Did you know that Pokémon contributed to web accessibility?

On December 16, 1997, Japanese boys were watching episode 38, “Electric Soldier Porygon.”

In that episode, Ash and Pikachu confront Porygon, using a thunderbolt, this caused an explosion that was represented by a burst of lights, resulting in more than 700 people hospitalized, mostly children.

What happened?

Several people had photosensitive epilepsy, a less common form of epilepsy caused by visual stimuli. It affects 3 out of every 100 people with epilepsy, many of them without knowing it.

And how does Pokémon contribute to accessibility?

Based on what happened, regulations for television were implemented.

Some time later, these regulations were adopted by the W3C to create guidelines that prevent people from being harmed by content.

The emergence of pattern 2.3

After what happened with Pokémon, in 2008 the WC3 added guideline 2.3 seizures and physical reactions, in version 2.0 of its content guidelines for web accessibility.

Guideline 2.3: Failure to design content in a way that is known to cause seizures, spasms, or convulsions.

The Pokémon incident that the W3C does not mention

In the reasons for guideline 2.3, the W3C mentions the incident that occurred in 1997, although it is not explicitly mentioned that it refers to Pokémon.

The Lasting Impact

The Pokémon episode incident in 1997 led to the implementation of warnings. However, these are not effective for many, especially children.

Therefore, the W3C introduced guideline 2.3 to avoid flashes that can cause epileptic episodes.

Thank you for reading. :)

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