and prefer anonymity, you can turn this feature off.

One-handed gamers will need to decide what apparatus you need to play the game. If you can only use the keyboard then you will have a very difficult time. If you can only use the mouse or only use the mouse and keyboard separately, you'll have a relatively easy time. This game is very mouse heavy with a lot of clicking but not like mashing buttons either.

Visually impaired gamers will also be relatively well-off in this well thought-out, accessibility-included game. You can zoom in and out as you need in order to see the action. Most everything is clearly marked on menus and game creation screens.

Conversely, some of the units build order descriptions and instructions are a little bit small. Also, the game uses a very faint dashed line to point out where a unit is going to go or what structure it is assigned to. I could not find a way to change the color or stroke weight of the line to make it easier to see.

Colorblind gamers are relatively set this time around. The mini-map features true to life colors that are easily discernible from one another. However, it should be noted that each of the units are shaded by the color of the person who owns the units and since each person chooses their own color, there is the possibility of red and green confusion.

Change your color to something you can see easily and you should be fine. Moreover, there are dozens of maps and eventually there will be hundreds of maps all with different colors. Some of them are going to be more difficult for certain visually challenged gamers than others. Choose your battlegrounds carefully and when possible, fight where it is easiest for you to see.

Deaf gamers are given just about everything we ask for in an accessible title with StarCraft 2. First, underneath the gameplay options is an option for subtitling. We recommend using subtitles during the single player campaign and multiplayer matches.

They did a good job with including all of the important subtitles in a clear and easy-to-read font. Actually, the font is relatively easy to read in the subtitling and regular chat as a medium-sized white Times new Roman like font on a mostly transparent black background.

Also, depending on your level of hearing there are multiple settings to make the game enjoyable for you. You can use subtitles, turn off certain sounds, make other sounds louder, turn off the background noise and refuse voice chat.

Most Deaf gamers and hearing impaired gamers want the ability to alter different levels of sound to make things more enjoyable for them and we’re happy to report this game will give you those options.

Finally, although SC2 is too difficult to use with only one-switch, the game speed can be slowed down as slow as you like allowing those with assistive devices such as headmice and trackballs to keep up with the game.

Overall, StarCraft II is an amazingly brilliant game from the makers of World of Warcraft. Almost every single option you can ask for as someone looking for a decent accessible gaming title is delivered willingly in this state-of-the-art RTS.

If you are looking for a really good strategy game with high accessibility standards and multiple levels of options, we recommend you give StarCraft II a try!

At a Glace

Motion impaired

• Playable with only a mouse
• Mouse sensitivity setting
• Keyboard shortcuts
• Windowed mode available
• 5 Key binding profiles
• On-screen keyboard friendly
• Mostly one-handed gamer friendly

Recommended score 8/10

Visually impaired

• Mostly clear fonts
• Some hard-to-read areas
• No font changing options
• Default chat fonts relatively easy
• Numerous volume setting adjustments
• Optional voice chat

Recommended score 7/10

Hearing impaired

• Subtitled well
• Numerous volume setting adjustments

Recommended score 9/10

Misc. accessibility

• Game speed adjustments
• Game difficulty adjustments
• Opponent handicap options

Overall score 8/10