tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-43348937645466177022024-02-19T02:52:28.176-05:00IGDA GASIG BlogThe IGDA Game Accessibility Special Interest Group Blog.OneSwitch.org.ukhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07289723412931631625noreply@blogger.comBlogger227125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4334893764546617702.post-20119825888029457312013-09-25T04:35:00.002-04:002013-09-25T04:35:35.756-04:00A World First for Game Accessibility<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://gdaa.com.au/a-world-first-for-recognising-the-importance-of-inclusion-in-game-development"><img alt="Game Developer's Association of Australia: Game Accessibility Award in 2013" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8YYOJFd7XylYdBPXBaZ-lI5Hrqy4q66qK_ixPQqtpKFXdq7HNLU9lFGYNdQUSihb8eTDpI64nu5TdQH5_zDr9FpYtZXQF6gnZhl8Rg5Yxj5JJkoSadueC4fHMKmzDyKIuRvI5-Cl9eYhs/s1600/GDAA-Accessibility-Award.jpg" title="" /></a></div>
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<a href="http://gdaa.com.au/a-world-first-for-recognising-the-importance-of-inclusion-in-game-development"><img alt="GDAA logo: Game Developer's Association of Australia: Game Accessibility Award in 2013" border="0" height="88" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6grCgfu6r6C7dwtriOYHUMKbOaoQS9q8qhljg0rvsSvHjeiTHVl8X9b9okYHs8ghM2SM_LTks0mramT5NQdIEKdwXSNh9g6U7CROdPlCQA5CCBf3JcWzfiXEYbTBCyeIALmtGL_sqqLBQ/s320/GDAA-logo.gif" title="" width="320" /></a></div>
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17 September 2013, this fantastic news cribbed direct from the <a href="http://gdaa.com.au/a-world-first-for-recognising-the-importance-of-inclusion-in-game-development">GDAA site:</a> Australia is leading the world in making games accessibility a priority. The latest demonstration of commitment to enabling a wider cross section of the community be catered for when playing games is the inaugural Accessibility Award announced by the Game Developers’ Association of Australia (GDAA) as part of the 2013 Australian Game Developer Awards. This follows on from the inclusion of accessibility considerations by Film Victoria and Screen Australia when allocating funding to game development projects.<br />
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Accessibility in this context means mainstream games that make an effort to avoid unnecessarily excluding people with motor, cognitive, hearing, speech or vision impairments. For more information see <a href="http://www.gameaccessibilityguidelines.com/">Game Accessibility Guidelines.com</a>. Screen Australia’s Investment Manager, Justin Halliday said “Accessibility was one of the key issues raised by the industry during the consultation process for Screen Australia’s new Games Fund. Screen Australia and state agencies like Film Victoria recognise that accessibility in gaming brings some huge benefits, not only the obvious economic benefits of being able to reach wider audiences, but also quality of life, allowing access to culture, entertainment, and socialising for many people who have limited recreation opportunities. “<br />
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Accessibility advocates and experts the world over are excited by the news that Australia is not only financially supporting, but also recognising excellence in the field of game accessibility.<br />
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“The International Game Developers’ Association (IGDA) Accessibility Special Interest Group (SIG) Co-chair, Michelle Hinn, welcomed the award’s inclusion in the Australian Game Developer Awards, to be held in Melbourne on 22 October. “The Accessibility SIG has been lobbying for inclusion of accessibility categories in industry awards for at least 8 years now. There have been so many “almost…but thanks but no thanks” roads we have been down and I am just simply over the moon that you guys are picking up on an award for this!”<br />
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Another Accessibility advocate and expert, Ian Hamilton from the UK, who visited Australia late last year, also pledged his support for these latest initiatives. “From Team Bondi to The Voxel Agents, Global Game Jam to the Film Victoria and Screen Australia funding programmes, Australia has often been at the forefront of accessibility in the games industry. The government and industry support and guidance through the funding programmes in particular has resulted in a local industry with an unsurpassed level of knowledge and understanding about the barriers people can face and how to open up access to as wide an audience as possible.<br />
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The accessibility award is a natural next step. Awards have been given in the past by individuals and charities such as AbleGamers in the USA, but this AGDA category is, to my knowledge, the first time that the economic and life changing value of accessibility has been recognised in this way by an internal industry body, which is a really significant and exciting landmark in game accessibility.” Said Hamilton.<br />
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Nominations for the Accessibility Award are open until 30 September 2013 come from within the video game development sector and a panel of experts in the field then decide on the winners. For the accessibility award the panel will include international authorities in the field including Hamilton and representatives from the IGDA Accessibility SIG.<br />
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The Australian Game Developer Awards include the categories of: Game of the Year, Studio of the Year, Excellence in Art, Excellence in Design, Excellence in Audio, Technical Excellence, Innovation Award, and the Accessibility Award. The awards night will be held on Tuesday 22 October in conjunction with 2013 Game Connect Asia Pacific (GCAP) conference at the Melbourne Conference and Exhibition Centre 21-23 October.<br />
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For further information contact<br />
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Giselle Rosman<br />
Game Developers’ Association of Australia<br />
gisellerosman@gdaa.com.au<br />
0406631926</span>OneSwitch.org.ukhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07289723412931631625noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4334893764546617702.post-13656633136842837382013-05-19T17:39:00.000-04:002013-05-20T05:21:09.080-04:00Crowd Funded Accessible Game Campaign Needs Support<center>
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="270" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/rFdqY9b8mhs" width="480"></iframe></center>
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<span style="font-family: arial; font-size: 130%;"><a href="http://startsomegood.com/mycarnival">My Carnival</a> hopes to become a video game for children with Cystic Fibrosis. If it reaches it's funding total, it will be released free of charge on PC. It's a laudable project, by the proven and brilliant <a href="http://www.accessablegames.com/index.html">AccessAble Games</a>, but it needs support or it won't happen this way. 12 days to go at the time of writing...<br /><br />
Via: Javier Mairena on the <a href="http://seven.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/games_access">IGDA GASIG mailing list</a>. Poster below.<br />
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<a href="http://startsomegood.com/mycarnival"><img alt="Poster that reads, My Carnival. Therapeutic videogame for children with cystic fibrosis. Support and share our project before May 31st. More information at: start some good dot com, forward slash, my carnival." border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnvb0NunTEVDhRN9Dk_Z9w3S5zhPvaIbdhearDukefCire3ajP5S5GKGjczwVd7mWjzHhoKIkpeUCT7-cvF0E_NHbUIrOZQPK9J8Rba0-nKLCo6JCTp4e3g4H_gAG_rtF8N9r0dUeB0XQI/s640/MyCarnival-RGB-english-1080.jpg" title="" width="451" /></a></div>
OneSwitch.org.ukhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07289723412931631625noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4334893764546617702.post-55601391616621788592013-03-17T04:59:00.001-04:002013-03-17T04:59:13.406-04:00Affordable Eye Tracking with Developer Tools<center>
<iframe frameborder="0" height="360" src="http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/4tiitoo/nuia-eyecharm-kinect-to-eye-tracking/widget/video.html" width="480"> </iframe></center>
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<span style="font-family: arial; font-size: 130%;">Fancy an eye-gaze unit that is the price of an Xbox or PC Kinect and $60? Sounds good doesn't it? The NUIA eyeCharm from <a href="http://www.4tiitoo.com/">4tiitoo.com</a> is looking to be just that.<br /><br />The device will come with developer tools including a scripting language to set-up controls that will interface with other main-stream eye tracker units. There's three weeks to go to help them reach their goal of $100,000.<br /><br />Link with thanks to Techni Myoko.</span>OneSwitch.org.ukhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07289723412931631625noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4334893764546617702.post-26956738326550927222013-02-26T05:29:00.003-05:002013-02-26T05:29:55.831-05:00 Accessible Design at Global Game Jam 2013<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://globalgamejam.org/2013/wise-choice"><img alt="Screen shot from A Wise Choice: A laughing range of mountains is the back-drop. Hovering in the foreground in front of some lush grass and a withered tree is a floating monkey mug of tea. The text below reads, 'Well hello!... you look... Different. Well, I suppose we are all different in our own little ways, but you look.... wholly not from this world..."" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKHiPJxrt-7TQ6xRAcIO7UK9LzfJy4YgjN5vrMp6a8iYc9gQ-YszeuFN07p8r9gOYlz-ZPskzwPhaTfHGEUyNabJOgoQCijGYZuux0c5q9fPwO-3eAgaIrlrNK47J89CU6_WQwbRKeFzJh/s1600/A-Wise-Choice.jpg" title="" /></a></div>
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<a href="http://globalgamejam.org/">Global Game Jam</a> is an annual game hack weekend, where teams around the world are given a common theme to work to (this year's was 'heart beat'), and divide into teams to produce an entire end to end functioning game by the end of the 48 hours. Read on...<br />
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<a name='more'></a><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: 130%;"><br /><b>Accessibility challenge</b><br />
<br />A couple of years back Tara Voelker (whilst in <a href="http://igda-gasig.org/">IGDA GASIG</a> chair guise) kicked of an accessibility challenge at the Orlando GGJ venue, with teams volunteering to take on an extra challenge outside of the usual theme, competing to produce the most accessible game. In 2012 this was expanded further headed by Ian Hamilton to cover several venues around the UK. In 2013 the challenge grew again to cover venues in the UK, Australia and Canada.<br />
<br />For the 2013 event entries were initially judged at an individual venue level on some fixed accessibility criteria, and then went to a panel of judges (Mark Barlet of <a href="http://www.ablegamers.com/">AbleGamers</a>, Lynsey Graham of <a href="http://www.blitzgamesstudios.com/">Blitz Games Studios</a>, Barrie Ellis of <a href="http://www.oneswitch.org.uk/">OneSwitch</a>, and Ian Hamilton of <a href="http://www.gameaccessibilityguidelines.com/">GameAccessibilityGuidelines.com</a>) for the final vote on the international winner.<br />
<br /><b>Global winner</b><br /><br />
The winner was a game called 'A Wise Choice', from the London venue. There were many games produced with limited vision in mind, and many produced with simple controls in mind, but A Wise Choice attempted both and many more, with features ranging from easy to read text to full self-voicing, and even a scanning switch interface for profound motor impairment.<br />
<br />The primary focus was blind gamers, catered for through pre-recorded full self-voicing. Creating a fully self-voiced game is no mean feat even with a decent timescale and budget, and it was very clear that not only had some good thought gone into the interaction, but also that a real effort had been made to ensure that the game was just as enjoyable regardless whether the player could see or not.<br /><br />
In addition to profound visual and motor impairment other less profound impairments were also well catered for, from low reading age to dyslexia, partial deafness to hyperopia.<br /><br /><b>
Some quotes from the judges:</b><br /><br />
"A wonderfully accessible mix of <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ok6CoIwcJ-E">Oliver Postgate</a> style story telling and <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8rj19DR3XeA">Gong hippy-dom</a>"<br />
"Impressive given the combination of the timescale, the disability they catered for and the scope of the game."<br />
"Hugely impressive access. Very well thought out"<br />
<br /><b>You can download and play the game here:</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: arial; font-size: 130%;"><a href="http://165.225.150.231/ggj13/a%20wise%20choice-Default-1.0.0.7.zip">http://165.225.150.231/ggj13/a%20wise%20choice-Default-1.0.0.7.zip</a><br />
<br /><b>More information on the game available here:</b><br /><br />
<a href="http://globalgamejam.org/2013/wise-choice">http://globalgamejam.org/2013/wise-choice</a><br /><br /><b>
Other entries</b><br /><br />
A few highlights from some of the other regional winners and commended entries:<br /><br />
<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mUnbrIeA610&feature=youtu.be">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mUnbrIeA610&feature=youtu.be</a><br />
<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mUnbrIeA610&feature=youtu.be">http://globalgamejam.org/2013/wrongbot</a><br />
<a href="http://globalgamejam.org/2013/fear-0">http://globalgamejam.org/2013/fear-0</a><br />
<a href="http://globalgamejam.org/2013/samurai-xx">http://globalgamejam.org/2013/samurai-xx</a><br />
<a href="http://globalgamejam.org/2013/shot-dark">http://globalgamejam.org/2013/shot-dark</a><br />
<a href="http://globalgamejam.org/2013/pump">http://globalgamejam.org/2013/pump</a><br /><br /><b>
Accessibility diversifier</b><br /><br />
</span><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: 130%;">There was also a second element, added by the GGJ organisers - an official accessibility diversifier. Diversifiers are secondary themes that are not competitive, and are open to every single person from every venue. This meant that all jammers around the world gained some awareness of accessibility. Many teams deciding to tackle it themselves, with with around 200 developers deciding to take up the challenge, producing over 80 games with accessibility in mind.</span><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: 130%;"><br />
<br />Many of these were games that widened their audience by thinking about things like control complexity, text formatting, contrast, colour-blind friendly schemes and so on, and others aimed to tackle more tricky accessibility issues, opening up play to gamers with profound impairments.<br />
<br /><b>The most popularly tackled of these by far were blind-friendly / audio only games:</b><br />
<br /><a href="http://globalgamejam.org/2013/panic">http://globalgamejam.org/2013/panic</a><br />
<a href="http://globalgamejam.org/2013/pump">http://globalgamejam.org/2013/pump</a><br />
<a href="http://globalgamejam.org/2013/darkest-maze">http://globalgamejam.org/2013/darkest-maze</a><br />
<a href="http://globalgamejam.org/2013/heartbeast">http://globalgamejam.org/2013/heartbeast</a><br />
<a href="http://globalgamejam.org/2013/enigma">http://globalgamejam.org/2013/enigma</a><br />
<a href="http://globalgamejam.org/2013/blind-samurai-0">http://globalgamejam.org/2013/blind-samurai-0</a><br />
<a href="http://globalgamejam.org/2013/i-am-fear">http://globalgamejam.org/2013/i-am-fear</a><br />
<a href="http://globalgamejam.org/2013/black">http://globalgamejam.org/2013/black</a><br />
<a href="http://globalgamejam.org/2013/living-maze">http://globalgamejam.org/2013/living-maze</a><br />
<a href="http://globalgamejam.org/2013/deprivision">http://globalgamejam.org/2013/deprivision</a><br />
<a href="http://globalgamejam.org/2013/whack-telltale-heart">http://globalgamejam.org/2013/whack-telltale-heart</a><br />
<a href="http://globalgamejam.org/2013/terror-ciegas">http://globalgamejam.org/2013/terror-ciegas</a><br />
<a href="http://globalgamejam.org/2013/dark-pulse-0">http://globalgamejam.org/2013/dark-pulse-0</a><br />
<a href="http://globalgamejam.org/2013/voix">http://globalgamejam.org/2013/voix</a><br />
<a href="http://globalgamejam.org/2013/blind-samurai">http://globalgamejam.org/2013/blind-samurai</a><br />
<a href="http://globalgamejam.org/2013/heart-darkness-1">http://globalgamejam.org/2013/heart-darkness-1</a><br />
<a href="http://globalgamejam.org/2013/blindmorning-0">http://globalgamejam.org/2013/blindmorning-0</a><br />
<br /><b>Single button games were also quite popular:</b><br /><br />
<a href="http://globalgamejam.org/2013/escape-velocity">http://globalgamejam.org/2013/escape-velocity</a><br />
<a href="http://globalgamejam.org/2013/cardiac-arrest-1">http://globalgamejam.org/2013/cardiac-arrest-1</a><br />
<a href="http://globalgamejam.org/2013/egg-beat-old-delete-me">http://globalgamejam.org/2013/egg-beat-old-delete-me</a><br />
<a href="http://globalgamejam.org/2013/luck-broken-heart">http://globalgamejam.org/2013/luck-broken-heart</a><br />
<a href="http://globalgamejam.org/2013/beatingmyheart">http://globalgamejam.org/2013/beatingmyheart</a><br />
<br /><b>And there were some pretty interesting and creative one-off ideas too:</b><br /><br a="" also="" elemen="" here="" second="" was="" />
</span><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: 130%;"><a href="http://globalgamejam.org/2013/puzzle-beatbeat">http://globalgamejam.org/2013/puzzle-beatbeat</a></span><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: 130%;"><br />
<a href="http://globalgamejam.org/2013/tandem-base-jump">http://globalgamejam.org/2013/tandem-base-jump</a><br />
<a href="http://globalgamejam.org/2013/sync">http://globalgamejam.org/2013/sync</a><br />
<a href="http://globalgamejam.org/2013/pluse">http://globalgamejam.org/2013/pluse</a><br />
<a href="http://benhumphreys.co.uk/naovatar/">http://benhumphreys.co.uk/naovatar/</a><br />
<br />To reach these kinds of audiences in the space of 48 hours is obviously quite a feat, yet that's exactly what both the challenge and diversifier games often achieved.. a greater level of accessibility than is found in commercial games.<br />
<br />Judge Mark Bartlet remarked: "I thought that all of the entries show that making games with accessibility in mind can be done! I was impressed to see what could be done in 48 hours. What this really proves is that there is no excuse for adding basic accessibility to games, regardless of the budget." - echoed by us all.<br />
<br />Via: Ian Hamilton post on the <a href="http://seven.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/games_access">IGDA GASIG forum</a>. I'm aiming to cover some of the one-switch games here in the very near future, time being kind.<br />
</span>OneSwitch.org.ukhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07289723412931631625noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4334893764546617702.post-80915769226689025492013-02-22T16:39:00.002-05:002013-02-22T16:39:23.685-05:00Kenji Eno (1970-2013)<center>
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Sad news to hear that game accessibility advocate and pioneer <a href="http://www.1up.com/features/kenji-eno-breaks-silence"></a><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Real_Sound:_Kaze_no_Regret">Kenji Eno</a> died this week at the age of 42. Kenji produced the first ever audio game to make its way onto a games console, RealSound: Kaze No Regret (aka The Regret of the Wind). Here's a brief excerpt from a 2008 interview with <a href="http://www.1up.com/features/kenji-eno-breaks-silence">1UP.com</a>:<br />
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1UP: After D, you surprised Warp's fans by creating an offbeat Sega Saturn adventure game, Real Sound.<br />
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KE: Oh, that's a funky game.<br />
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1UP: Yeah, not only was it funky, it was also a game without any visuals. What inspired it, and how did you get Sega to publish it?<br />
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KE: After I released D, people were always expecting more CG graphics from me, and I got tired of that. I didn't want people to think that they could predict what Warp would do next. Also, I had a chance to visit people who are visually disabled, and I learned that there are blind people who play action games. Of course, they're not able to have the full experience, and they're kind of trying to force themselves to be able to play, but they're making the effort. So I thought that if you turn off the monitor, both of you are just hearing the game. So after you finish the game, you can have an equal conversation about it with a blind person. That's an inspiration behind this game as well.<br />
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So Sega was asking for exclusive rights to the game, and I said, "OK, if you'll donate a thousand Saturns to blind people, then I'll donate a thousand games along with the Saturns." And my condition was that if Sega would go for this idea, I would make that game Sega exclusive. So, that's how this happened. It's been several years now, and of course the contract probably isn't valid anymore, but the reason that I haven't done anything with this game is that I made this promise with Sega back in the day, and it's exclusive because of those conditions.</span>OneSwitch.org.ukhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07289723412931631625noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4334893764546617702.post-90600509687654385172013-01-27T17:18:00.000-05:002013-01-27T17:18:17.311-05:00Game Accessibility Information Symbol<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://oneswitch.org.uk/game-access.htm"><img alt="Game Accessibility Information Symbol" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhks4x8u947XyQE_xlD7n-zpFb7H2hWDaeA3OvU8bdpsRb4-Qv4X2PfqFli-fY-KWh5gLhQvZ0Edv7WB97duXnUKy-kpNH7_wgQUViNL2XR4M9Q0GHXYSHzzelBMv92xR8_RZL7A11tooI4/s1600/GameAccessibilityInformation.jpg" title="Click to go to the Game Accessibility Information symbol web-page." /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: arial; font-size: 130%;">The symbol above is a public domain method of marking any computer product (game, controller, utility, console and so on), as having easy to reach accessibility information.<br /><br />This can support potential end-users of a gaming product decide if it might suit their own personal abilities. It will hopefully also support developers to better promote the accessibility of their own gaming ware.<br /><br />
A simple example of this would be for an indie game developer to include the symbol on their game's home-page, alongside a short hyper-link pointing to a game review that includes a break down of game accessibility.<br /><br />
See the "<a href="http://oneswitch.org.uk/game-access.htm">Game Accessibility Information Symbol</a>" web-page to learn more, and to down-load the image pack.</span>OneSwitch.org.ukhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07289723412931631625noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4334893764546617702.post-38724918364227169162011-09-30T07:15:00.000-04:002011-09-30T07:20:30.860-04:00Slalom, the Videogame<br />
<center><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="290" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/3SXncDKTkAc" width="493"></iframe></center><br />
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Wheelchair Slalom is a sport for people with cerebral palsy, in which
the players go through a course made up of various obstacles and tests
in the shortest time possible.<br />
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'Slalom, the Videogame' provides
an insight into the sport without the need for space, time and personnel
required for its practice.<br />
<a name='more'></a><br />
The game recreates Slalom practice in
a three-dimensional environment and allows users to manage their
profile, selecting characters, wheelchair type, tests and obstacles.<br />
<br />
'Slalom,
the videogame' offers the chance to compete against another player on
the same computer, and contains several tutorials that explain the rules
and all the obstacles presented.<br />
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<center><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="290" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/QmVZ3swkNBQ" width="493"></iframe></center>
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Some of the game settings
designed for accessibility are: general game speed; control with
joystick, keyboard or mouse; control sensitivity; closed captions;
brightness and color contrast; the games is also available in English
and Spanish.<br />
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<center><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="290" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/PIN_K0o1VpY" width="493"></iframe></center>
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'Slalom, the Videogame' has been created by the
<a href="http://www.crediscapacidadydependencia.es/">State Reference Center (CRE) and Disability Unit</a> of San Andrés de
Rabanedo at Leon, Spain. Developed by '<a href="http://www.thegamekitchen.com/">The Game Kitchen</a>' along with
'<a href="http://www.accessablegames.com/">AccessAble Games</a>' as videogame accesibility specialists.<br />
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Download for free at: <a href="http://www.accessablegames.com/projects/slalom.html">http://www.accessablegames.com/projects/slalom.html</a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4334893764546617702.post-77580439494240243072011-08-29T05:09:00.000-04:002011-08-29T05:09:33.990-04:00Remapping Controls<span style="font-family: trebuchet ms; font-size: 130%;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms; font-size: 130%;"><a href="http://www.gamebase.info/magazine/read/xcm-re-mapper_682.html"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPYFlrT7Xyj89YcE8ukkjw6CNqgF2yfbmnuAjhjpW9MFi-VApqHo7e2uiI_k2f_K5bHUQEviQKXaM1oIzqA8ttK4kd4KUyvsBVZvFfiOx8cU9DTkD-Lb8NmARVX3eJMcVCiOG1835L7aPd/s1600/XCM-joypad-remap-reconfigur.jpg" title="XCM's Re-Mapper device for the Xbox 360, enabling reconfiguration of game controls. A large round black plastic device, encircled with buttons and LEDs." /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms; font-size: 130%;"><br />
Remappable/reconfigurable controls has been one of the more successful calls for game accessibility in recent times, helped by the likes of <a href="http://www.askacapper.com/">Chuck Bittner</a> and other advocates (examples: <a href="http://wiki.igda.org/GASIG_Top_Ten">1</a>, <a href="http://switchgaming.blogspot.com/2009/01/alt-controlscom-and-ablegamers-petition.html">2</a>, <a href="http://www.gamebase.info/magazine/read/wish-list-for-accessible-game-design_531.html">3</a>). There's such a broad range of people using idiosyncratic ways of playing, often with non-standard controllers, that you'd think the vast majority of game designers would keep this in mind.<br />
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So does that mean that most games now have the facility to set-up controls to suit your own playing style? No. Not yet, not even for simple left-hand play modes. In general, things are good on PCs, and bad on consoles. Meanwhile, there's a few things that can help:<br />
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There are a very small number of off the shelf Joypads that allow you to remap buttons, such as the <a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Dual-Trigger-Gamepad-PS3-PS2/dp/B000U7RJ16/ref=sr_1_12?ie=UTF8&s=videogames&qid=1198051492&sr=1-12">Thrustmaster 3 in 1</a>.<br />
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Some gaming devices allow you to move interchangable control pod clusters such as <a href="http://www.madcatz.com/mlg/360_controller.htm">MadCatz MLG Pro Circuit</a> controllers, <a href="http://www.edimensional.com/product_info.php?products_id=143">eDimensional's Access Controller</a> and the hard to find <a href="http://www.oneswitch.org.uk/1/AGS/AGS-various.htm">Radica Phoenix Revolution</a> controller.<br />
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<a href="http://www.oneswitch.org.uk/1/AGS/AGS-switch.htm">Switch interfaces</a> allow for controls to placed within easier reach, in a highly versatile but often quite expensive way.<br />
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Some controller adapters, such as the <a href="http://www.mayflash.com/maxshooter/max%20xb360/max003.htm">Max Shooter</a> allow a keyboard to be used to control game functions, and to be configured as needed.<br />
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Re-mapping modules from the likes of Chinese boffins, <a href="http:javascript:void(0)//xcm.cc/">XCM</a>, enable <a href="http://xcm.cc/swapper.htm">PS3</a> or <a href="http://xcm.cc/xcm_remapper.htm">Xbox 360</a> reconfiguration (to a degree). See a short review and video over at SpecialEffect's GameBase of XCM's <a href="http://www.gamebase.info/magazine/read/xcm-re-mapper_682.html">Xbox Remapper</a> and <a href="http://www.gamebase.info/magazine/read/xcm-cross-battle-adapter-pro-20_681.html">PS3 Cross Battle Adapter</a>.<br />
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So does all of this weaken the call for reconfigurable controls in games? No, not at all. Being able to auto-load and auto-save favourite profiles within games adds comfort and convenience for all. For many, it's the difference between a playable and unplayable game. Seems like a small thing to ask to me.</span>OneSwitch.org.ukhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07289723412931631625noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4334893764546617702.post-14397039810253362222011-05-25T17:43:00.002-04:002011-05-25T17:43:33.740-04:00Game Accessibility Symbols<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjp42Bh3fC_Sl4WoOSo1lIHeh2VX1q_tXYho4zag2kEx9g5w096dtiaGNU2t45ASk6ZOzosRy9CJ_9VgnywvQf9kiNeWi95jUZ4L9wmrXl36yn8Ww18L8CXRaVlqIYU0EJPJbgb3wKYGnLD/s1600/Game-Accessibility-Poss.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Three different symbols, in three different styles representing game accessibility. The first is of the Universal Symbol of Accessibility (the wheelchair user) with a joystick playing a variant of Space Invaders. The second is of Pac-Man in a wheelchair munching some dots. The third is of a hybrid large basic joypad merging into a wheelchair user." border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjp42Bh3fC_Sl4WoOSo1lIHeh2VX1q_tXYho4zag2kEx9g5w096dtiaGNU2t45ASk6ZOzosRy9CJ_9VgnywvQf9kiNeWi95jUZ4L9wmrXl36yn8Ww18L8CXRaVlqIYU0EJPJbgb3wKYGnLD/s1600/Game-Accessibility-Poss.jpg" /></a></div><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms; font-size: 130%;"><br />
In their on-going work to form a solid game accessibility ratings system, <a href="http://www.gamebase.info/magazine/read/game-accessibility-symbol---your-thoughts_553.html">SpecialEffect</a> are looking for a symbol to represent Game Accessibility. They're asking for people's thoughts on the above. Which grabs you?<br />
</span>OneSwitch.org.ukhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07289723412931631625noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4334893764546617702.post-46004251232501223092011-05-25T02:49:00.003-04:002011-05-25T02:53:49.497-04:00Attractor accessibility usage statistics<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDYCyfBmmu0hEl-4Foln0zm_dsE9OFAlDMq81YF93ls2ucAiUXc2_SGHyVkPLwhWE3kRcJ-B_1WgauUylmLSCR_YMTdzWBDWK1hRYnwZZxtaqlfIhgf6RyK1Ayt3h_hhJhdMI2iDNUhpBu/s1600/atractores-analytics.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDYCyfBmmu0hEl-4Foln0zm_dsE9OFAlDMq81YF93ls2ucAiUXc2_SGHyVkPLwhWE3kRcJ-B_1WgauUylmLSCR_YMTdzWBDWK1hRYnwZZxtaqlfIhgf6RyK1Ayt3h_hhJhdMI2iDNUhpBu/s1600/atractores-analytics.png" /></a></div><a href="http://www.thegamekitchen.com/attractor"><b>Attractor</b></a> is a free video game with special accessibility options. I<span class="short_text" id="result_box" lang="en"><span class="hps" title="Haz clic para obtener otras posibles traducciones">n its</span> <span class="hps" title="Haz clic para obtener otras posibles traducciones">development </span></span><span class="short_text" id="result_box" lang="en"><span class="hps" title="Haz clic para obtener otras posibles traducciones">development</span></span>, <b><a href="http://www.accessablegames.com/">AccessAble Games</a></b> <span class="" id="result_box" lang="en"><span class="hps" title="Haz clic para obtener otras posibles traducciones">decided to use</span> <span class="hps" title="Haz clic para obtener otras posibles traducciones">one of</span> <span class="hps" title="Haz clic para obtener otras posibles traducciones">the advantages</span> <span class="hps" title="Haz clic para obtener otras posibles traducciones">of</span> <span class="hps" title="Haz clic para obtener otras posibles traducciones">online games</span> <span class="hps" title="Haz clic para obtener otras posibles traducciones">to</span> <span class="hps" title="Haz clic para obtener otras posibles traducciones">collect</span> <span class="hps" title="Haz clic para obtener otras posibles traducciones">usage statistics</span></span> to collect accessibility options usage.<br />
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<a name='more'></a><span class="" id="result_box" lang="en"><span class="hps" title="Haz clic para obtener otras posibles traducciones">These</span> <span class="hps" title="Haz clic para obtener otras posibles traducciones">data were</span> <span class="hps" title="Haz clic para obtener otras posibles traducciones">collected</span> <b><span class="hps" title="Haz clic para obtener otras posibles traducciones">3 months</span> <span class="hps" title="Haz clic para obtener otras posibles traducciones">after the</span> <span class="hps" title="Haz clic para obtener otras posibles traducciones">release</span></b> <span class="hps" title="Haz clic para obtener otras posibles traducciones">of the game</span> <span class="hps" title="Haz clic para obtener otras posibles traducciones">and</span> <span class="hps" title="Haz clic para obtener otras posibles traducciones">appeared</span> <span class="hps" title="Haz clic para obtener otras posibles traducciones">in</span> <b><span class="hps" title="Haz clic para obtener otras posibles traducciones">418</span> <span class="hps" title="Haz clic para obtener otras posibles traducciones">games</span> <span class="hps" title="Haz clic para obtener otras posibles traducciones">web</span> <span class="hps" title="Haz clic para obtener otras posibles traducciones">portals</span></b><span class="" title="Haz clic para obtener otras posibles traducciones">.</span></span> <br />
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<span class="" id="result_box" lang="en"><span class="hps" title="Haz clic para obtener otras posibles traducciones">Has</span> <span class="hps" title="Haz clic para obtener otras posibles traducciones">been</span> <span class="hps" title="Haz clic para obtener otras posibles traducciones">played for</span> <span class="hps" title="Haz clic para obtener otras posibles traducciones">over</span> <b><span class="hps" title="Haz clic para obtener otras posibles traducciones">350,000</span></b><span class="hps" title="Haz clic para obtener otras posibles traducciones"> people</span><b> </b><span class="hps" title="Haz clic para obtener otras posibles traducciones">during this</span> <span class="hps" title="Haz clic para obtener otras posibles traducciones">time</span> <span class="hps" title="Haz clic para obtener otras posibles traducciones">and of these</span> <span class="hps" title="Haz clic para obtener otras posibles traducciones">nearly <b>3,000</b></span> <span class="hps" title="Haz clic para obtener otras posibles traducciones">people</span> <span class="hps" title="Haz clic para obtener otras posibles traducciones">activated</span> <span class="hps" title="Haz clic para obtener otras posibles traducciones">the</span> <span class="hps" title="Haz clic para obtener otras posibles traducciones">most used</span> <span class="hps" title="Haz clic para obtener otras posibles traducciones">accessibility option</span><span class="" title="Haz clic para obtener otras posibles traducciones">:</span> <b>one switch mode</b><span class="hps" title="Haz clic para obtener otras posibles traducciones">.</span></span> <br />
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<span class="" id="result_box" lang="en"><span class="hps" title="Haz clic para obtener otras posibles traducciones">In</span> <span class="hps" title="Haz clic para obtener otras posibles traducciones">the graph</span> <span class="hps" title="Haz clic para obtener otras posibles traducciones">that</span> <span class="hps" title="Haz clic para obtener otras posibles traducciones">begins this</span> <span class="hps" title="Haz clic para obtener otras posibles traducciones">article</span> <span class="hps" title="Haz clic para obtener otras posibles traducciones">can be viewed</span> <span class="hps" title="Haz clic para obtener otras posibles traducciones">accessibility options</span> <span class="hps" title="Haz clic para obtener otras posibles traducciones">sorted</span> <span class="hps" title="Haz clic para obtener otras posibles traducciones">by</span> <span class="hps" title="Haz clic para obtener otras posibles traducciones">the</span> <span class="hps" title="Haz clic para obtener otras posibles traducciones">use</span> <span class="hps" title="Haz clic para obtener otras posibles traducciones">they had</span><span title="Haz clic para obtener otras posibles traducciones">.</span> <span class="hps" title="Haz clic para obtener otras posibles traducciones">I</span><span class="hps" title="Haz clic para obtener otras posibles traducciones">n</span> <span class="hps" title="Haz clic para obtener otras posibles traducciones">third</span> <span class="hps" title="Haz clic para obtener otras posibles traducciones">place</span> <span class="hps" title="Haz clic para obtener otras posibles traducciones">is</span> <span class="hps" title="Haz clic para obtener otras posibles traducciones">the</span> <span class="hps" title="Haz clic para obtener otras posibles traducciones">faster</span> <span class="hps" title="Haz clic para obtener otras posibles traducciones">option</span><span title="Haz clic para obtener otras posibles traducciones">,</span> <span class="hps" title="Haz clic para obtener otras posibles traducciones">because</span> <span class="hps" title="Haz clic para obtener otras posibles traducciones">for many</span> <span class="hps" title="Haz clic para obtener otras posibles traducciones">people</span> <span class="hps" title="Haz clic para obtener otras posibles traducciones">it was</span> <span class="hps" title="Haz clic para obtener otras posibles traducciones">a</span> <span class="hps" title="Haz clic para obtener otras posibles traducciones">slow game</span><span title="Haz clic para obtener otras posibles traducciones">, but</span> <span class="hps" title="Haz clic para obtener otras posibles traducciones">right</span> <span class="hps" title="Haz clic para obtener otras posibles traducciones">behind is</span> <span class="hps" title="Haz clic para obtener otras posibles traducciones">the</span> <span class="hps" title="Haz clic para obtener otras posibles traducciones">less speed</span> <span class="hps" title="Haz clic para obtener otras posibles traducciones"></span></span><span class="short_text" id="result_box" lang="en"><span class="hps" title="Haz clic para obtener otras posibles traducciones">because</span> <span class="hps" title="Haz clic para obtener otras posibles traducciones">the opposite</span></span><span class="" id="result_box" lang="en"><span class="hps" title="Haz clic para obtener otras posibles traducciones"></span><span title="Haz clic para obtener otras posibles traducciones">.</span> <span class="hps" title="Haz clic para obtener otras posibles traducciones">Among</span> <span class="hps" title="Haz clic para obtener otras posibles traducciones">the</span> speed reductions <span class="hps" title="Haz clic para obtener otras posibles traducciones"></span><span class="hps" title="Haz clic para obtener otras posibles traducciones">the most commonly used</span> <span class="hps" title="Haz clic para obtener otras posibles traducciones">speed was</span> <b><span class="hps" title="Haz clic para obtener otras posibles traducciones">0.4</span></b><span title="Haz clic para obtener otras posibles traducciones">,</span> <span class="hps" title="Haz clic para obtener otras posibles traducciones">the</span> <span class="hps" title="Haz clic para obtener otras posibles traducciones">lowest</span> <span class="hps" title="Haz clic para obtener otras posibles traducciones">speed</span> <span class="hps" title="Haz clic para obtener otras posibles traducciones">option</span> <span class="hps" title="Haz clic para obtener otras posibles traducciones">that was offered</span> <span class="hps" title="Haz clic para obtener otras posibles traducciones">in</span> <span class="hps" title="Haz clic para obtener otras posibles traducciones">the</span> game<span class="" title="Haz clic para obtener otras posibles traducciones">.</span></span> <br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><br />
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Attractor was developed by <a href="http://www.thegamekitchen.com/"><b>The Game Kitchen</b></a> with <a href="http://www.accessablegames.com/"><b>AccessAble Games</b></a> as accessibility advisor.<br />
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You can play it for free at:<b> </b><a href="http://www.thegamekitchen.com/attractor">www.thegamekitchen.com/attractor</a> <br />
Also, you can download it and place on our own web site.<br />
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Or just watch a demo video here:<br />
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<center></center><center></center><center><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="292" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/hxdMsaTxm-0" width="480"></iframe></center>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4334893764546617702.post-50910245114288971532011-05-04T03:20:00.000-04:002011-05-04T03:20:21.498-04:00Article 31: The Right To Play<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhownenqIPjTJ5gaO9YRhrgqUjPsl7ioYoEp1nIoPK2o5979ObfXOMnqApXlikKzjAZBhupQG-A0KRl2O2nrcbFDQvWh4SvgKaLryJe6JUc4AuKupSmC5e4QDRTfmv_vivD3efVy9XOdDHn/s1600/AbleGames-EnabledGamer.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Photo from AbleGames of a young lad playing a one-switch game amongst friends and family." border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhownenqIPjTJ5gaO9YRhrgqUjPsl7ioYoEp1nIoPK2o5979ObfXOMnqApXlikKzjAZBhupQG-A0KRl2O2nrcbFDQvWh4SvgKaLryJe6JUc4AuKupSmC5e4QDRTfmv_vivD3efVy9XOdDHn/s1600/AbleGames-EnabledGamer.jpg" /></a></div><br />
<span style="font-family: trebuchet ms; font-size: 130%;">"The right to play is enshrined in <a href="http://www2.ohchr.org/english/law/crc.htm">Article 31 of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child</a>, ratified by the UK government in 1991, and most around the world (not the USA though). The government has a duty under this convention to protect and promote play opportunities for all children and young people."</span><br />
<span style="font-family: trebuchet ms; font-size: 130%;"><br />
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: trebuchet ms; font-size: 130%;">See also: <a href="http://ipaworld.org/category/about-us/">International Play Association</a>; <a href="http://ipaworld.org/main/wp-content/uploads/2010/02/BvLF-IPAWorkingPaper-Childrens-Right-to-Play-Dec2010f.pdf">Children's Right To Play</a>; <a href="http://www.playengland.org.uk/about-us/why-is-play-important">Play England</a>.<br />
</span>OneSwitch.org.ukhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07289723412931631625noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4334893764546617702.post-63137289664951144432011-05-04T03:18:00.002-04:002011-05-04T03:18:34.128-04:00Xbox 360: The Avenger<div style="text-align: center;"><object height="303" width="480"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/cFP_NxAQXEw?fs=1&hl=en_GB&rel=0"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/cFP_NxAQXEw?fs=1&hl=en_GB&rel=0" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="480" height="303" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true"></embed></object></div><br />
<script src="http://video.miami.cbslocal.com/global/video/videoplayer.js?rnd=900612;hostDomain=video.miami.cbslocal.com;playerWidth=480;playerHeight=303;isShowIcon=true;clipId=5759552;flvUri=;partnerclipid=;adTag=News;advertisingZone=CBS.MIA/worldnowplayer;enableAds=false;landingPage=null;islandingPageoverride=false;playerType=STANDARD_EMBEDDEDscript" type="text/javascript">
</script><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms; font-size: 130%;"><br />
N-Control's '<a href="http://www.avengercontroller.com/">The Avenger</a>' is a case that fits over any standard Xbox 360 joypad to bring controls into easier access. There's a great story at <a href="http://miami.cbslocal.com/2011/04/15/inventive-teacher-gives-disabled-student-control/">CBS Miami</a> on the origins of this device and it enabling a young man who was unable to use a standard Xbox controller.<br />
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Link with thanks to <a href="http://www.designdirectdeliver.com/">Sheri Rubin</a>. Added to the OneSwitch Accessible Gaming Shop.<br />
</span>OneSwitch.org.ukhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07289723412931631625noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4334893764546617702.post-20299285614219918422011-03-29T17:16:00.000-04:002011-03-29T17:16:23.789-04:00New Wave of Evil Controllers<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.evilcontrollers.com/evil-accessibility/"><img alt="Evil Controllers Accessible Joypad with additional reconfigurable push buttons." border="0" r6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoDBLfBkoNvbleBcW4gswfyKTvKu_TkHNpfO8rAVCtcRPsIqY1t197RsiB87LkfPzOqof1H4q6esyQ8XfldF1cAjWjbOGyUtAn5sCdWwwv4IqQMJmFUyq6Mc8ZVEvItN__5-cAsSg1rood/s1600/Adapted-JoyPad-Xbox-1.jpg" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.evilcontrollers.com/evil-accessibility/"><img alt="Evil Controllers Accessible Joypad with additional reconfigurable push buttons." border="0" r6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtZTftKsLt-EbFMLX1prvfePYRIuOSrdSFeNjtrhrKllcTzQZ_m0SXsjNzObatqVk0AubBeHXIJJX0ECZkAhET7mO9I_174Azy92W3d_E2AWN1FMhj5vXp8QlyfJbLaNJec-QBat4s3r-R/s1600/Adapted-JoyPad-Xbox-2.jpg" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.evilcontrollers.com/evil-accessibility/"><img alt="Evil Controllers Split Joypad prototype." border="0" r6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVxLaTSGUgCx8vw6lTcSD1bz57C0XV3B-mY2OCrsmlf2gsHqzfMUoeq7qIrtuVdVemkkOIVHMa495vxAjUnIwexAMMmjXCPHICOetcv_NzjgVc60fyh0ylkqdiLoAR_c7aDnXMzGN5j-o6/s1600/Split-Xbox-Controller.jpg" /></a></div><br />
<span style="font-family: trebuchet ms; font-size: 130%;">Adam from <a href="http://www.evilcontrollers.com/">Evil Controllers</a> recently sent me photos of a couple of his latest joypad accessibility adaptations, which I'm sharing with you above. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: trebuchet ms; font-size: 130%;">Top and middle pictures are of an Xbox 360 joypad tailor adapted for Randy Fitzgerald, a quadriplegic gamer known as N0M4D. The D-pad has been made easier to use and four metal buttons have been added to the faceplate. Those metal buttons and the thumb-stick clicks are reprogrammable where any push button can be reassigned. On top of this, Andy's enabled a "toggle" system so that Randy can just tap a button now to make it hold or release a game function. Stunning job!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: trebuchet ms; font-size: 130%;">The hacked in half controller pictured bottom, is a prototype and much like the <a href="http://www.oneswitch.org.uk/1/AGS/AGS-onehand/hori-separate.htm">HORI Separate</a> in effect: Ideal for those unable to bring their hands together. I have to say as the HORI Separates have become so hard to find recently, this is <em>really</em> fantastic news. Read more at <a href="http://www.evilcontrollers.com/evil-accessibility/">Evil Accessibility</a>.</span>OneSwitch.org.ukhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07289723412931631625noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4334893764546617702.post-22949703394275759752011-03-21T04:03:00.000-04:002011-03-21T04:03:12.205-04:007-128.com Accessible Gaming Web Sites Awards - 2011<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.7128.com/top25/topsiteslists.html"><img alt="Neon signs reading 'Someday It Will Happen' and 'Everything Is Going To Be Alright' by Kent Rogowski." border="0" r6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6GmhIUqo3c6_p2-Kmdtrl1sEhc6clcdoZqu64owUPwFB63S666VG0_de3vK0QHeo96i7XcKfxrCx4rUuerW3B53wRZJwnD3kqZObh8dp98UL3QDkLLNpwzOHs2xRD9NboqCC5jv6dZhn3/s1600/neon1.jpg" /></a></div><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms; font-size: 130%;"><br />
It's that time of year again, where <a href="http://7-128.com/">7-128.com</a> have reviewed and ranked the best of accessible gaming sites. They have broken these down into three categories, being Hearing, Mobility and Sight related.<br />
<br />
Big hearty congratulations to <a href="http://www.deafgamers.com/">DeafGamers</a>, <a href="http://www.oneswitch.org.uk/">OneSwitch.org.uk</a> and <a href="http://www.pcsgames.net/">PCS Games</a>, and everyone else who made the list. You may or may not agree with 7-128's ordering, but there's no denying what a useful list they've produced leading to such a huge wealth of information. The push for greater accessibility continues...</span>OneSwitch.org.ukhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07289723412931631625noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4334893764546617702.post-84377853552648928982011-03-21T03:55:00.000-04:002011-03-21T03:55:26.132-04:00The SpecialEffect Centre<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.specialeffect.org.uk/pages/news69.htm"><img alt="LED Cats-eyes along the M25 at dusk, marking out the road limits." border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoAOYtgaB2UdRnE9ud7ar4rjgFUE4dqig3eqUDw8tojYTJaCNZ9BFOOUCA0Sq6eyJBZT1mXTrIU7TK7CSKF53AJd-Z7yR-moXLZOTQBjhQDKHzQQ15uKQrXqRYrB90upFnQ3QXYqLsQVFe/s1600/LED-CatsEyes.jpg" /></a></div><br />
<div style="text-align: center;"><object height="368" width="450"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/Y8xxXTeUCoY?fs=1&hl=en_GB&rel=0"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/Y8xxXTeUCoY?fs=1&hl=en_GB&rel=0" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="450" height="368"></embed></object></div><br />
<span style="font-family: trebuchet ms; font-size: 130%;">The 10th of March 2011 saw the official launch of '<a href="http://www.specialeffect.org.uk/pages/news69.htm">The SpecialEffect Centre</a>', including GamesLab, GamesRoom and offices. The images above however, are of my journey there the night before (sort of). I'd never seen <a href="http://www.clearviewtraffic.co.uk/case-studies/case-study-details?casestudyid=181528">LED cats-eyes</a> before, they felt very <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3efV2wqEjEY">Tron</a> like and apt for the day to come.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: trebuchet ms; font-size: 130%;">Back to the point... so what is The SpecialEffect Centre? Well, it's based in Oxfordshire in the UK and serves as the base point for many different game accessibility <a href="http://www.specialeffect.org.uk/pages/projects.htm">projects</a>. The GameRoom acts as a place where people can try out accessible game equipment for themselves. For those unable to get to Oxfordshire, there are other opportunties to try out this gear through Accessible Gaming Road Shows and a fantastic loan-library (UK only at this time). </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: trebuchet ms; font-size: 130%;">For a more international outreach, the <a href="http://www.gamebase.info/">SpecialEffect GameBase</a> is dedicated to sharing knowledge. To save me repeating what's been said across the web, here's some links to the story of the day: <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/video-games/8373512/David-Cameron-launches-video-games-centre-for-disabled.html">Telegraph</a>; <a href="http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2011-03-10-cameron-opens-accessible-gaming-centre">EuroGamer</a>; <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/blog/2011/mar/10/david-cameron-disabled-computing">The Guardian</a>; <a href="http://www.computerandvideogames.com/293022/news/cameron-games-industry-living-up-to-its-social-responsibilities/">C&VG</a>; <a href="http://www.engadget.com/2011/03/14/uk-charity-opens-gaming-visitor-center-handicapped-gaming-gadg/">Engadget</a>; <a href="http://accessiblegaming.info/accessible-gaming-news/david-cameron-special-effect-charity-accessible-gaming-drop-in-hub/">Trabasack</a>.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: trebuchet ms; font-size: 130%;">Local MP and the UK's prime minister, David Cameron opened the centre, then proceeded to take a thrashing from the ever brilliant Shaz Hossain on GT5. Speeches were given including from those representing the association for UK interactive entertainment (<a href="http://www.ukie.info/about">ukie</a>). Accessible gaming marches on.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: trebuchet ms; font-size: 130%;">Image via: <a href="http://www.clearviewtraffic.co.uk/case-studies/case-study-details?casestudyid=181528">ClearViewTraffic.com</a><span id="goog_599675357"></span><span id="goog_599675358"></span>.</span><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS;"></span>OneSwitch.org.ukhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07289723412931631625noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4334893764546617702.post-45944649097237271752011-02-19T08:24:00.004-05:002011-02-19T08:29:11.352-05:00Attractor<center><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="300" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/hxdMsaTxm-0" title="YouTube video player" width="496"></iframe></center><br />
<a href="http://www.thegamekitchen.com/attractor"><b>Attractors</b></a> is a simple puzzle game developed by <b><a href="http://www.thegamekitchen.com/">The Game Kitchen</a></b> with <a href="http://www.accessablegames.com/"><b>AccessAble Games</b></a> as accessibility advisor. The game have special accessibility options like: no time limit, no death, possibility to restart a level at any time, change game speed, one switch mode, microphone control mode, high contrast and no-click mode. <br />
<br />
<b>You can play it for free at: <a href="http://www.thegamekitchen.com/attractor">www.thegamekitchen.com/attractor</a></b> <br />
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Also, you can download it and place on our own web site. Take it from here: <a href="http://www.thegamekitchen.com/attractor/attractor-redis01.zip">www.thegamekitchen.com/attractor/attractor-redis01.zip</a><br />
<br />
While playing, press ESC to return to main menu; you will return to the level that you have left when you click play again on main menu. <span data-jsid="text">Main menu and between levels menu are also accessible for one switch and no-click mode.</span><br />
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<span data-jsid="text">Attractor's option screen: </span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSjjpONm1yuFCNR7WnKVHQIDUux5B7sPeGXWWsnb1UxXH09DUVZNfvqyV7WT8PTQsZ2texe4yiE29Ce2gHL5Fk1ztvLktt67MgGGNnWsEwgipmh6bfLkp5D2aZ3ley8nfxUslEEcnWvIp_/s1600/attractorsOptions.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSjjpONm1yuFCNR7WnKVHQIDUux5B7sPeGXWWsnb1UxXH09DUVZNfvqyV7WT8PTQsZ2texe4yiE29Ce2gHL5Fk1ztvLktt67MgGGNnWsEwgipmh6bfLkp5D2aZ3ley8nfxUslEEcnWvIp_/s1600/attractorsOptions.jpg" /></a></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4334893764546617702.post-64149647617805307822011-02-16T05:16:00.000-05:002011-02-16T05:16:01.376-05:00BlindComputerGames.com<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.blindcomputergames.com/"><img alt="Head shot of a young woman wearing headphones, and large wrap-a-round glasses with colourful Atari VCS style graphics in the lenses. From one of Atari's 1976 Video Music magazine adverts." border="0" j6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNHU3A9fex4iUkWXxs-dlgA34h0G8WWs_trBtd0_rwvgWfb1AAREOwGUyRv6noCocqJrvBIBl9l-8f1qX2N5iWZoDA20RMrKJocuQI8Hh9-ssftlfNTtytzgoZA9KN-AbrbAQclJISaxdL/s1600/VideoMusicAudioGames.jpg" /></a></div><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms; font-size: 130%;"><br />
"<a href="http://blindcomputergames.com/">blindcomputergames.com</a> is an information resource that includes:<br />
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A set of guidelines for developers who want to improve blind accessibility in their games.<br />
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An article for gamers who are blind to help them show developers how to make their games accessible to them.<br />
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Articles that give developers technical information, including code samples, to help them make their games accessible. <br />
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For gamers, it gives the technical words they need to communicate with developers at companies, big and small. It explains who to talk to, what information the developer will need, and when in the development cycle to communicate with a developer and to have the best chance of obtaining the changes that will increase accessibility.<br />
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For developers, it explains screen readers and self-voicing, and includes a blind accessibility checklist, some good example games, technical “how to's”, and a short guide to blind etiquette. <br />
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It's totally free and requires no registration. <br />
<br />
The project took three months and was done at the request of and with the help of Dark, the administrator for <a href="http://www.audiogames.net/">audiogames.net</a> and the leading advocate for blind gamers. <br />
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He is frequently asked by developers, "What would it take?" Now he has a place to send them, and a place to send his readers who have a game or other software program that they can “almost use”. <br />
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Although it is focused on games, much of the information is applicable to any software, not just games.<br />
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<a href="http://www.blindcomputergames.com/contact.html">Any feedback would be helpful</a>."<br />
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Via: Eleanor Robinson - <a href="http://7128.com/">7-128 Software</a> on the IGDA GASIG mailing list.</span>OneSwitch.org.ukhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07289723412931631625noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4334893764546617702.post-28596833695088167062011-02-13T15:08:00.002-05:002011-02-14T15:39:04.835-05:00Game Accessibility Campaigner: Gareth Garratt<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7xhoRcMMNgLxwpA4OBjMJVL7Gz7J51wpOIo_kfkPf0GI1MbgsSgssn2baiDcjMmNn364RU5zf8xHZxGVq6sOlOqU5E7GxIsncQLPMI27FeYotla7BlSXmPOmkr1Nt9CKq1OvMmaJKTIUT/s1600/GarethGarratt-EnabledGamer.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Gareth and Mum, Jacqueline Garratt, in front of his game controller, a Toshiba Mouse on raised box to bring it to a comfortable chin level." border="0" h5="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7xhoRcMMNgLxwpA4OBjMJVL7Gz7J51wpOIo_kfkPf0GI1MbgsSgssn2baiDcjMmNn364RU5zf8xHZxGVq6sOlOqU5E7GxIsncQLPMI27FeYotla7BlSXmPOmkr1Nt9CKq1OvMmaJKTIUT/s1600/GarethGarratt-EnabledGamer.jpg" /></a></div><br />
<div style="text-align: center;"><object height="368" width="450"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/lZJCAJRuI7E?fs=1&hl=en_GB"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/lZJCAJRuI7E?fs=1&hl=en_GB" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="450" height="368"></embed></object></div><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms; font-size: 130%;"><br />
Gareth Garratt has achieved something fantastic. He's one of a growing number of disabled gamers who have petitioned for greater access in a game, and then been promised it by the developer.<br />
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Facing the familiar problem of being unable to reconfigure the game controls on his latest purchase, <a href="http://deadspace.ea.com/">EA's Dead Space 2</a>, he posted his frustrations on the <a href="http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?t=18236540">OverClockers Forums</a>.<br />
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This in turn led to people spreading his message further, a huge boost to <a href="http://www.petitiononline.com/mod_perl/signed.cgi?cu5t0m">Chuck Bittner's Custom Remapping Petition</a>, and eventually straight to the developers of Dead Space 2 themselves. They ended up posting the following: <br />
<br />
"Hi Gareth, I'm a developer from Visceral Games Australia, the studio responsible for the PC port of Dead Space 2. Sorry to hear about your issue - I've spoken with a few key people here and we'll do our best to include a fix for it in the next patch. In the mean time, please PM me. Cheers! Michael." <br />
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Then, in a message to Joystiq, Dead Space 2 executive producer Steve Papoutsis went one further. <br />
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"The Dead Space 2 team is aware of the issue that disabled players are having with Dead Space 2 PC. In fact a number of folks on our team are so passionate about getting this fix done that they are currently working hard to allow players to re-map key bindings to the mouse which should help disabled players enjoy the game. <br />
<br />
"I'd like to say I'm very proud of the people on the Dead Space 2 team for coming in today and jumping on the fix first thing. Working with such a talented and compassionate group of people is incredible and makes me proud to be a part of the Dead Space 2 team, Visceral Games, and Electronic Arts. <br />
<br />
"In addition to the key binding fix the patch will include other fixes for PC players. Thank you for taking up the cause for our disabled players and letting us know about this problem. Once the patch is fully tested we will announce a release date."<br />
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Let's hope EA will be encouraging all their teams to add <a href="http://gameaccessibility.blogspot.com/search/label/Design%20Tips">reconfigurable control options</a> in the future.<br />
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Links to: <a href="http://www.pcgamer.com/2011/02/11/interview-dead-space-2-disability-campaigner-gareth-garratt/">PC Gamer</a>, <a href="http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2011-02-08-disabled-gamer-promised-dead-space-2-fix">EuroGamer</a> and others - via <a href="http://www.gavinphilips.com/">Gavin Philips</a>, <a href="http://www.specialeffect.org.uk/">Mick Donegan</a> and <a href="http://www.blitzgamesstudios.com/">Lynsey Graeme</a> on the <a href="http://igda-gasig.org/">IGDA GASIG</a> mailing list.</span>OneSwitch.org.ukhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07289723412931631625noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4334893764546617702.post-76249600863257312992011-01-30T16:20:00.000-05:002011-01-30T16:20:53.249-05:00Angry Birds: Suggestions for Accessibility Standards<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.ananseproductions.com/angry-birds-and-accessibility-standards/"><img alt="Image of Angry Birds, iOS game, where you sling shot a bird back to crash into pigs protected by flimsy structures." border="0" s5="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgb7S_HHD6VHPjN_Ji2FF10wDoQDdoXfccu_c6A7JFzZ5KkkIxyXrzYV51CAphauZaEpxklrgN2XPBKa1Nl69etygDhtjKIWPeuSsEFIMFGR353a_sGOISaCzK_ARMjW3-O1yGb-hyg7Kg0/s1600/Accessible-Angry-Birds.jpg" /></a></div><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms; font-size: 130%;"><br />
Kwasi Mensa posted an interesting breakdown of some of the <a href="http://www.ananseproductions.com/angry-birds-and-accessibility-standards/">accessibility features of Angry Birds</a> and a wish for standards to read up from. He also explained how difficult it has been to track down a clean set of accessibility standards for games. Perhaps the best we have so far can be found linked from this <a href="http://gameaccessibility.blogspot.com/2010/11/gasig-top-10-ways-to-improve-game.html">post on design tips</a>. More will follow...</span>OneSwitch.org.ukhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07289723412931631625noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4334893764546617702.post-37772590530239971542011-01-29T06:23:00.002-05:002011-01-29T06:23:45.175-05:00NEW IGDA GASIG Forum<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://gameaccesssig.forumotion.com/"><img alt="Image of a mock-up warning sign, that reads 'Warning Mosh Pit' with three people tumbling on top of one another." border="0" height="320" s5="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5f1tA7u1wDWXblU9EUhqNDvSspeeIJap2pe_jtGb8nlBLgV-h4kviPoC2TjCvBT01Bd1HYByylhe8wWxg-LqZjFTnnnwMtedwGBMPWDWNSu0N5qg1K5jxPQ2azho9qFE_xCeYT5B1CMHO/s320/Caution-Mosh-Pit.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms; font-size: 130%;"><br />
Welcome one and all, to the NEW International Game Developers Association's Game Accessibility Special Interest Group Forum... And breathe. Let's just call it the <a href="http://gameaccesssig.forumotion.com/">GASIG Forum</a> from now on, shall we?<br />
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Game developers, designers, players and all with an interest in removing barriers that disable people from being able to play games, are warmly encouraged to join up. Whether you are a total beginner to all this, or have been working in the field for decades, please feel free to browse around and to share thoughts, ideas and experiences. See you there?</span><br />
<div align="center"></div><div style="text-align: center;"><object height="81" width="100%"> <param name="movie" value="http://player.soundcloud.com/player.swf?url=http%3A%2F%2Fapi.soundcloud.com%2Ftracks%2F5641414&show_comments=false&auto_play=false&color=000000"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed allowscriptaccess="always" height="81" src="http://player.soundcloud.com/player.swf?url=http%3A%2F%2Fapi.soundcloud.com%2Ftracks%2F5641414&show_comments=false&auto_play=false&color=000000" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="100%"></embed> </object></div>OneSwitch.org.ukhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07289723412931631625noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4334893764546617702.post-42394125772396685142011-01-27T15:10:00.000-05:002011-01-27T15:10:07.144-05:00MLB11 The Show: Gets one-button accessible play mode<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://gaygamer.net/2011/01/disabled_gamers_will_hit_homer.html"><img alt="Hans Smith in MLB 2010, linked to the one-switch one-button mode he has asked for and seen included." border="0" s5="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimZbyIeqaVzr9SGdz05CTULrakF1ZXdzsALhyDubD9bapnzwH28Pg3G-_FO5JGyM1Q0PQM38ZIBoygdAHLWRS1GoGsVlm7lYS2jbiFlUVBD-hvD-ouxDPtubUar8lhPYWFqlfiuupERG31/s1600/One-Switch-MLB2011-Hans-Smith.jpg" /></a></div><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms; font-size: 130%;"><br />
Really great news popped up in my inbox yesterday regarding Hans Smith one-man charm offensive to make one of his favourite PS3 games more accessible.<br />
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I could rabbit on here, but I'll simply pop you onto the first source of the news, <a href="http://gaygamer.net/2011/01/disabled_gamers_will_hit_homer.html">GayGamer.net</a>'s excellent article on Sony's <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MLB_11:_The_Show">MLB11: The Show</a>, so you can read it as fresh as I did.<br />
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Link via <a href="http://www.designdirectdeliver.com/">Sheri Rubin</a> on the IGDA GASIG mailing list.</span>OneSwitch.org.ukhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07289723412931631625noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4334893764546617702.post-40700779261875199752011-01-18T16:58:00.001-05:002011-01-18T17:23:51.266-05:00Reflections on Game Accessibility<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.igda.org/newsletter/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/IGDA-Newsletter-January-2011_final.pdf"><img alt="Mock-up image of three colour-blind tests, but with joypads within rather than numbers. The surrounding text reads, igda - perspectives newsletter - year in review." border="0" ox="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjC5VA5yKmmZqfd4Qy4-W07ptHJLAu2yTc3a8eF1ND6bIplOLN-DUmOSW3flpR-Oyh8s2y80i6fksYZxXH7gLlBoi5UXdyXmDLfH98AcQhKMzKSEEXhr37f4Bd0cAn0yuw91Jo6kbLeNHUk/s1600/IGDA-Year-In-Review-2010.jpg" /></a></div><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms; font-size: 130%;"><br />
The <a href="http://www.igda.org/newsletter/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/IGDA-Newsletter-January-2011_final.pdf">January 2011 IGDA Perspectives newsletter</a> contains a two page segment on the 'game accessibility year' 2010, from my own personal perspective. If 2011 tops 2010, consider me a happy-bunny.<br />
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Big chunky thanks to the <a href="http://www.igda.org/">IGDA</a>, and especially to <a href="http://www.bethaileen.com/">Beth Aileen Lameman</a> for giving Game Accessibility such great coverage.</span>OneSwitch.org.ukhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07289723412931631625noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4334893764546617702.post-81359610137025349322010-12-02T18:04:00.000-05:002010-12-02T18:04:12.854-05:00Real Time Sensory Substitution<object height="295" width="480"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/azAKh6kOe8A?fs=1&hl=en_GB&rel=0"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/azAKh6kOe8A?fs=1&hl=en_GB&rel=0" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="480" height="295"></embed></object><br />
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<span style="font-family: trebuchet ms; font-size: 130%;">The video above shows the hurdles event in <a href="http://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&source=web&cd=5&ved=0CEoQFjAE&url=http%3A%2F%2Fen.wikipedia.org%2Fwiki%2FKinect_Sports&ei=hST4TOmWAYyGhQeoyaV-&usg=AFQjCNFWUapFoR265Gr4SgHj6cbS2mUZfA">Kinect Sports</a> made accessible to players who are blind, using a technique called real time sensory substitution. Using video analysis, visual cues that indicate when to jump are detected and then translated into vibrotactile cues provided with a Wii remote, which should allow someone who is blind to play this game without visual feedback.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: trebuchet ms; font-size: 130%;">I can see this system greatly assisting some learning disabled players in getting the timing of jumps right too. Fantastic stuff, with so many possibilities.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: trebuchet ms; font-size: 130%;">Read more at the SpecialEffect <a href="http://www.gamebase.info/magazine/read/real-time-sensory-substitution_387.html">Accessible GameBase</a>.</span>OneSwitch.org.ukhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07289723412931631625noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4334893764546617702.post-52117165491186230182010-12-02T17:32:00.000-05:002010-12-02T17:32:07.653-05:00AbleGamers Foundation Holiday Gift Guide<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.ablegamers.com/game-news/ablegamers-2010-holiday-shopping-guide.html"><img alt="Image of AbleGamers Foundation 2010 Holiday Gift Guide, with snowman." border="0" ox="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSry46AhT89QybL7PZvY_Xf7E4SMbCRyO1V4xuRWdmweyM_lkHhzKJYH3vL0xD266j1Izc2XhNXC0316JnepvqlFWdBo3Yy_JcrJXKKdhRTGofyvGytKA7D776u-vsm1aOr5RqkGV1_NO9/s1600/AbleGamers-2010.jpg" /></a></div><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms; font-size: 130%;">If you are looking for some accessible gaming present ideas for Christmas, the AbleGamers Foundation have a very useful <a href="http://www.ablegamers.com/game-news/ablegamers-2010-holiday-shopping-guide.html">2010 Holiday Gift Guide</a>. They've cherry-picked a range of accessible video games, the fantastic <a href="http://www.trabasack.co.uk/">Trabasack</a> lap-tray/bag, a great iPad mount and a number of accessible gaming controllers. Well worth a look.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: trebuchet ms; font-size: 130%;">And if you'd like some more ideas, what about a "<a href="http://shop.thepostercauseproject.com/products/final-boss-poster-designed-by-army-of-trolls">Final Boss</a>" poster, something from the <a href="http://www.oneswitch.org.uk/1/AGS.htm">Accessible Gaming Shop</a> or one of these fine <a href="http://switchgaming.blogspot.com/search/label/commercial">accessible games</a>.</span>OneSwitch.org.ukhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07289723412931631625noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4334893764546617702.post-22541848082481051252010-11-19T18:03:00.002-05:002010-11-20T08:07:36.621-05:00GASIG: Top 10 Ways To Improve Game Accessibility<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://wiki.igda.org/Top_Ten"><img alt="Image of the IGDA Game Accessibility Special Interest Group (GASIG) Top 10 list of Game Accessibility tips." border="0" ox="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijJXRSXKwN69wDXoGj88wP2Q6t_fe4fCCnntqy_IUmZ323j6efD1cdP-ys-80qNBHAQzRnCcYrwx2XpHCClIjcHqR4uoiKwFE5sysNwItZnovdcDdNlnsvBWwXpQ6l_OU6bLYPiIzR9dv3/s1600/GASIG-top10.gif" /></a></div><br />
<span style="font-family: trebuchet ms; font-size: 130%;">1.Allow all controls (mouse, keyboard, gamepad) to be remapped.<br />
2.Add closed-captioning for all dialogue and important sound-effects.<br />
3.Provide documentation in an accessible format (HTML or plain-text).<br />
4.Provide assist modes (auto-targeting, training options, etc).<br />
5.Provide a broad range of difficulty levels from incredibly simple to difficult.<br />
6.Make interface fonts scalable.<br />
7.Allow for high-contrast colour schemes.<br />
8.Add audio tags to all significant elements (actors, doors, items, resulting actions, etc) in true spatial 3D.<br />
9.Allow for a varied range of control over play-speed. <br />
10.Announce accessibility features on packaging.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: trebuchet ms; font-size: 130%;">The above is the original "Top 10 Ways To Improve Game Accessibility" from the IGDA's Game Accessibility Special Interest Group. We will be reworking this shortly, and plan to bring a centralised point of managable game accessibility advice for designers and programmers. There's a renewed energy at the GASIG. Good times are ahead.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: trebuchet ms; font-size: 130%;">Meanwhile, here's a bit of a jumble of superb game accessibility resources: <a href="http://www.deafgamers.com/dgclassification.htm">Deaf Gamers Classification system</a>; <a href="http://www.game-accessibility.com/index.php?pagefile=papers">GameAccessibility.com Resources</a>; <a href="http://gameaccessibility.blogspot.com/search/label/Top%203">GASIG Top 3 Accessibility Features [for specific game types</a>]; <a href="http://switchgaming.blogspot.com/search/label/Design%20Tips">OneSwitch.org.uk Design Tips for Accessible Games</a>,<a href="http://blog.rbkdesign.com/2010/06/mockup-of-heavy-rain-with-full-closed-captioning/">Reid Kimball: Mockup of Heavy Rain with Closed Captions</a> (aka fully subtitled). <a href="http://www.helpyouplay.com/wiki/index.php5?title=Main_Page">Eelke Folmer's Help You Play wiki</a>. <a href="http://www.ics.forth.gr/hci/ua-games/">UA-Games articles</a> including the superb Parallel Game Universes; <a href="http://switchgaming.blogspot.com/2010/09/electronic-soup-podcasts-help-sheet.html">Electronic Soup Podcasts</a> on AudioGames and playing with a Visual Impairment; <a href="http://www.retroremakes.com/access/">RetroRemakes - Barriers in Games</a>.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: trebuchet ms; font-size: 130%;">We plan to tidy existing and new game accessibility resources into a much more managable place for people wishing to learn about how to implement effective Game Accessibility features in their games. It's coming...</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: trebuchet ms; font-size: 130%;">Image above and list layout by <a href="http://tim.thechases.com/top10_2.pdf">Tim Chase</a> from 2005ish.</span>OneSwitch.org.ukhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07289723412931631625noreply@blogger.com0