[games_access] to Michelle RE: Fwd: Re Canadian Press article

Wed Nov 29 00:27:51 EST 2006

For me personally, it's a communication issue. I'm not able to "sell"
closed captioning the way I need to. If I knew how to frame my
message, to get people jazzed up about it, then my problems would be
solved. In the meantime, I'll work on hands on examples.

-Reid

On 11/28/06, Brannon Zahand <brannonz at microsoft.com> wrote:
>
>
>
>
> I agree. I personally believe it to be mostly a combination of ignorance and
> laziness. People enjoy working on  "cool" features like graphics, audio,
> and AI. If you ask people if they'd rather be developing a multiplayer
> engine or putting in closed captioning in FMVs… well, you get the picture.
>
>
>
> Two things need to happen to get accessibility into games. 1) Management
> needs to mandate it. 2) Developers must understand the need for it.
>
>
>
> Of course, now I'm just preaching to the choir. J
>
>
>
> -Brannon
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> From: games_access-bounces at igda.org [mailto:games_access-bounces at igda.org]
> On Behalf Of Barrie Ellis
>  Sent: Tuesday, November 28, 2006 10:34 AM
>  To: IGDA Games Accessibility SIG Mailing List
>  Subject: Re: [games_access] to Michelle RE: Fwd: Re Canadian Press article
>
>
>
>
>
> "nobody on my team is interested in that kind of stuff" - translates roughly
> as we are deeply ignorant about the small things that could help massively.
> Like fully reconfigurable controls, speed control, 'very, very easy'
> difficulty options, (drones on and on for ever).
>
>
>
>
>
> If Atari could do it in 1977, with difficulty adjustment for each player and
> a "special feature" for children, then what stops someone doing it for 2007?
> It's a joke, and not a very funny one.
>
>
>
>
>
> Barrie
>
>
> www.OneSwitch.org.uk
>
>
>
> ----- Original Message -----
>
>
> From: Robert Florio
>
>
> To: 'IGDA Games Accessibility SIG Mailing List'
>
>
> Sent: Saturday, November 25, 2006 5:57 PM
>
>
> Subject: [games_access] to Michelle RE: Fwd: Re Canadian Press article
>
>
>
>
> Thanks for the link Michelle it was a great story still too bad they
> couldn't put my web site on there I think that more people would've liked to
> see what the controller really looks like up close.  Anyways it's an honor
> to be a part of this and thanks for including me and what you do by passion
> and your passion together shines so much it's so wonderful.  I know what you
> mean about those heartbreaking e-mails I get a few now and again from
> quadriplegics looking for a system and they see my mouth controller and love
> it.
>
>
>
> I'm going to try to derail David.  Can't you see if I can meet up with him
> again somehow I really would like to if at all possible work on working with
> him some day I really feel connected to what he doesn't think because of
> that game the matrix path of Neo it's the only game of come across I can
> virtually play almost 100% with that controller no other game ever.  So if
> he has that ability I think I should e-mail him see if we can meet for lunch
> or something or one of the parties was wondering if you could help me to do
> that it would really help with a job opportunity I think maybe someday I
> could pitch my idea I've been working on for three years and hopefully be a
> huge part of its development.  It's a wish but why not.
>
>
>
> Now I'm putting together this documentary and I got such great footage and
> when I met with David Perry you and I, I asked him if he would be willing to
> create more of these features in his games.  In his reply literally was
> "nobody on my team is interested in that kind of stuff" and then he
> virtually shut down with no other thing to say like these developers are
> completely lost with the concept.  He did express though that he understood
> the need for it and was genuinely listening to me I just wonder what I have
> to do to get through to him but I shouldn't give up.
>
>
>
> Robert
>
> www.RobertFlorio.com
>
>
>
>  ________________________________
>
>
> From: games_access-bounces at igda.org [mailto:games_access-bounces at igda.org]
> On Behalf Of d. michelle hinn
>  Sent: Tuesday, November 21, 2006 6:57 PM
>  To: IGDA Games Accessibility SIG Mailing List
>  Subject: Re: [games_access] Fwd: Re Canadian Press article
>
>
>
>
> It was Neil Davidson from the Canadian Press (Canada's version of the
> Associated Press) -- he's a senior editor there and was covering the
> Montreal Game Summit. And, yes, that was who I was collecting pictures for.
> It wasn't that he didn't include our lines, I think, as much as he included
> some links that would get you TO everyone's links. So I can see why he did
> it -- a giant list of links in a newspaper doesn't do much good. I didn't
> have editorial control over the article, as it's a freedom of the press kind
> of thing so I didn't see it until today...the day after it came out.
>
>
>
>
>
> The article is appended at the end of this email and the original email I
> sent out. If you go to:
>
>
>
>
>
> http://wham.canoe.ca/news/2006/11/20/2430839-cp.html
>
>
>
>
>
> You'll see that your picture is in the article, Robert. :) And your name.
>
>
>
>
>
> Michelle
>
>
>
>
>
> Who wrote the article is my question is this the one that Michelle was
> collecting photographs about quad controller that story?  It's a little
> distressing that they didn't include our links.  I think the readers would
> want to learn more about that and says that such a hard sell area any
> information people can get gather for a would be great but a kick that it
> might next time just to make sure the people know they should really stress
> links to the people they're putting articles on about.  Where can I read
> that anyway?
>
>
>
>
>
> No big deal here just great to know.  Thank you Michelle for that effort
> still amazing always your effort is always appreciated.  One great thing
> about our group we are always helping each other out not arguing with each
> other getting no where and we can actually accomplished a lot in this area
> of interest because it's all of our goals.
>
>
>
>
>
> Robert
>
>
> www.RobertFlorio.com
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>  ________________________________
>
>
>
> From: games_access-bounces at igda.org [mailto:games_access-bounces at igda.org]
> On Behalf Of Barrie Ellis
>  Sent: Tuesday, November 21, 2006 3:44 PM
>  To: IGDA Games Accessibility SIG Mailing List
>  Subject: Re: [games_access] Fwd: Re Canadian Press article
>
>
>
>
>
> Get a grip, Michelle! We know you're not a big-head. We won't let you be! So
> feel easier about posting your narcissitic accessibility articles(!).
>
>
>
>
>
> Seriously though, it's a very good article, and I personally see the
> IGDA/GASIG and Game-Accessibility.com plugs as plugs for us all to be
> honest.
>
>
>
>
>
> Barrie
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> ----- Original Message -----
>
>
> From: d. michelle hinn
>
>
> To: games_access at igda.org
>
>
> Sent: Tuesday, November 21, 2006 5:53 PM
>
>
> Subject: [games_access] Fwd: Re Canadian Press article
>
>
>
>
>
> Hi all,
>
>
>
>
>
> Ok...I didn't know that this article was going to be so focused on me. And
> Reid...I'm sorry games [cc] wasn't on the links. And Robert, I'm sorry that
> your site wasn't on the list either. And Barrie, and etc, etc, etc. The
> author found a few overall links. But he's a very nice guy and when we have
> major updates in the future, we should definitely include him in our PR
> stuff. He's a good guy to be in touch with for all of us!
>
>
>
>
>
> And Microsoft is gonna hate me. But I think Brannon (on this list) would
> also agree that accessibility is a hard sell within gaming, although it was
> great that he was able to talk about accessibility at Game Fest.
>
>
>
>
>
> Oh...you know, it's really not easy for me to point out articles that I'm
> included in. I'm trying to get over it but it took me a while for me to feel
> ok about forwarding it...
>
>
>
>
>
> <blush>
>
>
>
>
>
> Michelle
>
>
> Your press shy chairperson...
>
>
>
>
>
>
> To: "'d. michelle hinn'" <hinn at uiuc.edu>
>  Subject: Re Canadian Press article
>  Date: Tue, 21 Nov 2006 12:27:52 -0500
>
>
>
> Hi Michelle
>  Our story moved yesterday. I have attached a link showing it on the Sun
> newspaper chain website up here. Also a copy of the story is below.
>
>
> Thanks for taking the time to speak to me and for helping with the pictures.
> I wish you well and hope you will keep me updated on your group. I would be
> interested in following up.
>
>
> Regards
>
>
> Neil Davidson
>
>
>
>
>
> http://wham.canoe.ca/news/2006/11/20/2430839-cp.html
>
>
> Michelle Hinn campaigns for more accessibility for disabled gamers
> (GAMES-Disabled)
>  Nov 20, 2006 11:51
>  By Neil Davidson
>  The Canadian Press
>  Game developers take Michelle Hinn's phone calls these days. But they may
> not always like what she has to say.
>  Hinn is chair of a special interest group in game accessibility that's part
> of the International Game Developers Association. The adjunct professor at
> the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign is passionate about her
> cause, opening up video gaming to the disabled.
>
>
> ``This is a social justice issue, this is not just a gaming issue,'' Hinn
> told a seminar at the recent Montreal International Game Summit.
>
>
> So Hinn campaigns for developers to think about captioning games, allowing
> controllers to be remapped, offering easier modes of play, better manuals _
> and to rethink the kind of titles they make.
>
>
> The payoff can be rewarding.
>  ``We have one member who also has mobility impairment and said he was able
> to dance for the first time in an online role-playing game and that was
> amazing to him,'' Hinn said in an interview.
>
>
> Access to gaming can also promote a sense of inclusion, said Hinn, citing
> the case of a blind gamer who just wanted to be able to say to a friend
> ```Yeah, I got such and such score on that, what did you get?'''
>
>
> ``So we're no longer talking about `oh, this is my friend who has a
> disability.' It's `this is my friend that just kicked my butt in this
> game,''' said Hinn. ``It's a very interesting and very powerful social tool,
> I think.''
>
>
> Part of her group's job is also to share information and tips _ and to
> correct false assumptions.
>  Hinn's group has been active as a fully fledged special interest group for
> about four years now. She speaks to major gaming conferences and works
> behind the scenes with console manufacturers and game developers.
>
>
> While there is much more work to be done, the developers now know who she
> is.
>  ``Yes, I'm getting e-mails back from people, like Will Wright who created
> The Sims,'' Hinn said, with a slight sense of disbelief.
>
>
> And there have been success stories. Hinn points to such enlightened
> developers as Namco and Valve, which after getting complaints offered full
> captioning on the hit game Half-Life 2.
>
>
> In some cases, it's a matter of convincing developers that thinking of the
> disabled does not have to mean not including game features but rather new
> ways to access these features. And to have them think out of the box.
>
>
> Hinn cites the game DEMOR for the vision-impaired _ imagine a sophisticated
> pin-the-tail-on-the-donkey game that uses GPS. She also notes that games
> that only call for one button, currently popular in cellphone games, have
> been used by quadriplegic gamers ``forever.''
>
>
>
>
>
> Hinn's group is also trying new ways to get developers involved. One of the
> current projects is dubbed Accessibility Idol and involves inviting some
> big-name developers to show up at the Game Developers Conference with an
> idea for a game for the mobility-impaired.
>
>
> ``We're thinking of an avid gamer who was in an accident and is now
> quadriplegic and loves to play games and loves to play games with his
> friends who don't have disabilities,'' Hinn explained.
>
>
> Many developers are astounded at the lengths that people will go to play
> their game. At GDC, they showed developer David Perry footage of a
> quadriplegic gamer playing The Matrix: Path of Neo using a quad controller
> that uses ``sip and puff'' tubes to control the action.
>
>
> ``The look on his face was astounding,'' Hinn said of Perry. ``Because it's
> touching when you see something that you've created and see what someone
> does in order to access your game because they think that it's so important
> to their lives.''
>
>
> ``I think it really puts some things into perspective of what kind of impact
> the gaming industry has on people's psychological well-being.''
>
>
> Hinn's unpaid game accessibility work is piggybacked on top of an already
> busy schedule. She teaches courses on video game design at the University of
> Illinois and runs a ``living-learning community,'' which she explains is
> like a small college within the university for women majoring in math,
> science and engineering.
>
>
>
>
>
> Hinn, who has a BA in music performance, a B.Sc. in psychology and MA in
> multimedia in design, was recently named one of the ``Game Industry's 100
> Most Influential Women'' by the online magazine Next Generation.
>
>
> ``I'm always looking for injustice and trying to do research that in some
> ways helps,'' Hinn explained. ``OK, maybe this is not the most important
> issue in the universe but for some people it is.''
>
>
> Hinn has dealt with problems of her own. She is dyslexic, although she
> wasn't diagnosed until she was about to graduate from undergraduate school.
>
>
> ``I guess I felt a kind of personal tug in my heart, knowing I had somehow
> gotten through school with good grades despite having this reading
> disability.''
>
>
> ``Then later I started developing a condition that gives me chronic pain. It
> just happens here and there and so I've become more aware in recent years of
> my own body kind of shutting down on itself and the importance of having
> things to do when that happens, I mean who wants to just sit there with
> nothing to do?''
>
>
> The term disabled run the gamut _ from vision-, hearing- and
> mobility-impaired issues to those caused by aging, genetics or accidents.
>
>
> Hinn says she gets e-mails all the times from parents or doctors asking
> about how to get hold of a certain controller.
>  ``Those are the heartbreaker e-mails,'' she said. ``You hate that's what
> brought a parent into the field but if we can help, just keep a child from
> being depressed, helping them feel more included in the world and in touch
> with friend groups, if more online multiplayer games were more accessible,
> that would open up a huge range of social possibilities.''
>
>
> ``We're always talking about bad things that happen on the web and online
> games but that's one of the positives, no one knows you're disabled
> online.''
>
>
> But the sands are ever shifting. Progress is made on one console, only to
> have a new one come out with new challenges for disabled gamers.
>
>
> Hinn, who once worked as an intern at Microsoft, sees progress among
> independent developers but says the larger console manufacturers have lagged
> behind.
>
>
> ``Microsoft had not done very much which is disappointing ... because they
> have done a lot with accessibility with regards to their operating systems
> and other programs but when it comes to gaming not so much. And the same
> with Sony and Nintendo, although I think Nintendo has more of an
> understanding, especially games for the elderly with games like Brain Age,
> etc.''
>
>
> Each small victory is savoured by Hinn, whose passion shines through.
>  ``I've always been an advocate of social justice and that's why I'm
> involved in a lot of programs that help foster women in the game industry
> and women in technology,'' she explained.
>
>
>
>
>
> ``So yeah. the pay's not so great but it feels worthy, for me it's the right
> choice.
>  ___
>  For more information, visit:
>  _ www.igda.org/accessibility
> <http://www.igda.org/accessibility>
>  _ www.gameaccessibility.com
> <http://www.gameaccessibility.com>
>  _ www.deafgamers.com <http://www.deafgamers.com>
>  _ www.audiogames.net <http://www.audiogames.net>
>
>
>
>
>  ________________________________
>
>
>
> _______________________________________________
>  games_access mailing list
>  games_access at igda.org
>  http://seven.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/games_access
>
>
>
>  _______________________________________________
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>
>
>
>  ________________________________
>
>
> _______________________________________________
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>