[games_access] Game Accessibility article: "Games That Reach Out" - News Gazette

[d. michelle hinn]

*blush* Thanks, Barrie! I finally got around to 
putting it up -- it came out in April. Here's 
some more news...

I just got an email this morning to let me know 
that I had made Next Gen's list of 100 Most 
Influential Women in Gaming:

http://www.next-gen.biz/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=3783&Itemid=2&limit=1&limitstart=4

The full article starts here:

http://www.next-gen.biz/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=3783&Itemid=2

So, this media blitz is kinda weird for me. 
Everything keeps saying I founded the SIG but 
that was Thomas Westin -- I was one of the 
original members. Just wanted to clarify that. :)

Michelle

>There's a great article on Michelle's blog here:
>
>http://vrgrrl.blogspot.com/2006/09/btw-i-never-did-put-up-that-article.html
>
>I've pasted it below too - hope you don't mind, 
>Michelle, but I thought it was too good a read 
>not to.
>
>
>
>Games That Reach Out
>
>video games are a part of modern life for a lot 
>of adults as well as kids, michelle hinn says. 
>people talk about the latest games like they 
>talk about the latest episode of the "sopranos" 
>or the latest best-selling book. some online 
>multiplayer games are, in fact, little societies 
>in and of
>themselves.
>
>hinn, a university of illinois doctoral student, 
>is doing her dissertation on social interactions 
>and learning among college students in such 
>games, which she became interested in during a 
>stint working for microsoft. here's no law 
>saying that games have to be accessible," hinn 
>said.
>
>while a few game developers have begun to 
>include accessibility features --  "half life 2" 
>sported closed-captioning and the adventure game 
>"terraformers" was designed to be played solely 
>by sound as well as visuals -- hinn is working 
>to make the practice widespread.
>
>she founded the international game developers 
>association game accessibility special interest 
>group, has chaired it the last two years and is 
>running for a seat on the association's board 
>[note: well...that didn't end up working out 
>but, hey, it was my first effort in game 
>politics]. at the 2006 game developer's 
>conference in san jose, calif., last month, she 
>was one of three people who received an MVP 
>award from the association. she works 
>internationally with other people promoting and 
>developing accessible games and is co-writing a 
>book on accessible game development for charles 
>river media, a computer books publisher.
>
>she's also started a software company, 
>donationcoder, with friend jesse reichler, a 
>doctoral student in computer science at the UI, 
>and is starting a consulting business centered 
>on accessible game development.
>
>"i'm just trying to create my own job basically," hinn said jokingly.
>
>she does all this in between, among other 
>things, teaching classes at the UI and serving 
>as a counselor and instructor for the women in 
>math, science and engineering section of the 
>florida avenue residence halls, a classroom and 
>residential program for women majoring in 
>scientific and technical fields.
>
>hinn is the rare person older than 30 that 
>college students think of as "cool," said piper 
>hodson, who directs the women in math, science 
>and engineering program.
>
>hodson thinks that's due in part to "street 
>cred" from having worked for a big-name tech 
>company like microsoft and also a result of 
>hinn's research, which gives her a feel for 
>youth culture.
>
>"energy" is a word that seems to come up when 
>people talk about hinn, including UI professor 
>bertram "chip" bruce, her dissertation adviser. 
>bruce said he's excited about the insights that 
>could come from hinn's research using games as a 
>window into understanding how young people 
>collaborate, learn from each other, interact and 
>share information. "i think michelle is doing 
>terrific work," he said.
>
>jason della rocca, executive director of the 
>international game developers association, 
>wouldn't disagree. "she's full of energy and 
>excitement and really has a drive to advocate 
>for building accessibility into video games,´ he 
>wrote in an e-mail. "she is an exemplary leader 
>and has done so much to organize and coordinate 
>the efforts of the IGDA's game accessibility SIG 
>--  one of our most active groups."
>
>besides closed-captioning and audio games for 
>the blind, hinn said games can be made more 
>accessible in a variety of ways. for example, 
>designing them so that the controls can be 
>remapped by the user to allow game play to be 
>conducted easier with a mouth stick or the feet. 
>likewise, font sizes and colors could be 
>adjustable for people with low vision.
>
>members of the game accessibility group hinn 
>chairs created a game modification program, or 
>mod, for doom III that allows not only 
>closed-captioning for dialogue, but also for 
>ambient sounds that tell a gamer an enemy is 
>close.
>
>game consoles also could be made to more easily 
>accommodate alternative controller hardware, 
>hinn said, like a finger pad to allow someone in 
>a wheelchair to play the popular footwork game 
>"dance dance revolution" with friends.
>
>"each group is going to have their own different 
>need," hinn said. she noted that accessibility 
>can have advantages for game companies beyond 
>the new customers with disabilities it may yield 
>for them. for instance, "switch," or one-button, 
>games easily usable by the disabled also work 
>well on cellphones, a growing and potentially 
>lucrative game market.
>
>hinn, who should finish her doctorate in august 
>(note: well...there's been a bit of a delay with 
>that...), earned bachelor's degrees in music 
>performance and psychology and a master's in 
>instructional systems design at virginia tech 
>before coming to the UI's college of education 
>for a national science foundation fellowship 
>focused on educational technology.
>
>she got interested in web-based classes and 
>simulation games for educational purposes and 
>has worked on projects related to those topics 
>at the UI, the national center for 
>supercomputing applications and elsewhere.
>
>her own experience overcoming dyslexia and 
>experiences with disabled friends and students 
>working in programming and on computers got her 
>interested in accessibility, first in 
>educational software and online resources.
>
>hinn, who described herself as being into 
>computers and social justice, was interested in 
>games already, and accessibility in games 
>gradually became a big interest.
>
>"we always had game consoles in the house (growing up)," she said.
>
>writer: greg kline
>
>
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