[games_access] MacArthur Chapter (was: Robert's Biography)

Wed Oct 25 18:08:12 EDT 2006

Lets back up a bit : ) 

> Actually you aren't the only academic working on accessibility issues and
digital media

Oh dear, I suppose you are referring to my writing this:

'I was surprised to find out that I'm the only one who is directly referring
to Accessibility issues, so I'd like to make the best of it.' 

So let me rephrase: I was surprised to find out that I'm the only one
*within the Macarthur book* who is directly referring to Accessibility
issues. 

My entire premise for contacting you is that I'm *not* the only academic
working on these issues! 

> So I'm wondering how widely the MacArthur foundation went in their search.

Exactly my point. Which is why I extended my reach to this group. I was
hoping that my chapter could serve as a gateway towards prominent work in
the field - namely yours.

I understand your concerns about ownership - and I should have checked into
this up-front. I will now. Please believe me that my goal is not to restrict
anyone, but do the little that I can to point the readers to the right
direction (your direction). In my mind, this little chapter could even help
publicize your upcoming book and create connections with the foundation for
further funding and collaborations. 

Before we continue, I'll forward your email to my editor and ask for a
response in writing in regards to everything you raise here. 

> So maybe the idea of another group building more forums in yet another
place is causing some confusion amongst members of the list.

Re. the MacArthur forum - it was not my intention to fragment your efforts
(although I see your point!). Macarthur has gone through great length to
invite experts from the fields of education, new media and other sciences
into one forum. When they asked me to suggest experts - I sent them your
emails. I think you could have contributed a lot to the discussions, and
hoped you'd enjoy the multidisciplinary interaction with other experts.

The IP issues didn't even cross my mind. Perhaps it should have! Sorry.

Before my next email - I'll be sure to get all of this in writing from my
editor.

> help us see what specifically you would like to focus on in your chapter
to avoid the chapter overlapping work we're already doing professionally

More on this once the rest clears up! but very quickly -

I'm actually not sure what your book is about either. My chapter is part of
a series that concentrates on New Media, Learning and Youth. The book that
I'm part of deals with digital games and attempts to complexify (is that a
word?) the current discussions on how they affect our youth. My particular
chapter looks at games from the special-needs perspective - considering all
of the above. 

When most politicians are concerned with over-exposure of kids to
digital-games, I look at lack-of-play due to accessibility issues, and also
empowerment that games provide to many children with special needs. I
examine how various therapists utilize digital-games to identify problems
and hash them out in therapy. I follow kids in wheelchairs that win
international game championships. I ask - do digital games provide us with
new opportunities in regards to therapy and normalcy? How are they different
from traditional games in that respect? 

My argument is that they indeed hold potential for unique benefits, but
unfortunately this potential is rarely reached due to accessibility issues.
Not all games are born the same, and not all could be made accessible. But
there's much that could be done to improve the situation. So I describe what
the 'fixable' issues are, and provide a game-plan for designers, legislators
and gamers towards improving upon this. I advocate to some legislation and
corporate-education on the matter. I end the chapter with suggestion for
more research (which I could have used), and resources for further reading.

Lastly, I hope to include an appendix for designers - showing a step-by-step
adaptation of some games, and by doing so hashing out some of the things
I've learned in the past two years.

So are we working on the same thing? there are probably great similarities,
but I think that our works can feed of each other and create a larger buzz.
I'm so sorry to hear that your work has been used without permission! I
promise that this will never happen here. I will get it in writing before we
continue.

Amit

  _____  

From: games_access-bounces at igda.org [mailto:games_access-bounces at igda.org]
On Behalf Of d. michelle hinn
Sent: Wednesday, October 25, 2006 4:46 PM
To: IGDA Games Accessibility SIG Mailing List
Subject: [games_access] MacArthur Chapter (was: Robert's Biography)

Hey Amit and all,

Actually you aren't the only academic working on accessibility issues and
digital media -- most of this list has already been doing that for a long
time -- but I'm surprised that we're hearing about this study for the first
time. So I'm wondering how widely the MacArthur foundation went in their
search. But regardless, I'm glad that someone like you is involved with the
study/book series and is writing on accessibility and is bringing groups of
people like the SIG into this! :)

There are many people who have collected some of these gamer voices on
forums for the past couple years. So a lot of this already exists. It might
be that gamers with disabilities might not find your forum because they are
already hooked into other sites and communities that directly focus on
accessible games that exist. Or it might be that, like us, we are already
way over our heads with our own forums that we are electronically tapped
out. ;) So maybe the best way to do this is to think about what we already
know exists rather than focusing on new forums -- that's been one of the
challenges we've been dealing with since the start of the SIG -- trying to
get disenfranchised groups together. So maybe the idea of another group
building more forums in yet another place is causing some confusion amongst
members of the list. I do understand that MacArthur probably wants these
forums to be under their IP (intellectual property) but that might be
causing a bit of resistance. Not sure.

Thoughts everyone? I know that I'm pretty tapped out with conference
proposals and our book that moving in another direction is pretty hard to
imagine. Perhaps, Amit, you could help us see what specifically you would
like to focus on in your chapter to avoid the chapter overlapping work we're
already doing professionally (ie, some might be hesitant to contribute
something that is a chapter in progress for the book or something that they
are about to unveil as a product). I think that's what Robert was most
concerned with. I know that part of my concerns has been that we might be
overlapping some work that we are hoping will receive funding from other
agencies and if it's under the MacArthur foundation's IP then we're in
trouble. Also, gameaccessibility.com is funded by external sources and so
there is already a potential conflict of interest there -- but that's
something that Richard can explain more about (he's out of town this week
and out of email communication).

Oh boy...did anyone predict the day that we'd have to worry about all this?
:)

So in summary... :) I think that we need to understand a bit more about the
specific aim of the chapter (ie, what specifically do you want to cover
rather than the general "game accessibility"). And who "owns" the materials
that MacArthur solicits? Do we give up our own ownership (ie, will we not be
able to publish this on our own if it's covered in the MacArthur forums) and
shoot ourselves in the foot with regard to funding proposals and our book?
So I think that understanding this better will help people feel more at ease
since we've been working on this for years and it is the field we work in so
we want to have our work represented as "our work" (whatever that means --
it might mean the place we work at or the company we work for) and not
something that we now have to cite the MacArthur foundation in.

Please don't take this as my thinking that you are disingenuous -- my intent
is quite the opposite. I'm simply trying to help people feel more at ease
and help support what could be a very valuable association. But the
unfortunate reality is that we've had our work wholly "borrowed" by a number
of groups without citing us (the SIG, a research group, etc) and we've lost
the IP on it. So I want to try and prevent that from happening again as much
as possible. :)

Cheers,

Michelle

> So how in the world did you figure out how to write this chapter to
legislationŠ

Actually it's not related to government in any way. The chapter is part of a
larger series of books that the MacArthur foundation, commissioned on the
subject of Digital Media, Learning and Youth. The purpose of the entire
series is to create a more complex discussion about digital media - beyond
the simplistic fear-mongering slogans that politicians spit out today -
'games are bad for you' or 'the internet is a dangerous place for kids' etc.

Macarthur wants to understand the real implications of digital media on our
lives. So it will spend money and time to take the content of the books and
promote discussions around them in academic institutions, everyday media and
among policy makers.

I was surprised to find out that I'm the only one who is directly referring
to Accessibility issues, so I'd like to make the best of it.

/amit

  _____  

From: games_access-bounces at igda.org [mailto:games_access-bounces at igda.org]
On Behalf Of Robert Florio
Sent: Wednesday, October 25, 2006 11:24 AM
To: 'IGDA Games Accessibility SIG Mailing List'
Subject: RE: to Michelle [games_access] RobertFlorio biography. Accessible
idol

No problem I certainly will I might be out of communication a little but let
me know when and where you set it up and I'll definitely go there.  So how
in the world did you figure out how to write this chapter to legislation is
it something really directly to the government or how does that work?  Let's
rock them hard that's really show that what they're missing but when they
finally jump on the gun I think we should definitely have some things that
we start making the cash taken advantage of our design before they do.  I
think it's great that were telling people how to make games accessible but
if they catch on it before we do yes were making games accessible to
everyone but I just feel left out a little like we should be the first to
make that game.  I'm still working very hard to put together a company god
willing it will happen I know it.

Thank you

Robert

 <http://www.robertflorio.com/> www.RobertFlorio.com

  _____  

From: games_access-bounces at igda.org [mailto:games_access-bounces at igda.org]
On Behalf Of Amit Pitaru [LIST]
Sent: Wednesday, October 25, 2006 11:16 AM
To: 'IGDA Games Accessibility SIG Mailing List'
Subject: RE: to Michelle [games_access] RobertFlorio biography. Accessible
idol

Robert, the chapter I'm writing now is part of a larger effort by the
MacArthur foundation to bring these issues to legislators. I'll set up a
forum and maybe we can start collecting voices of gamers - explaining the
reasons that games/consoles should be made accessible (just like CC on TV!).
I'll post this on the game-accessibility site and hope you can help me out!

amit

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <https://pairlist7.pair.net/pipermail/games_access/attachments/20061025/f5ace99f/attachment.htm>