[games_access] Law 508

Thu Aug 7 18:49:05 EDT 2008

Yeah, I definitely have to agree with Mark and Thomas. As far as I know most every country requires a reasonable accommodation and, yes, personal assistants are often hired by universities to help students with disabilities. With any kind of computer-based instruction it will be a blessing for some and a curse for others. So everything is "case by case" and schools and universities do not have a one size fits all set of rules.

So basically, as Mark said, it would be really difficult for a case to go to court. The only thing I can think of that would make a case is if a university flat out says that they are not willing to provide any accommodation and, thus a student might not be able to take courses they need to take for their major. But that is outside the game world and points to a much bigger problem that the school might be dealing with: ignorance.

Michelle

I think the same goes with similar laws in Sweden for instance too

In education the traditional way of coping with accessibility, if it can't be done through modification of the environment, is to hire personal assistants, e.g sign language during a lecture. The problem then when it comes to games in education, is to find personal assistants who are also skillful gamers :)

/Thomas

On 7 aug 2008, at 20.55, Mark Barlet wrote:

Well to chime in on this, because I am in the software biz for the federal government or 10 years here in the Washington DC area, and at one time in my life an expert on 508.

Eelke, you are half right here. The only folks that are required to comply with 508 are federal government agencies, and only to the extent of where their data is exposed to the public or employees. Here is what it says...

"Section 508 requires that when Federal agencies develop, procure, maintain, or use electronic and information technology, Federal employees with disabilities have access to and use of information and data that is comparable to the access and use by Federal employees who are not individuals with disabilities, unless an undue burden would be imposed on the agency."

So, an example here would be the website from the IRS, or forms they allow to be filled out on the web. Those all have to comply with the law. 

Now that said, many states have adopted state level laws that bring 508 into state level governments, and that is where university come into play. State run university are compelled to comply with 508 once the state adopts the law on a state level.

I say all of that to say this, 508 has HUGE LOOPHOLES. You do not need to be 508 compliant if your application, by its nature, cannot be 508 compliant, so let's say a video game. Further, you can also not be 508 compliant if no 508 alternative is available.

Part (e) of Section 1194.3 says "(e) This part shall not be construed to require a fundamental alteration in the nature of a product or its components. "

So to go back to the original question, in the US I dare say NO GAME is required to be accessible, because one can argue, and be right for the most part that 508 "require a fundamental alteration in the nature of a product or its components. " and also "unless an undue burden would be imposed on the agency". As long as you can argue that there is no way to make said product accessible to persons with disabilities, and still be what it was meant to be, say a game, then it can be excluded from the law... 

Last point, and this is why I think 508 and games is never going to happen (and I think never should happen) is because 508 is an all or nothing law, you are 508 compliant, or you are not. So if your product can be used by everyone in the world with physical disabilities, and the blind cannot use it, you are not 508… So I would say, and I am no lawyer, but I think you would be hard pressed to sue a school who used a non 508, off the shelf, game as a teaching aid in a classroom, or be sued for using one.

NOW, if you are making a game that is designed for school and one of the goals of the game is to help, or train folks with disabilities, I would think that is a marketing thing...

You are welcome to contact me directly if you want to yell at me, debate me on the law as it is written or just to say hello.

Mark Barlet
Editor-in-Chief
AbleGamers.com

PS sorry for my spelling, I am at work, and not a lot of time to give at the moment.

On Thu, Aug 7, 2008 at 10:45 AM, Eelke Folmer <<mailto:eelke.folmer at gmail.com>eelke.folmer at gmail.com> wrote:

Hi Sandra,

Here in the US Section 508 of the rehabilitation act states that all
federal agencies (including universities relying upon federal funding)
make their information accessible.

So if someone wants to use a game in their classroom in theory it has
to comply with this act but I doubt whether that happens a lot. I'm
not sure about the legal issues can you sue a university for not
providing you with an accessible alternative?

Cheers Eelke

On 05/08/2008, Sandra Uhling <<mailto:sandra_uhling at web.de>sandra_uhling at web.de> wrote:
> Hello,
>
> I would like to know,
> in which countries games used in schools require to be accessible.
> And what laws are important.
>
> With this information it will be much easier to discuss about it.
> And to show that this is an important thing for companies that
> are developping games for use in schools.
>
> Regards,
>
> Sandra Uhling
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Eelke Folmer                           Assistant Professor
Department of CS&E/171
University of Nevada              Reno, Nevada 89557
Game interaction design        <http://www.eelke.com>www.eelke.com
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