Accessibility

Romance of Five Kingdoms is a text game, and that gives it real advantages for accessibility. Almost everything in it is already words. This guide documents the tools available to you so you can tune the experience to what works best for your body and setup. None of these settings affect your character or gameplay; they only change how information reaches you.

To see all your current settings at once, type accessibility status.

Accessibility Mode (the master switch)

accessibility mode on (or accessibility mode off to reverse)

Enabling accessibility mode does two things automatically: it optimizes all game output for screen readers, and it activates the TTS auto-queue so narration flows without any extra steps. If you only want the output formatting changes without narration, you can turn mode on and then disable TTS separately with narrate off.

Turning accessibility mode on also enables screen reader optimization automatically. The two work together, but you can fine-tune them independently (see below).

accessibility reader on / accessibility reader off

When this is on, the game simplifies its output formatting. Visual decorations, ASCII borders, and layout-heavy displays are replaced with plain linear text. Room descriptions list exits as a comma-separated line (“Exits: north, east”) instead of a graphical compass. Combat displays show participants as numbered lists with HP and distance values rather than a hex-grid rendering.

This setting is worth enabling even if you use a screen reader’s browse mode rather than TTS, because it strips the structural noise that gets in the way of reading.

Text-to-Speech Narration

The narrate command (also tts or voice) controls the TTS system.

Command	What it does
`narrate on`	Start narration for this session
`narrate off`	Stop narration
`narrate`	Toggle on/off
`narrate pause`	Pause playback, keep your position
`narrate resume`	Resume from where you paused
`narrate current`	Skip ahead to the latest content
`narrate skip +15`	Jump forward 15 seconds
`narrate skip -15`	Jump back 15 seconds
`narrate clear`	Clear all queued audio
`narrate status`	Show full TTS status and queue info

Choosing what gets narrated

narrate config speech on/off controls character dialogue (say, whisper, yell). narrate config actions on/off controls emotes and action messages. narrate config rooms on/off controls room descriptions when you move or look. narrate config system on/off controls system messages.

All four are on by default. You might turn rooms off if you prefer to read descriptions yourself, or turn actions off in a busy social scene where emote volume is high.

TTS speed

accessibility speed 1.0 sets the narration rate. The range is 0.25 (very slow) to 4.0 (very fast). You can also choose from preset speeds (0.5x, 0.75x, 1.0x, 1.25x, 1.5x, 1.75x, 2.0x) through the Settings panel.

The narrator voice is configured separately from your character’s voice. Your character’s voice is what other players hear when your character speaks in TTS. Your narrator voice is what reads room descriptions and system messages to you. Both can be set independently.

TTS and typing interaction

accessibility typing on pauses narration the moment you start typing, so the voice does not talk over you while you compose a message. This is on by default.

accessibility resume on automatically resumes narration when you stop typing. Also on by default. Turn this off if you prefer to resume manually with narrate resume.

The replay buffer lets you step back through recent messages without leaving the input field. This is useful with a screen reader: rather than moving your cursor away to browse the message window, you can press a hotkey combination and hear previous messages re-read in sequence.

Default hotkeys:

Alt+Up – step to the previous message
Alt+Down – step to the next message
Escape – stop replaying and return focus to normal input

To check these bindings, type accessibility keys. To change them, open the Settings panel (gear icon in the webclient) and look under the Accessibility section. Click the hotkey field and press your preferred key combination to record it.

Visual Settings

High Contrast Mode

accessibility contrast on / accessibility contrast off

Increases the contrast between text and backgrounds throughout the webclient. Useful if you find the default colour palette hard to distinguish, or if you are playing in bright ambient lighting.

Reduced Visual Effects

accessibility effects off (reduces effects) / accessibility effects on (restores full effects)

Note: the toggle is phrased in terms of effects being on or off, not reduced or full. “effects off” means effects are reduced; “effects on” means they are full.

This setting minimises animations and transition effects in the interface. It helps players with vestibular disorders or motion sensitivity who find animated elements distracting or uncomfortable.

Color Blindness Mode

Available through the Settings panel under Accessibility. Three modes are supported:

Protanopia (red-blind)
Deuteranopia (green-blind)
Tritanopia (blue-blind)

Selecting a mode applies a colour filter across the game interface, shifting hues to distinguish information that the game normally conveys with red/green/blue contrast.

Dyslexia-Friendly Font

Available through the Settings panel. Enabling this switches the message windows to OpenDyslexic, a typeface designed to reduce letter-flipping and improve readability for players with dyslexia.

Accessible Combat Presentation

When you are in a fight, the combat command (also cb or battle) provides a screen-reader-friendly view of the tactical situation. The hex-grid battle map is visual-only; combat gives you the same information as plain text.

Command	What it shows
`combat` or `combat status`	Round, phase, your HP/Qi, enemy count
`combat enemies`	All enemies: name, HP, distance, weapon, status effects
`combat allies`	All allies with the same detail
`combat recommend`	Suggested target with reasoning (low HP, in melee range, etc.)
`combat actions`	Available actions this turn with command syntax
`combat menu`	Numbered quick-menu of the above options

Distances are always given in hexes. HP is always shown as current/max (for example, “24/30HP”). Monster bosses with multiple segments list each segment’s name and HP separately.

Settings Form

If you prefer a form interface over individual commands, type accessibility (with no arguments) to open an interactive settings form. It covers all the settings above. Submitting the form applies all changes at once.

Getting Help

Type accessibility help at any time for a condensed command reference. Type accessibility status for a full readout of your current settings and session TTS state.

If you need something that is not listed here, you can file a support request with tickets new. Accessibility requests are treated as priority work. Please describe your setup and what you are trying to accomplish and the team will do its best to help.