The way Twitch currently works, it is very hard for an audience member to know if a stream they are entering could contain flashing images or lights. This is especially dangerous to viewers with a sensitivity to light. It could cause physical discomfort, pain, and in extreme cases death. Creators can be nice and warn their audience, however since new viewers can join at any time it is unreasonable to place the burden of constant warnings on a creator. So how do we fix it?
I propose a new simple feature that can create mass warning and help prevent this issue in the first place
Creators can check a box before beginning a stream that says something similar to "content may contain flashing images/lights." If this box has been marked, when a viewer enters the stream a pop-up will appear displaying the message. The pop-up needs to be closed via an "x" symbol to ensure sensitive viewers see the message. However this can be annoying and offputting to viewers without light sensitivities. On the audience side, a new setting under "preferences" appears. This turns the feature off for those who dont need it. The setting says something like
"Warn me about flashing images on/off."
However the default is the setting on so that light sensitive viewers know about the setting. To ensure non-sensative viewers know the warnings can be disabled, the pop-up also displays a separate message which says "these warnings may be turned off in settings." Lastly some creators may not mark a stream as containing flashing images. While it is impossible to rectify all cases of this it is easy to regulate some of it. If a game contains a flashing light warning and the streamer has selected that game as the stream category than the stream will automatically be marked and warn viewers.
While its absurd to ask creators to be responsible for these warnings as viewers are constantly joining at different points, a new feature similar to this one would improve the lives of many and make Twitch a more accessible platform.