Speech and Screen ReadersPlaying Arcane Ages without looking at the screen

Arcane Ages is a world made of text, which makes it a natural fit for players who use a screen reader. We want blind and low-vision players to be able to play as fully as anyone else, and we are building that support now. This page says plainly what works today, what is still being built, and what we haven't been able to test yet.

We are actively looking for feedback and improvement requests. If something is hard to use, reads badly, or is missing, please tell us (see Tell us what would help below). Requests from people who play this way decide what we build next.

Last updated November 10, 2026.

What works today

Any MUD client with your screen reader

The game speaks plain telnet, so it works with the MUD client you already use with your screen reader (MUSHclient, Mudlet, VIPMud, TinTin++ and others). Connect to teramud.com port 4000.

The game can also cut down the text it sends you. Type brief followed by one or more of these, and type it again to turn an option back off:

brief misses

Hide misses in combat.

brief defense

Hide your parries and dodges.

brief otherhits

Hide other people's combat hits.

brief othermisses

Hide other people's misses.

brief otherdefense

Hide other people's parries and dodges.

brief damageshields

Hide damage-shield messages in combat.

brief autosaving

Save silently.

Type help brief in the game for the full list. These remove the lines entirely, so turn them on only for what you never want to hear.

Arcana in the browser: screen reader mode

Arcana is our own client. Its browser version has a screen reader mode. Your own screen reader (NVDA, JAWS, VoiceOver or Narrator) does all the speaking, in your voice and at your speed; Arcana decides what is worth reading out.

• New game text is read as it arrives, while you keep typing.
• Pictures are skipped. ASCII art, such as the login banner and maps, is read as "Picture skipped" instead of a string of symbols.
• Your own commands aren't read back, and a prompt is read only when it changes.
• Floods are cut short. When a lot of text arrives at once, you hear how many lines were skipped and then the last few.
• Review keys: Alt+1 reads the newest line again, up to Alt+9 for nine lines back. Alt+0 reads your health, mana and vitality, what you are fighting, and then everyone in the fight.
• Who is in the fight: during a fight, Arcana shows a list of the fighters (your enemies, and your group's members) with their health. Alt+0 reads it, for example "Targets: the fire giant, your target, 38 percent, big nasty wounds, attacking you". Changes to the list are not announced as they happen, so a fight adds no extra speech. This is new: the game is only now starting to send the list, so it may not appear yet, and it is still being tested.
• Alerts: low health, and the start and end of a fight, are announced.
• Quieter fights: in screen reader mode, the Combat lines setting starts at "Running fight": blows are not read one by one; your fight is kept in a box that Alt+0 reads, and a short "Fight over" summary is read when it ends. Tells, special moves, deaths and experience are still read as they arrive. With "Per attacker" chosen instead, each attacker's first blow is read in full and later blows only by what is new, such as "198" or "miss". This is new and depends on the game labelling each blow, which it is only starting to do.
• A real text box for what you type, so your screen reader can follow and review the line. Passwords are read as stars.
• Menus, settings, notes, help and the command editor are labelled and work from the keyboard alone. Notes and the command editor tell you how to send or close them when they open.

To turn it on, press Tab once after the page loads: the first stop is a "Turn on screen reader mode" button. It is also a checkbox in Settings. The choice is remembered on that browser.

The browser client is in private testing right now and opens to everyone at launch. Until then, please use your usual MUD client and the brief options above.

Current status

Known issues

• On Linux, some browsers use Alt+1 to Alt+9 to switch tabs. Arcana asks the browser not to, but some setups may switch anyway.
• Combat is only folded once the game labels each blow; until then a fight is still read line by line.

What still needs to be done

Testing with real screen readers

The most important step. We need to hear how it actually sounds in NVDA, JAWS, VoiceOver and Narrator, and fix what reads badly.

Combat spam

Fights produce a line for every blow. Arcana can now fold them (the Combat lines setting): each attacker's blows into one line that updates, or your whole fight into a box with a summary at the end. A hit is always shown the moment it happens, never held back to be grouped. What remains is hearing it with real screen readers and tuning what is read.

Speech in the desktop app

Arcana for Windows will send text straight to your running screen reader, with the same review keys and alerts. Windows' own voice will be a fallback when no screen reader is running.

A shorter-output mode in the game

A setting in the game itself for less decoration: no maps or banners, and words in place of anything shown only by colour.

Sound cues

Later: short sounds for things such as a tell arriving or health running low.

Tell us what would help

We are actively accepting feedback and improvement requests about speech and accessibility, and they shape what we build next. Useful things to tell us:

• which screen reader, browser or client you use;
• anything that is read badly, read twice, or not read at all;
• messages that are too long, too frequent, or hard to follow in a fight;
• features from other games or clients that you would like here.

Write to immortals@arcaneages.com with "Accessibility" in the subject. You can also ask any immortal in the game.

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