[games_access] GDC 2008 Guidelines

Sun Sep 30 11:58:31 EDT 2007

Hi Richard,

I still can't edit the wiki, despite having set up my IGDA password and 
username. I have no idea why this is, but rather than waste any more time 
trying to figure this out, would you mind adding my accessibility talk 
please? Thanks!

Everyone, I welcome feedback on the submission.

Eitan

At 07:24 AM 9/30/2007, Richard wrote:
>Hi,
>
>So this far, we got three proposals for GDC08? Eelke/Thomas + 
>Michelle/Richard + Reid/Eelke ? And the booth? Or are there more? I still 
>got the Top 10 Key Points proposal thing (giving an overview/walkthrough 
>of what game accessibility - in my opinion - constitutes of, what 
>expertise is needed and what one could do now already >>> I emailed it to 
>a select few about a year ago already - could send it it you again) that I 
>could turn in before tomorrow if anyone is interested is partnering with 
>me on that (Michelle/Thomas/Eelke/Reid/Dimitris?)? Btw... Dimitris, are 
>you doing something this GDC or are you too busy with the EU proposals 
>(like most of Europe it seems right now ;) !!!)?
>
>I'll try and get it online within a couple of hours and if someone want 
>partner (and then wants the document of the 10 key points I'm referrring 
>to), email me!
>
>Richard
>
>
>----- Original Message -----
>From: <mailto:hinn at uiuc.edu>d. michelle hinn
>To: <mailto:games_access at igda.org>IGDA Games Accessibility SIG Mailing List
>Sent: Sunday, September 30, 2007 6:34 AM
>Subject: [games_access] GDC 2008 Guidelines
>
>Hi All,
>
>I should have sent this earlier but I wanted everyone to have a handy page 
>with the proposal requirements on it (there are a few diffs this year but 
>they aren't big):
>
><http://www.igda.org/wiki/All_Proposals>http://www.igda.org/wiki/All_Proposals
>
>I just put it up so hit refresh if you've been hanging out at the wiki 
>water fountain in the last few hours!
>
>Michelle
>
>
>----------
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Title:
AudiOdyssey Postmortem - How to Make Accessible Games for Everyone

Track, Format, Theme, Audience Level:
Game Design - 1st, Vision - 2nd
60 Minute Lecture
Technical
Open to all experience levels

Session Overview (50 words):
AudiOdyssey is a downloadable prototype game designed to be usable by both sighted and non-sighted audiences. This session covers why industry should care about disabled gamers, how to make accessible games that are playable by everyone, and looks at what went right and wrong in AudiOdyssey's development.

Concise Presentation Description (100 words):
Despite the growing number and demographics of video game players, most games are still completely inaccessible to disabled populations. AudiOdyssey is a prototype video game designed to be usable by both sighted and non-sighted audiences. This session looks at what went right and what went wrong in AudiOdyssey's development, why industry should care about disabled gamers, and covers how to make games that are accessible yet still playable by mainstream audience. The talk includes a live demo of the game.

Intended Audience and Prereqs (40 words):
This talk is focused on design and intended for game designers, producers, students and academics. No experience is required.

Session Takeaway (40 words):
Title:
AudiOdyssey Postmortem - How (and why!) to Make Accessible Games for Everyone

Track, Format, Theme, Audience Level:
Game Design - 1st, Vision - 2nd
60 Minute Lecture
Technical
Open to all experience levels

Session Overview (50 words):
AudiOdyssey is a downloadable prototype game designed to be usable by both sighted and non-sighted audiences. This session covers why industry should care about disabled gamers, how to make accessible games that are playable by everyone, and looks at what went right and wrong in AudiOdyssey's development.

Concise Presentation Description (100 words):
Despite the growing number and demographics of video game players, most games are still completely inaccessible to disabled populations. AudiOdyssey is a prototype video game designed to be usable by both sighted and non-sighted audiences. This session looks at what went right and what went wrong in AudiOdyssey's development, why industry should care about disabled gamers, and covers how to make games that are accessible yet still playable by mainstream audience. The talk includes a live demo of the game.

Intended Audience and Prereqs (40 words):
This talk is focused on design and intended for game designers, producers, students and academics. No experience is required.

Session Takeaway (40 words):
- It is possible to make games that are both accessible and still enjoyable to mainstream gamers
- There are a large number of disabled people who want accessible games, and making them is potentially very profitable

Extended abstract (500 words):

A decade ago, gaming was the dominated by young men, with other demographics comprising an relatively small potion of the market. Over the past few years, though, there has been a large push to bring traditionally non-gaming groups into the fold, with concerted commercial efforts to make games for women, the elderly, and the very young. However, one group, the disabled, has consistently been left out of such growth, and today there are few accessible games. This is curious, as a huge percentage of people suffer from some disabilities - according to the 2000 US Census, 18.6% of citizens aged 16 to 64 suffer from some form of disability. 

This is bizarre ? how can the industry ignore such a large potential market share? Many game developers rationalize this trend by arguing that accessible games tend to perform poorly in mainstream audiences, as the games are generally inferior to non-accessible productions. At the MIT GAMBIT games lab, we don?t buy that reasoning. Believing there is a huge demand for accessible games, we created AudiOdyssey, a prototype game that is accessible to the visually impaired. 

AudiOdyssey's development had four research goals, namely:

- Implementing a game design that allows visually impaired and sighted users to play the game in the same way, with the same level of challenge, and share a common gaming experience. 
- Designing online multiplayer that allows for identity masking, at least in the sense that users in remote locations should not be aware of the visual status of their gaming counterpart. 
- Designing alternative control schemes for improved accessibility to the visually impaired. 
- Creating a fun, engaging game that relies on audio more than visuals to simulate an exciting experience. 

The GDC presentation will be a lively discussion covering motivation for why such games should be created, how the research goals for the project were picked, and the experimental game development process. I'll review which parts of the process worked, which didn't, and why they didn't. Pitfalls in accessible game development will be explored thoroughly. The talk will also cover formal testing results (taking place in early October), and conclude with a live demo of the game. I will leave time for a 15 minute Q + A session at the end of the talk.

Presentation Materials (400 CHARS):
QuickTime, Powerpoint & Projector
Live Demonstration of AudiOdyssey (we will provide laptop and wiimote, we only need AV cables)

Past Speaking Engagements (800 CHARS):
"Immune Attack: Teaching Biology in a Video Game", at Games for Health, May 9th, 2006
"Immune Attack: Teaching Biology in a Video Game", at Games for Health, Sept. 29th, 2006
Contact for Games for Health Talks:
Ben Sawyer, bsawyer at dmill.com, Co-Founder of Digital Mill, organizer for Serious Games Summits

"Immune Attack: An Educational Video Game", at the National Science Foundation, May 31st, 2006
No Contact Info Available

Accepted Talks:
"AudiOdyssey: An Accessible Game for Both Sighted and Non-Sighted Gamers", at FuturePlay, Nov 2007 Contact: Jim Parker, jparker at ucalgary.ca

Recent CNN article on AudiOdyssey and GAMBIT: http://www.cnn.com/2007/BUSINESS/09/02/video.blind/