Magdeburg-Stendal University of Applied Sciences

Accessible Design of Serious Games for People with Intellectual Disabilities in Inclusive Vocational Education

This study examines whether a hygiene-focused serious game can support inclusive vocational education in kitchen professions, bringing together trainee cooks, kitchen assistants, and people with intellectual disabilities, many of them from sheltered workshops, in shared learning.

• A hygiene-focused point-and-click serious game, co-designed with teachers and target groups, was tested with 22 participants (15 cooks, 4 kitchen assistants, 3 sheltered-workshop employees), who averaged 20.5 of 22 points on a post-play quiz with no significant differences between groups.
• The easier version of the game, offering more feedback and higher error tolerance, was preferred by 57% of participants, supporting gradual difficulty adjustment and customization for learners with intellectual disabilities.
• A follow-up pilot reproduced the quiz results with no significant group differences, and 14 of 20 respondents gave positive open-ended feedback, describing digital tools as motivating and helpful for learning.