From barrie.ellis at oneswitch.org.uk  Fri Feb  1 04:51:28 2008
From: barrie.ellis at oneswitch.org.uk (Barrie Ellis)
Date: Fri, 1 Feb 2008 09:51:28 -0000
Subject: [games_access] GDC 2008 Update + Non-Profit Status
References: <6.1.0.6.2.20080128221100.01e6edc0@enigami.com>
	<p06230916c3c6de9e086a@[130.126.29.68]>
Message-ID: <034201c864b8$046fb950$0202a8c0@oneswitch>

That's somewhat fantastic news! Good work!

Barrie

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "d. michelle hinn" <hinn at uiuc.edu>
To: "IGDA Games Accessibility SIG Mailing List" <games_access at igda.org>
Sent: Thursday, January 31, 2008 2:43 AM
Subject: [games_access] GDC 2008 Update + Non-Profit Status


> Hi everyone,
>
> I'll try to keep this brief (but you know I get carried away at times) ;)
>
> Just to keep everyone in the loop about GDC 2008 since so few of us are 
> able to attend this year, we have quite a few exciting developments!
>
> First, a few thank you's are in order!
>
> * Thanks to Mark from AbleGamers, we have a sponsor for our fliers through 
> his employer Parature who is sponsoring his trip costs as well!
>
> * Thanks to the hard work of Thomas and Reid, we'll have a limited edition 
> (ie, number) of DVDs with tons of accessible games, demos, and more to 
> give out to influential developers who we will walk amongst the week of 
> Feb 18th!
>
> * Thanks to Eelke's generosity, we were able to squeeze in one more person 
> with a pass -- so this year we will have both Mark Bartlet and Stephanie 
> Walker, both of AbleGamers, with us and I look forward to their amazing 
> energy, passion about games, and excitement about being able to attend GDC 
> for the first time! The weird timing of GDC this year prevented many of 
> you from attending but I think this will be a great year, although we will 
> miss those of you who were unable to attend this year!
>
> (I know many more thank you's will be in order as we get closer to GDC and 
> after!)
>
> Second, we have some exciting guests for Accessibility Arcade!
>
> * Natural Point/SmartNav will be donating their LATEST controller 
> prototype (along with a representative to explain what's going on) plus 
> some video and/or a prototype of their full body motion sensor work (which 
> includes remapping to partial body motion that translates to full body 
> movement in the player's avatar).
>
> * Emotiv will be presenting their highly publicized brain-based controller 
> along with a representative from their company. Ed Fries (my boss's boss 
> from the old Microsoft days) is one of their advisors and I was able to 
> get in touch with their CTO who is working all the details out.
>
> * I'm in talks with Belkin to also present some of their new controllers, 
> including a one-handed controller they showed at E4All
>
> What does all the above really mean? We now have some major companies 
> (with booths who will let us leave our fliers at!) who will help us 
> promote accessibility, are PROUD to show that their products can help 
> gamers with disabilities (in addition to bringing games to so many more 
> people, with and without disabilities), and may soon be financially 
> assisting us as we continue to raise matching funds for our grant. 
> AND...we'll be getting a MUCH bigger presentation room. :)
>
> Speaking of the grant...
>
> * The SIG is now officially a US Non-Profit through the newly established 
> IGDA Foundation. I didn't want to say much until I had more details but we 
> are now able to accept donations and provide tax deduction receipts to 
> donors -- I'll post more specific details soon but I didn't want to sit on 
> that any longer!
>
> * Ben and I are working hard to get more matching funds to help fund 
> delegates to more conferences, equipment purchases, flashy brochures, a 
> donor package explaining who we are and what we do, and more. The press 
> release for "phase one" of this will come out right before GDC so my BIG 
> job at GDC is acquiring as many additional funds as possible.
>
> And finally, a word about the IGDA Diversity Committee:
>
> * (ok more than "a" word) I've been gathering together the leaders of all 
> the diversity SIGs in the IGDA (we are in the "diversity" committee, btw) 
> in the hopes that we can sponsor a "diversity day" at next year's GDC and 
> to raise awareness that gamers are no longer "just" 26 year old white 
> males with no disabilities and neither are all game developers. We all 
> know this is not true and it's time that we start to band together and 
> learn from one another's groups in the hopes that ALL of our groups can 
> continue to grow. There is a meeting planned for Tuesday afternoon for all 
> (not just SIG leaders) those interested in working to make diversity a 
> MAJOR issue within the IGDA!!!
>
> Ok. That's it. I know. That was long. But I used bullet points for a 
> change. ;)
>
> Michelle
> _______________________________________________
> games_access mailing list
> games_access at igda.org
> http://seven.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/games_access 





From devellison at gmail.com  Fri Feb  1 05:23:28 2008
From: devellison at gmail.com (Michael Ellison)
Date: Fri, 1 Feb 2008 04:23:28 -0600
Subject: [games_access] GASPilot 0.2 released
Message-ID: <f2235baa0802010223p298a0f76xbc4441fcae198270@mail.gmail.com>

GASPilot 0.2 - Game speed control & QuadController mappings for
HalfLife2/Doom3 on windows.

It has a GUI now and has been much improved on stability - definitely
not production yet, but easy enough to use with online help included.

Download Page:
http://sourceforge.net/project/showfiles.php?group_id=212119&package_id=260624

Cheers,
Mike


From barrie.ellis at oneswitch.org.uk  Fri Feb  1 08:55:08 2008
From: barrie.ellis at oneswitch.org.uk (Barrie Ellis)
Date: Fri, 1 Feb 2008 13:55:08 -0000
Subject: [games_access] New Game Accessibility Sites
Message-ID: <059701c864da$0ecfd9d0$0202a8c0@oneswitch>

Well - they're not new - but they're new to me...

"Assistive Gaming" is aimed at accessible Mac gaming - http://www.assistivegaming.com/ (with thanks to Mick Donegan at www.specialeffect.org.uk for passing this on)

and

http://enabledgamer.blogspot.com/ - with thanks to the AbleGamers forum: http://ablegamers.com/index.php/General-Discussion/188-Games-from-another-disability-perspective.html


Barrie
www.OneSwitch.org.uk

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From eelke.folmer at gmail.com  Fri Feb  1 17:31:20 2008
From: eelke.folmer at gmail.com (Eelke Folmer)
Date: Fri, 1 Feb 2008 14:31:20 -0800
Subject: [games_access] ALERT Game Book Uploaded for the DVD
In-Reply-To: <F490FF38-283F-4E6B-8F5F-F793BED35DEC@pininteractive.com>
References: <6.1.0.6.2.20080122190712.01e06ac0@enigami.com>
	<F490FF38-283F-4E6B-8F5F-F793BED35DEC@pininteractive.com>
Message-ID: <836db6300802011431k3bb3c826qd24dd56ee265e8b6@mail.gmail.com>

Hi

I'd like to upload some games for the DVD (sorry i'm late). can anyone
mail me where the ftp is and what login to use?

cheers Eelke




On 26/01/2008, Thomas Westin <thomas at pininteractive.com> wrote:
> Hello John,
>
> thanks, OK, I'll look into the manifest html file, it's a good idea to
> have some intro text about each game although I don't think we have
> that for every game (of course I can whip something up but not sure it
> will be correct so maybe better off not having it for those games)
>
> /Thomas
>
>
>
> On 23 jan 2008, at 01.16, John Bannick wrote:
>
> > Thomas,
> >
> > The early Christian Manicheists wore hair shirts and beat themselves
> > in order to get closer to God.
> > Obviously, this was before software development.
> >
> > I finally got our 7-128 Software ALERT Game Book coded, tested,
> > debugged, and uploaded to your FTP site.
> > Thanks ever so much for suggesting WinSCP. It did a far better job
> > than my CuteFTP.
> >
> > In case you or someone is creating some kind of manifest of what's
> > on the DVD, here's a thumbnail of our program.
> >
> > "It's a tool for demonstrating accessibility features in 8 computer
> > games."
> > "It addresses 7 accessibility needs: blindness, vision impairment,
> > color blindness, deafness, motion impairment, cognitive impairment,
> > and cognitive maintenance (brain training)"
> > "It walks the user through the accessibility features that address
> > those accessibility needs."
> > "It's purpose is to show developers what those features look and
> > sound like."
> >
> > Please let me know if you got it.
> >
> > Thanks heaps and stacks for doing all this.
> >
> > John Bannick
> >
> > _______________________________________________
> > games_access mailing list
> > games_access at igda.org
> > http://seven.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/games_access
>
> _______________________________________________
> games_access mailing list
> games_access at igda.org
> http://seven.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/games_access
>


-- 
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Eelke Folmer                           Assistant Professor
Department of CS&E/171
University of Nevada              Reno, Nevada 89557
Game interaction design        www.helpyouplay.com
----------------------------------------------------------------------------


From barrie.ellis at oneswitch.org.uk  Sat Feb  2 04:28:12 2008
From: barrie.ellis at oneswitch.org.uk (Barrie Ellis)
Date: Sat, 2 Feb 2008 09:28:12 -0000
Subject: [games_access] One Thumb to Rule Them All - video
Message-ID: <1d7a01c8657d$f0494470$0202a8c0@oneswitch>

A pretty natty video!

http://switchgaming.blogspot.com/2008/02/one-thumb-to-rule-them-all.html

"Mike Phillips is a gamer and freelance technology writer born with spinal muscular atrophy (SMA). Using his thumb and a proximity switch to access his computer he is a prolific journalist and has contributed chapters to several books. Assistive technology has opened the world for him. For a high resolution version go here: http://www.assistiveware.com/videos.php?video=Mike_Phillips"

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From agdev at thechases.com  Sat Feb  2 09:20:04 2008
From: agdev at thechases.com (Tim Chase)
Date: Sat, 02 Feb 2008 08:20:04 -0600
Subject: [games_access] Voice-controlled XBox-360 controller
Message-ID: <47A47C14.30101@thechases.com>

This came through on my feeds today:

http://www.hackaday.com/2008/02/01/voice-controlled-game-controller/

Hacking an XBox-360 controller to take voice commands.

-tim



From reid at rbkdesign.com  Sat Feb  2 21:18:27 2008
From: reid at rbkdesign.com (Reid Kimball)
Date: Sat, 2 Feb 2008 18:18:27 -0800
Subject: [games_access] Voice-controlled XBox-360 controller
In-Reply-To: <47A47C14.30101@thechases.com>
References: <47A47C14.30101@thechases.com>
Message-ID: <a6673b8d0802021818j22930653k8caf49ab62efa90d@mail.gmail.com>

Tim,

Thanks for this. I'm talking with the creator now. We may be able to
demonstrate his device at GDC in a couple weeks.

-Reid

On Feb 2, 2008 6:20 AM, Tim Chase <agdev at thechases.com> wrote:
> This came through on my feeds today:
>
> http://www.hackaday.com/2008/02/01/voice-controlled-game-controller/
>
> Hacking an XBox-360 controller to take voice commands.
>
> -tim
>
> _______________________________________________
> games_access mailing list
> games_access at igda.org
> http://seven.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/games_access
>


From hinn at uiuc.edu  Sat Feb  2 22:04:27 2008
From: hinn at uiuc.edu (d. michelle hinn)
Date: Sat, 2 Feb 2008 21:04:27 -0600
Subject: [games_access] Voice-controlled XBox-360 controller
In-Reply-To: <a6673b8d0802021818j22930653k8caf49ab62efa90d@mail.gmail.com>
References: <47A47C14.30101@thechases.com>
	<a6673b8d0802021818j22930653k8caf49ab62efa90d@mail.gmail.com>
Message-ID: <p06230927c3cadb232366@[130.126.29.68]>

Well, while we might be a small group in attendance this year, we 
certainly have quite a lot to show people. And good news -- we got a 
better room than we originally were assigned so that should give us 
some more room. Sounds like we need to bring another Xbox 360 too! :)

BTW, I'm talking to the GDC people again Monday about the maximum 
amount of TVs we can get for the session -- it would be nice to have 
as much as possible up on a screen. We'll have a projector as well.

Not sure if PBS/KQED out there is interested in a "one year later" 
story but I'll pitch it to them. They could combine cutting room 
floor footage (if they archive it) and show how Arcade looked last 
year compared to the addition of some cool new stuff this year? I'll 
loop you in on that email Reid -- they weren't super happy with me 
after I, uh, got mad at them for breaking my only request to not do 
interviews in the hour before the Idol session. :( So you might be 
able to sell the idea better. It's nice that's it's online -- we have 
a few NPR radio interviews online too from them and NPR in Boston. 
NPR Illinois just contacted me about a possible story too but I'm not 
sure how they are going to run it. Maybe they could work with Amy at 
KQED radio to get GDC audio clips.

Michelle

>Tim,
>
>Thanks for this. I'm talking with the creator now. We may be able to
>demonstrate his device at GDC in a couple weeks.
>
>-Reid
>
>On Feb 2, 2008 6:20 AM, Tim Chase <agdev at thechases.com> wrote:
>>  This came through on my feeds today:
>>
>>  http://www.hackaday.com/2008/02/01/voice-controlled-game-controller/
>>
>>  Hacking an XBox-360 controller to take voice commands.
>>
>>  -tim
>>
>>  _______________________________________________
>>  games_access mailing list
>>  games_access at igda.org
>>  http://seven.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/games_access
>>
>_______________________________________________
>games_access mailing list
>games_access at igda.org
>http://seven.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/games_access



From barrie.ellis at oneswitch.org.uk  Sun Feb  3 18:08:13 2008
From: barrie.ellis at oneswitch.org.uk (Barrie Ellis)
Date: Sun, 3 Feb 2008 23:08:13 -0000
Subject: [games_access] Voice-controlled XBox-360 controller
References: <47A47C14.30101@thechases.com>
Message-ID: <1f2301c866b9$a8d62ad0$0202a8c0@oneswitch>

Brilliant link, Tim. Thank you!

Barrie
www.OneSwitch.org.uk

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Tim Chase" <agdev at thechases.com>
To: "IGDA Games Accessibility SIG Mailing List" <games_access at igda.org>
Sent: Saturday, February 02, 2008 2:20 PM
Subject: [games_access] Voice-controlled XBox-360 controller


> This came through on my feeds today:
> 
> http://www.hackaday.com/2008/02/01/voice-controlled-game-controller/
> 
> Hacking an XBox-360 controller to take voice commands.
> 
> -tim
> 
> _______________________________________________
> games_access mailing list
> games_access at igda.org
> http://seven.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/games_access




From jbannick at 7128.com  Wed Feb  6 05:48:22 2008
From: jbannick at 7128.com (John Bannick)
Date: Wed, 06 Feb 2008 05:48:22 -0500
Subject: [games_access] Brain Training Games
Message-ID: <6.1.0.6.2.20080206054638.01e3b818@enigami.com>

Folks,

Does anyone know of any Brain Training games that are accessible to gamers 
who are deaf, motion impaired, visually impaired, or blind?

I'm speaking on accessible technologies to a group of professional elder 
care givers and want to give them information that is practical and current.

Thanks,

John Bannick
CTO
7-128 Software



From barrie.ellis at oneswitch.org.uk  Wed Feb  6 06:34:58 2008
From: barrie.ellis at oneswitch.org.uk (Barrie Ellis)
Date: Wed, 6 Feb 2008 11:34:58 -0000
Subject: [games_access] Brain Training Games
References: <6.1.0.6.2.20080206054638.01e3b818@enigami.com>
Message-ID: <227401c868b4$4e0b1410$0202a8c0@oneswitch>

Most games could be said to have an educational element - but Nintendo DS 
style Brain Training I'm not so sure about. Here's a few well worth a look 
though:

http://www.game-accessibility.com/index.php?pagefile=sudosan
http://www.ics.forth.gr/uachess/index.html
http://www.northerngrid.org/sen/NetSwitch/index.htm

Barrie
www.OneSwitch.org.uk


----- Original Message ----- 
From: "John Bannick" <jbannick at 7128.com>
To: <games_access at igda.org>
Sent: Wednesday, February 06, 2008 10:48 AM
Subject: [games_access] Brain Training Games


> Folks,
>
> Does anyone know of any Brain Training games that are accessible to gamers 
> who are deaf, motion impaired, visually impaired, or blind?
>
> I'm speaking on accessible technologies to a group of professional elder 
> care givers and want to give them information that is practical and 
> current.
>
> Thanks,
>
> John Bannick
> CTO
> 7-128 Software
>
> _______________________________________________
> games_access mailing list
> games_access at igda.org
> http://seven.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/games_access 





From hinn at uiuc.edu  Wed Feb  6 10:25:58 2008
From: hinn at uiuc.edu (d. michelle hinn)
Date: Wed, 6 Feb 2008 09:25:58 -0600
Subject: [games_access] Brain Training Games
In-Reply-To: <227401c868b4$4e0b1410$0202a8c0@oneswitch>
References: <6.1.0.6.2.20080206054638.01e3b818@enigami.com>
	<227401c868b4$4e0b1410$0202a8c0@oneswitch>
Message-ID: <p06230910c3cf7d893032@[130.126.29.22]>

As far as the Nintendo series goes (for DS and now Wii), for those 
who can use them, they have cognitive benefits -- although some 
researchers on elderly populations have spoken out for and against 
that but without formal testing. So it's more of anyone's guess as 
far as whether they can be "educational" in the sense that it can 
help with loss of cognition -- we don't have access to Nintendo's 
research (no one does but them). If I run across anything I will let 
you know!

But I'm thinking that the Wii version might be more accessibility to 
some types of motion impairments. I'm not sure how much it is 
accessible for the hearing or visually impaired.

On a COMPLETELY RANDOM PERSONAL side note...I knew I had to get to 
the eye doctor because I was having headaches and squinting a lot. It 
turns out that after hitting -10.00 (not sure if that translates 
universally but it's REALLY bad and without glasses everything is 
just colorful blurs). Anyway, I thought that it was going to be 
bad...turns out that my eyes are now getting BETTER -- in fact, both 
eyes were nearly 1 to 1.5 numbers off so now I'm -8.50 and -9.00. 
Ah...age...who knew that you could start getting better vision!?! My 
doctor did say that with extremely bad eyesight that can still be 
corrected with glasses/contact, that often happens. So I have to 
figure out how to reconfigure my talks that say "with age our sight 
gets worse..." -- now I'll have to say "often get worse..." (although 
I recognize that mine could go the other way again with the next age 
hurdle/decade but it's nice to learn that I can now get contact 
lenses without paying an additional "custom order" fee for once...). 
:D

Thanks for reading this far down. ;)

Michelle "unusually long winded"

>Most games could be said to have an educational element - but 
>Nintendo DS style Brain Training I'm not so sure about. Here's a few 
>well worth a look though:
>
>http://www.game-accessibility.com/index.php?pagefile=sudosan
>http://www.ics.forth.gr/uachess/index.html
>http://www.northerngrid.org/sen/NetSwitch/index.htm
>
>Barrie
>www.OneSwitch.org.uk
>
>
>----- Original Message ----- From: "John Bannick" <jbannick at 7128.com>
>To: <games_access at igda.org>
>Sent: Wednesday, February 06, 2008 10:48 AM
>Subject: [games_access] Brain Training Games
>
>>Folks,
>>
>>Does anyone know of any Brain Training games that are accessible to 
>>gamers who are deaf, motion impaired, visually impaired, or blind?
>>
>>I'm speaking on accessible technologies to a group of professional 
>>elder care givers and want to give them information that is 
>>practical and current.
>>
>>Thanks,
>>
>>John Bannick
>>CTO
>>7-128 Software
>>
>>_______________________________________________
>>games_access mailing list
>>games_access at igda.org
>>http://seven.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/games_access
>
>
>
>_______________________________________________
>games_access mailing list
>games_access at igda.org
>http://seven.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/games_access



From reid at rbkdesign.com  Wed Feb  6 23:49:38 2008
From: reid at rbkdesign.com (Reid Kimball)
Date: Wed, 6 Feb 2008 20:49:38 -0800
Subject: [games_access] poster help
Message-ID: <a6673b8d0802062049j573f5d57t522b0d009d98757c@mail.gmail.com>

Is anyone able to help me create the poster I need to make for GDC?

I need to make this printable for 35.5in x 43.03in:
http://gamescc.rbkdesign.com/GDC_poster08.pdf

I'm trying to use GIMP but it's telling me the image will be 1.2 gigs,
which is insane and I'm having a heck of a time just creating the
text.

-Reid


From hinn at uiuc.edu  Thu Feb  7 00:15:43 2008
From: hinn at uiuc.edu (d. michelle hinn)
Date: Wed, 6 Feb 2008 23:15:43 -0600
Subject: [games_access] poster help
In-Reply-To: <a6673b8d0802062049j573f5d57t522b0d009d98757c@mail.gmail.com>
References: <a6673b8d0802062049j573f5d57t522b0d009d98757c@mail.gmail.com>
Message-ID: <p0623092ec3d0431955fa@[130.126.29.22]>

Mark...I hate to ask since you have been doing all the other graphics 
work for us but do you have a little extra time to help Reid out so I 
can get the flier text finalized in the morning? As well as the press 
releases?

Another option is to go to Kinkos for some help -- if all else fails!

I know...we're all overstretched as GDC gets closer. I think this is 
going to be one heck of a year for us and I'm getting so psyched 
about it (much more so than ever). But if anyone can offer help, 
please ask us what you can help out on and I'm sure there will be a 
task or two!

Barrie -- I may need to call you about a few of your controllers to 
make sure something is not broken and that I'm about to laminate text 
that is correct and not wildly wrong in explanation! What's your 
number (offlist)?

Thanks everyone!
Michelle

>Is anyone able to help me create the poster I need to make for GDC?
>
>I need to make this printable for 35.5in x 43.03in:
>http://gamescc.rbkdesign.com/GDC_poster08.pdf
>
>I'm trying to use GIMP but it's telling me the image will be 1.2 gigs,
>which is insane and I'm having a heck of a time just creating the
>text.
>
>-Reid
>_______________________________________________
>games_access mailing list
>games_access at igda.org
>http://seven.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/games_access



From hinn at uiuc.edu  Thu Feb  7 00:22:31 2008
From: hinn at uiuc.edu (d. michelle hinn)
Date: Wed, 6 Feb 2008 23:22:31 -0600
Subject: [games_access] poster help
In-Reply-To: <p0623092ec3d0431955fa@[130.126.29.22]>
References: <a6673b8d0802062049j573f5d57t522b0d009d98757c@mail.gmail.com>
	<p0623092ec3d0431955fa@[130.126.29.22]>
Message-ID: <p06230931c3d0458fe964@[130.126.29.22]>

Also Reid -- if you have to take it to Kinkos, save the receipt. We 
can use the poster during the arcade sessions behind your demo of 
Doom3[cc] so then it would be a SIG resource I can get you reimbursed 
for that.

Michelle

>Mark...I hate to ask since you have been doing all the other 
>graphics work for us but do you have a little extra time to help 
>Reid out so I can get the flier text finalized in the morning? As 
>well as the press releases?
>
>Another option is to go to Kinkos for some help -- if all else fails!
>
>I know...we're all overstretched as GDC gets closer. I think this is 
>going to be one heck of a year for us and I'm getting so psyched 
>about it (much more so than ever). But if anyone can offer help, 
>please ask us what you can help out on and I'm sure there will be a 
>task or two!
>
>Barrie -- I may need to call you about a few of your controllers to 
>make sure something is not broken and that I'm about to laminate 
>text that is correct and not wildly wrong in explanation! What's 
>your number (offlist)?
>
>Thanks everyone!
>Michelle
>
>>Is anyone able to help me create the poster I need to make for GDC?
>>
>>I need to make this printable for 35.5in x 43.03in:
>>http://gamescc.rbkdesign.com/GDC_poster08.pdf
>>
>>I'm trying to use GIMP but it's telling me the image will be 1.2 gigs,
>>which is insane and I'm having a heck of a time just creating the
>>text.
>>
>>-Reid
>>_______________________________________________
>>games_access mailing list
>>games_access at igda.org
>>http://seven.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/games_access
>
>_______________________________________________
>games_access mailing list
>games_access at igda.org
>http://seven.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/games_access



From richard at audiogames.net  Thu Feb  7 04:00:23 2008
From: richard at audiogames.net (AudioGames.net)
Date: Thu, 7 Feb 2008 10:00:23 +0100
Subject: [games_access] poster help
References: <a6673b8d0802062049j573f5d57t522b0d009d98757c@mail.gmail.com>
Message-ID: <001701c86967$e056ec00$6402a8c0@Delletje>

Yes, tell me what I can do. The pdf link does not seem to work?


----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Reid Kimball" <reid at rbkdesign.com>
To: "IGDA Games Accessibility SIG Mailing List" <games_access at igda.org>
Sent: Thursday, February 07, 2008 5:49 AM
Subject: [games_access] poster help


> Is anyone able to help me create the poster I need to make for GDC?
> 
> I need to make this printable for 35.5in x 43.03in:
> http://gamescc.rbkdesign.com/GDC_poster08.pdf
> 
> I'm trying to use GIMP but it's telling me the image will be 1.2 gigs,
> which is insane and I'm having a heck of a time just creating the
> text.
> 
> -Reid
> _______________________________________________
> games_access mailing list
> games_access at igda.org
> http://seven.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/games_access


From agdev at thechases.com  Thu Feb  7 06:39:31 2008
From: agdev at thechases.com (Tim Chase)
Date: Thu, 07 Feb 2008 05:39:31 -0600
Subject: [games_access] poster help
In-Reply-To: <a6673b8d0802062049j573f5d57t522b0d009d98757c@mail.gmail.com>
References: <a6673b8d0802062049j573f5d57t522b0d009d98757c@mail.gmail.com>
Message-ID: <47AAEDF3.70503@thechases.com>

> I need to make this printable for 35.5in x 43.03in:
> http://gamescc.rbkdesign.com/GDC_poster08.pdf
> 
> I'm trying to use GIMP but it's telling me the image will be 1.2 gigs,
> which is insane and I'm having a heck of a time just creating the
> text.

You might try using a vector drawing program rather than a raster
drawing program.  You can get Inkscape for free on multiple
platforms (Windows, Linux, Mac) which is my preferred tool, but
you can also use Adobe Illustrator or Sodi Podi or there may be
others.  Vector images scale cleanly to large print sizes and
arbitrary resolutions without consuming vast amounts of memory.

Also, while I use Gimp for web-image editing, it's lack of
post-processing controls and support for Pantone/CMYK
color-spaces makes it an iffy choice for reliable/accurate printing.

-tim






From ioo at ablegamers.com  Thu Feb  7 07:19:50 2008
From: ioo at ablegamers.com (Ioo)
Date: Thu, 07 Feb 2008 07:19:50 -0500
Subject: [games_access] poster help
In-Reply-To: <p0623092ec3d0431955fa@[130.126.29.22]>
References: <a6673b8d0802062049j573f5d57t522b0d009d98757c@mail.gmail.com>
	<p0623092ec3d0431955fa@[130.126.29.22]>
Message-ID: <47AAF766.1080403@ablegamers.com>

Michelle, send over what you need done and I can do my best...

d. michelle hinn wrote:
> Mark...I hate to ask since you have been doing all the other graphics 
> work for us but do you have a little extra time to help Reid out so I 
> can get the flier text finalized in the morning? As well as the press 
> releases?
>
> Another option is to go to Kinkos for some help -- if all else fails!
>
> I know...we're all overstretched as GDC gets closer. I think this is 
> going to be one heck of a year for us and I'm getting so psyched about 
> it (much more so than ever). But if anyone can offer help, please ask 
> us what you can help out on and I'm sure there will be a task or two!
>
> Barrie -- I may need to call you about a few of your controllers to 
> make sure something is not broken and that I'm about to laminate text 
> that is correct and not wildly wrong in explanation! What's your 
> number (offlist)?
>
> Thanks everyone!
> Michelle
>
>> Is anyone able to help me create the poster I need to make for GDC?
>>
>> I need to make this printable for 35.5in x 43.03in:
>> http://gamescc.rbkdesign.com/GDC_poster08.pdf
>>
>> I'm trying to use GIMP but it's telling me the image will be 1.2 gigs,
>> which is insane and I'm having a heck of a time just creating the
>> text.
>>
>> -Reid
>> _______________________________________________
>> games_access mailing list
>> games_access at igda.org
>> http://seven.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/games_access
>
> _______________________________________________
> games_access mailing list
> games_access at igda.org
> http://seven.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/games_access
>


From hinn at uiuc.edu  Thu Feb  7 08:30:29 2008
From: hinn at uiuc.edu (d. michelle hinn)
Date: Thu, 7 Feb 2008 07:30:29 -0600
Subject: [games_access] poster help
In-Reply-To: <001701c86967$e056ec00$6402a8c0@Delletje>
References: <a6673b8d0802062049j573f5d57t522b0d009d98757c@mail.gmail.com>
	<001701c86967$e056ec00$6402a8c0@Delletje>
Message-ID: <p06230934c3d0b826c4dd@[130.126.29.22]>

Cool -- thanks Richard! I wasn't sure if you were still holed up 
underground in thesis world or not! Yeah, since you did the other 
poster, you definitely already know what needs to be done!

Michelle

>Yes, tell me what I can do. The pdf link does not seem to work?
>
>
>----- Original Message ----- From: "Reid Kimball" <reid at rbkdesign.com>
>To: "IGDA Games Accessibility SIG Mailing List" <games_access at igda.org>
>Sent: Thursday, February 07, 2008 5:49 AM
>Subject: [games_access] poster help
>
>>Is anyone able to help me create the poster I need to make for GDC?
>>
>>I need to make this printable for 35.5in x 43.03in:
>>http://gamescc.rbkdesign.com/GDC_poster08.pdf
>>
>>I'm trying to use GIMP but it's telling me the image will be 1.2 gigs,
>>which is insane and I'm having a heck of a time just creating the
>>text.
>>
>>-Reid
>>_______________________________________________
>>games_access mailing list
>>games_access at igda.org
>>http://seven.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/games_access
>_______________________________________________
>games_access mailing list
>games_access at igda.org
>http://seven.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/games_access



From hinn at uiuc.edu  Thu Feb  7 08:33:18 2008
From: hinn at uiuc.edu (d. michelle hinn)
Date: Thu, 7 Feb 2008 07:33:18 -0600
Subject: [games_access] poster help
In-Reply-To: <47AAF766.1080403@ablegamers.com>
References: <a6673b8d0802062049j573f5d57t522b0d009d98757c@mail.gmail.com>
	<p0623092ec3d0431955fa@[130.126.29.22]>
	<47AAF766.1080403@ablegamers.com>
Message-ID: <p06230935c3d0b8a9e3a5@[130.126.29.22]>

Sounds like Richard has some time to do it -- I was worried that he 
was buried in work (which he probably is) but he's done our posters 
before so he can probably more easily do it since you are designing 
the fliers already (the final text is being worked on right now...)

Michelle

>Michelle, send over what you need done and I can do my best...
>
>d. michelle hinn wrote:
>>Mark...I hate to ask since you have been doing all the other 
>>graphics work for us but do you have a little extra time to help 
>>Reid out so I can get the flier text finalized in the morning? As 
>>well as the press releases?
>>
>>Another option is to go to Kinkos for some help -- if all else fails!
>>
>>I know...we're all overstretched as GDC gets closer. I think this 
>>is going to be one heck of a year for us and I'm getting so psyched 
>>about it (much more so than ever). But if anyone can offer help, 
>>please ask us what you can help out on and I'm sure there will be a 
>>task or two!
>>
>>Barrie -- I may need to call you about a few of your controllers to 
>>make sure something is not broken and that I'm about to laminate 
>>text that is correct and not wildly wrong in explanation! What's 
>>your number (offlist)?
>>
>>Thanks everyone!
>>Michelle
>>
>>>Is anyone able to help me create the poster I need to make for GDC?
>>>
>>>I need to make this printable for 35.5in x 43.03in:
>>>http://gamescc.rbkdesign.com/GDC_poster08.pdf
>>>
>>>I'm trying to use GIMP but it's telling me the image will be 1.2 gigs,
>>>which is insane and I'm having a heck of a time just creating the
>>>text.
>>>
>>>-Reid
>>>_______________________________________________
>>>games_access mailing list
>>>games_access at igda.org
>>>http://seven.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/games_access
>>
>>_______________________________________________
>>games_access mailing list
>>games_access at igda.org
>>http://seven.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/games_access
>>
>_______________________________________________
>games_access mailing list
>games_access at igda.org
>http://seven.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/games_access



From hinn at uiuc.edu  Thu Feb  7 10:23:12 2008
From: hinn at uiuc.edu (d. michelle hinn)
Date: Thu, 7 Feb 2008 09:23:12 -0600
Subject: [games_access] AbleGamers is asking for input from GDC!
In-Reply-To: <p06230931c3d0458fe964@[130.126.29.22]>
References: <a6673b8d0802062049j573f5d57t522b0d009d98757c@mail.gmail.com>
	<p0623092ec3d0431955fa@[130.126.29.22]>
	<p06230931c3d0458fe964@[130.126.29.22]>
Message-ID: <p06230939c3d0d1119bef@[130.126.29.22]>

Hi all,

Mark has put up a "request for information" and "requests to bug 
people about adding accessible features to particular game titles" up 
on AbleGamers. To keep things simple, I thought -- hey why don't I 
open it up to the SIG to add requests for things people would like to 
see us do at GDC. The page is:

http://ablegamers.com/index.php/General-Discussion/229-AbleGamers-GDC-To-Do-list.html

Please add to it!

We're lucky to have Mark running this community for gamers -- it's 
something I 100% support because it adds the outreach to gamers 
component that we've wanted but are too stretched out to cover. And 
Mark is now a 100% IGDA SIG member (paid his dues -- have you? 
www.igda.org -- you don't have to to participate in this list but 
part of the money from SIG members dues will start going to us for a 
GDC scholarship fund (ie, in the future we will be able to sponsor 
our OWN student scholarship to GDC).

Anyway...thanks again to Barrie who found Mark (I think that's how 
the history goes!) and got us together with him :D

Michelle
-------------- next part --------------
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From arthit73 at cablespeed.com  Fri Feb  8 11:49:41 2008
From: arthit73 at cablespeed.com (Robert Florio)
Date: Fri, 8 Feb 2008 11:49:41 -0500
Subject: [games_access] poster help
In-Reply-To: <p06230931c3d0458fe964@[130.126.29.22]>
References: <a6673b8d0802062049j573f5d57t522b0d009d98757c@mail.gmail.com><p0623092ec3d0431955fa@[130.126.29.22]>
	<p06230931c3d0458fe964@[130.126.29.22]>
Message-ID: <008201c86a72$9c89c630$6401a8c0@RobertFlorio>

I am really good with Photoshop and illustrator let me know what I can do to
help.

Robert
www.RobertFlorio.com 

-----Original Message-----
From: games_access-bounces at igda.org [mailto:games_access-bounces at igda.org]
On Behalf Of d. michelle hinn
Sent: Thursday, February 07, 2008 12:23 AM
To: IGDA Games Accessibility SIG Mailing List
Subject: Re: [games_access] poster help

Also Reid -- if you have to take it to Kinkos, save the receipt. We 
can use the poster during the arcade sessions behind your demo of 
Doom3[cc] so then it would be a SIG resource I can get you reimbursed 
for that.

Michelle

>Mark...I hate to ask since you have been doing all the other 
>graphics work for us but do you have a little extra time to help 
>Reid out so I can get the flier text finalized in the morning? As 
>well as the press releases?
>
>Another option is to go to Kinkos for some help -- if all else fails!
>
>I know...we're all overstretched as GDC gets closer. I think this is 
>going to be one heck of a year for us and I'm getting so psyched 
>about it (much more so than ever). But if anyone can offer help, 
>please ask us what you can help out on and I'm sure there will be a 
>task or two!
>
>Barrie -- I may need to call you about a few of your controllers to 
>make sure something is not broken and that I'm about to laminate 
>text that is correct and not wildly wrong in explanation! What's 
>your number (offlist)?
>
>Thanks everyone!
>Michelle
>
>>Is anyone able to help me create the poster I need to make for GDC?
>>
>>I need to make this printable for 35.5in x 43.03in:
>>http://gamescc.rbkdesign.com/GDC_poster08.pdf
>>
>>I'm trying to use GIMP but it's telling me the image will be 1.2 gigs,
>>which is insane and I'm having a heck of a time just creating the
>>text.
>>
>>-Reid
>>_______________________________________________
>>games_access mailing list
>>games_access at igda.org
>>http://seven.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/games_access
>
>_______________________________________________
>games_access mailing list
>games_access at igda.org
>http://seven.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/games_access

_______________________________________________
games_access mailing list
games_access at igda.org
http://seven.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/games_access




From richard at audiogames.net  Thu Feb  7 12:11:31 2008
From: richard at audiogames.net (AudioGames.net)
Date: Thu, 7 Feb 2008 18:11:31 +0100
Subject: [games_access] poster help
References: <a6673b8d0802062049j573f5d57t522b0d009d98757c@mail.gmail.com>
	<001701c86967$e056ec00$6402a8c0@Delletje>
	<a6673b8d0802070838q4ade8721x9ddfb5f8d7e45523@mail.gmail.com>
Message-ID: <006001c869ac$88c32180$6402a8c0@Delletje>

Hi,

I should have the gamesCC and IGDA logo lying around somewhere but if you 
could send them anyway, it would certainly speed things up. Yes, I also need 
the highest quality screenshots you have.

Some questions for speeding things up and clearifying things:

- how much re-design do you want? Would you like me to only remake your pdf 
into a hi-res printable poster of 35.5in x 43.03in, or would you me like to 
add/change the graphics (while keeping all the text the same of course)?
- do I need to keep mind of a white border (for instance for cutting or 
not)?
- what is the target file? .pdf and CMYK, like the Futureplayposter (which 
was about 13 Mb)?
- concerning the fonts: is there a particular reason for outlined type? 
Seems to me you can have any poster design you want at GDC... ? And does the 
target file (see previous) need fonts or is it allowed that all text is 
image (like futureplay poster)?
- when do you need it?

Greets,

Ries




----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Reid Kimball" <reid at rbkdesign.com>
To: "AudioGames.net" <richard at audiogames.net>
Sent: Thursday, February 07, 2008 5:38 PM
Subject: Re: [games_access] poster help


> Hi Richard,
>
> Thanks so much for your help. Here's the correct link:
> http://gamescc.rbkdesign.com/GDC2008_poster08.pdf
>
> I'd like all the text to be the same. I was told that the text needed
> to be in outlined type. Does that sound right?
>
> I can get you higher res screenshots, a somewhat higher res gamescc
> logo and do you have a high res igda logo?
>
> -Reid
>
> On Feb 7, 2008 1:00 AM, AudioGames.net <richard at audiogames.net> wrote:
>> Yes, tell me what I can do. The pdf link does not seem to work?
>>
>>
>>
>> ----- Original Message -----
>> From: "Reid Kimball" <reid at rbkdesign.com>
>> To: "IGDA Games Accessibility SIG Mailing List" <games_access at igda.org>
>> Sent: Thursday, February 07, 2008 5:49 AM
>> Subject: [games_access] poster help
>>
>>
>> > Is anyone able to help me create the poster I need to make for GDC?
>> >
>> > I need to make this printable for 35.5in x 43.03in:
>> > http://gamescc.rbkdesign.com/GDC_poster08.pdf
>> >
>> > I'm trying to use GIMP but it's telling me the image will be 1.2 gigs,
>> > which is insane and I'm having a heck of a time just creating the
>> > text.
>> >
>> > -Reid
>>
>> > _______________________________________________
>> > games_access mailing list
>> > games_access at igda.org
>> > http://seven.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/games_access
>> _______________________________________________
>> games_access mailing list
>> games_access at igda.org
>> http://seven.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/games_access
>> 



From richard at audiogames.net  Thu Feb  7 15:39:24 2008
From: richard at audiogames.net (AudioGames.net)
Date: Thu, 7 Feb 2008 21:39:24 +0100
Subject: [games_access] poster help
References: <a6673b8d0802062049j573f5d57t522b0d009d98757c@mail.gmail.com>
	<001701c86967$e056ec00$6402a8c0@Delletje>
	<a6673b8d0802070838q4ade8721x9ddfb5f8d7e45523@mail.gmail.com>
	<006001c869ac$88c32180$6402a8c0@Delletje>
	<p06230940c3d0ff25a17f@130.126.29.22>
	<a6673b8d0802071033w4368a1e1ueaa63d67f7c53f1d@mail.gmail.com>
Message-ID: <002001c869c9$87bcf5f0$6402a8c0@Delletje>

(hanging tight)

got the flu so go to bed now... gnight...


----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Reid Kimball" <reid at rbkdesign.com>
To: "AudioGames.net" <richard at audiogames.net>
Sent: Thursday, February 07, 2008 7:33 PM
Subject: Re: [games_access] poster help


>I just got an email back from the print shop saying they can print the
> poster. I have to call them to confirm, so hang tight.
>
> On Feb 7, 2008 10:33 AM, d. michelle hinn <hinn at uiuc.edu> wrote:
>> Attached is our new logo (same only now has game accessibility on it)
>> for the SIG
>>
>> Michelle
>>
>>
>> At 6:11 PM +0100 2/7/08, AudioGames.net wrote:
>> >Hi,
>> >
>> >I should have the gamesCC and IGDA logo lying around somewhere but
>> >if you could send them anyway, it would certainly speed things up.
>> >Yes, I also need the highest quality screenshots you have.
>> >
>> >Some questions for speeding things up and clearifying things:
>> >
>> >- how much re-design do you want? Would you like me to only remake
>> >your pdf into a hi-res printable poster of 35.5in x 43.03in, or
>> >would you me like to add/change the graphics (while keeping all the
>> >text the same of course)?
>> >- do I need to keep mind of a white border (for instance for cutting or 
>> >not)?
>> >- what is the target file? .pdf and CMYK, like the Futureplayposter
>> >(which was about 13 Mb)?
>> >- concerning the fonts: is there a particular reason for outlined
>> >type? Seems to me you can have any poster design you want at GDC...
>> >? And does the target file (see previous) need fonts or is it
>> >allowed that all text is image (like futureplay poster)?
>> >- when do you need it?
>> >
>> >Greets,
>> >
>> >Ries
>> >
>> >
>> >
>> >
>> >----- Original Message ----- From: "Reid Kimball" <reid at rbkdesign.com>
>> >To: "AudioGames.net" <richard at audiogames.net>
>> >Sent: Thursday, February 07, 2008 5:38 PM
>> >Subject: Re: [games_access] poster help
>> >
>> >>Hi Richard,
>> >>
>> >>Thanks so much for your help. Here's the correct link:
>> >>http://gamescc.rbkdesign.com/GDC2008_poster08.pdf
>> >>
>> >>I'd like all the text to be the same. I was told that the text needed
>> >>to be in outlined type. Does that sound right?
>> >>
>> >>I can get you higher res screenshots, a somewhat higher res gamescc
>> >>logo and do you have a high res igda logo?
>> >>
>> >>-Reid
>> >>
>> >>On Feb 7, 2008 1:00 AM, AudioGames.net <richard at audiogames.net> wrote:
>> >>>Yes, tell me what I can do. The pdf link does not seem to work?
>> >>>
>> >>>
>> >>>
>> >>>----- Original Message -----
>> >>>From: "Reid Kimball" <reid at rbkdesign.com>
>> >>>To: "IGDA Games Accessibility SIG Mailing List" 
>> >>><games_access at igda.org>
>> >>>Sent: Thursday, February 07, 2008 5:49 AM
>> >>>Subject: [games_access] poster help
>> >>>
>> >>>
>> >>>>  Is anyone able to help me create the poster I need to make for GDC?
>> >>>>
>> >>>>  I need to make this printable for 35.5in x 43.03in:
>> >>>>  http://gamescc.rbkdesign.com/GDC_poster08.pdf
>> >>>>
>> >>>>  I'm trying to use GIMP but it's telling me the image will be 1.2 
>> >>>> gigs,
>> >>>>  which is insane and I'm having a heck of a time just creating the
>> >>>>  text.
>> >>>>
>> >>>>  -Reid
>> >>>
>> >>>>  _______________________________________________
>> >>>>  games_access mailing list
>> >>>>  games_access at igda.org
>> >>>>  http://seven.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/games_access
>> >>>_______________________________________________
>> >>>games_access mailing list
>> >>>games_access at igda.org
>> >>>http://seven.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/games_access
>> >>>
>> >
>> >_______________________________________________
>> >games_access mailing list
>> >games_access at igda.org
>> >http://seven.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/games_access
>> 



From jbannick at 7128.com  Sun Feb 10 14:58:13 2008
From: jbannick at 7128.com (John Bannick)
Date: Sun, 10 Feb 2008 14:58:13 -0500
Subject: [games_access] Brain Training Games
Message-ID: <6.1.0.6.2.20080210145614.01dd0928@enigami.com>

Barrie,

Thanks for the information.

I plan to investigate Northern Grid in particular.

John Bannick
7-128 Software



From arthit73 at cablespeed.com  Mon Feb 11 17:04:16 2008
From: arthit73 at cablespeed.com (Robert Florio)
Date: Mon, 11 Feb 2008 17:04:16 -0500
Subject: [games_access] dice conference article.  Everyone is a gamer
In-Reply-To: <6.1.0.6.2.20080210145614.01dd0928@enigami.com>
References: <6.1.0.6.2.20080210145614.01dd0928@enigami.com>
Message-ID: <01b201c86cfa$0c2479c0$6401a8c0@RobertFlorio>

http://blog.wired.com/games/2008/02/post.html 

Someone turned me onto this article check it out 
ESA's Michael Gallagher: 'Everyone's A Gamer'

http://www.gamespot.com/news/6185769.html 

http://www.gamasutra.com/php-bin/news_index.php?story=17298

Robert
www.RobertFlorio.com 

-----Original Message-----
From: games_access-bounces at igda.org [mailto:games_access-bounces at igda.org]
On Behalf Of John Bannick
Sent: Sunday, February 10, 2008 2:58 PM
To: games_access at igda.org
Subject: [games_access] Brain Training Games

Barrie,

Thanks for the information.

I plan to investigate Northern Grid in particular.

John Bannick
7-128 Software

_______________________________________________
games_access mailing list
games_access at igda.org
http://seven.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/games_access




From hinn at uiuc.edu  Mon Feb 11 18:52:20 2008
From: hinn at uiuc.edu (d. michelle hinn)
Date: Mon, 11 Feb 2008 17:52:20 -0600
Subject: [games_access] dice conference article.  Everyone is a gamer
In-Reply-To: <01b201c86cfa$0c2479c0$6401a8c0@RobertFlorio>
References: <6.1.0.6.2.20080210145614.01dd0928@enigami.com>
	<01b201c86cfa$0c2479c0$6401a8c0@RobertFlorio>
Message-ID: <p0623091ec3d68f3a78da@[130.126.29.30]>

Thanks Robert! Yeah, Ben and I have been working with them about 
matching funds for the SIG grant -- and with the ECA (electronic 
consumers association). Although it wasn't said in these articles, 
Michael's beginning to get the game accessibility word!

Michelle

>http://blog.wired.com/games/2008/02/post.html
>
>Someone turned me onto this article check it out
>ESA's Michael Gallagher: 'Everyone's A Gamer'
>
>http://www.gamespot.com/news/6185769.html
>
>http://www.gamasutra.com/php-bin/news_index.php?story=17298
>
>Robert
>www.RobertFlorio.com
>
>-----Original Message-----
>From: games_access-bounces at igda.org [mailto:games_access-bounces at igda.org]
>On Behalf Of John Bannick
>Sent: Sunday, February 10, 2008 2:58 PM
>To: games_access at igda.org
>Subject: [games_access] Brain Training Games
>
>Barrie,
>
>Thanks for the information.
>
>I plan to investigate Northern Grid in particular.
>
>John Bannick
>7-128 Software
>
>_______________________________________________
>games_access mailing list
>games_access at igda.org
>http://seven.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/games_access
>
>
>_______________________________________________
>games_access mailing list
>games_access at igda.org
>http://seven.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/games_access



From arthit73 at cablespeed.com  Mon Feb 11 19:17:09 2008
From: arthit73 at cablespeed.com (Robert Florio)
Date: Mon, 11 Feb 2008 19:17:09 -0500
Subject: [games_access] dice conference article.  Everyone is a gamer
In-Reply-To: <p0623091ec3d68f3a78da@[130.126.29.30]>
References: <6.1.0.6.2.20080210145614.01dd0928@enigami.com><01b201c86cfa$0c2479c0$6401a8c0@RobertFlorio>
	<p0623091ec3d68f3a78da@[130.126.29.30]>
Message-ID: <01cf01c86d0c$9cc3ec60$6401a8c0@RobertFlorio>

Are you saying that your direct involvement with this guy has actually got
him to change course significantly at all how much to get him to say these
things I'm wondering?  Thanks.

Robert
www.RobertFlorio.com 

-----Original Message-----
From: games_access-bounces at igda.org [mailto:games_access-bounces at igda.org]
On Behalf Of d. michelle hinn
Sent: Monday, February 11, 2008 6:52 PM
To: IGDA Games Accessibility SIG Mailing List
Subject: Re: [games_access] dice conference article. Everyone is a gamer

Thanks Robert! Yeah, Ben and I have been working with them about 
matching funds for the SIG grant -- and with the ECA (electronic 
consumers association). Although it wasn't said in these articles, 
Michael's beginning to get the game accessibility word!

Michelle

>http://blog.wired.com/games/2008/02/post.html
>
>Someone turned me onto this article check it out
>ESA's Michael Gallagher: 'Everyone's A Gamer'
>
>http://www.gamespot.com/news/6185769.html
>
>http://www.gamasutra.com/php-bin/news_index.php?story=17298
>
>Robert
>www.RobertFlorio.com
>
>-----Original Message-----
>From: games_access-bounces at igda.org [mailto:games_access-bounces at igda.org]
>On Behalf Of John Bannick
>Sent: Sunday, February 10, 2008 2:58 PM
>To: games_access at igda.org
>Subject: [games_access] Brain Training Games
>
>Barrie,
>
>Thanks for the information.
>
>I plan to investigate Northern Grid in particular.
>
>John Bannick
>7-128 Software
>
>_______________________________________________
>games_access mailing list
>games_access at igda.org
>http://seven.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/games_access
>
>
>_______________________________________________
>games_access mailing list
>games_access at igda.org
>http://seven.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/games_access

_______________________________________________
games_access mailing list
games_access at igda.org
http://seven.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/games_access




From hinn at uiuc.edu  Mon Feb 11 19:14:45 2008
From: hinn at uiuc.edu (d. michelle hinn)
Date: Mon, 11 Feb 2008 18:14:45 -0600
Subject: [games_access] dice conference article.  Everyone is a gamer
In-Reply-To: <01cf01c86d0c$9cc3ec60$6401a8c0@RobertFlorio>
References: <6.1.0.6.2.20080210145614.01dd0928@enigami.com><01b201c86cfa$0c2479c0$6401
	a8c0@RobertFlorio>	<p0623091ec3d68f3a78da@[130.126.29.30]>
	<01cf01c86d0c$9cc3ec60$6401a8c0@RobertFlorio>
Message-ID: <p06230920c3d6941b9db1@[130.126.29.30]>

I have no idea what has caused him to change course other than 
probably hearing about us and other groups that have been left behind 
for so long. I was just saying that I have been talking to the ESA 
and ECA a lot this past year and maybe some things are starting to 
rub off on the big political players -- not that it was me that made 
him say what he said -- and that we're starting to see some changes 
in attitude. And that's cool!

Michelle

>Are you saying that your direct involvement with this guy has actually got
>him to change course significantly at all how much to get him to say these
>things I'm wondering?  Thanks.
>
>Robert
>www.RobertFlorio.com
>
>-----Original Message-----
>From: games_access-bounces at igda.org [mailto:games_access-bounces at igda.org]
>On Behalf Of d. michelle hinn
>Sent: Monday, February 11, 2008 6:52 PM
>To: IGDA Games Accessibility SIG Mailing List
>Subject: Re: [games_access] dice conference article. Everyone is a gamer
>
>Thanks Robert! Yeah, Ben and I have been working with them about
>matching funds for the SIG grant -- and with the ECA (electronic
>consumers association). Although it wasn't said in these articles,
>Michael's beginning to get the game accessibility word!
>
>Michelle
>
>>http://blog.wired.com/games/2008/02/post.html
>>
>>Someone turned me onto this article check it out
>>ESA's Michael Gallagher: 'Everyone's A Gamer'
>>
>>http://www.gamespot.com/news/6185769.html
>>
>>http://www.gamasutra.com/php-bin/news_index.php?story=17298
>>
>>Robert
>>www.RobertFlorio.com
>>
>>-----Original Message-----
>>From: games_access-bounces at igda.org [mailto:games_access-bounces at igda.org]
>>On Behalf Of John Bannick
>>Sent: Sunday, February 10, 2008 2:58 PM
>>To: games_access at igda.org
>>Subject: [games_access] Brain Training Games
>>
>>Barrie,
>>
>>Thanks for the information.
>>
>>I plan to investigate Northern Grid in particular.
>>
>>John Bannick
>>7-128 Software
>>
>>_______________________________________________
>>games_access mailing list
>>games_access at igda.org
>>http://seven.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/games_access
>>
>>
>>_______________________________________________
>>games_access mailing list
>>games_access at igda.org
>>http://seven.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/games_access
>
>_______________________________________________
>games_access mailing list
>games_access at igda.org
>http://seven.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/games_access
>
>
>_______________________________________________
>games_access mailing list
>games_access at igda.org
>http://seven.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/games_access



From hinn at uiuc.edu  Tue Feb 12 01:01:08 2008
From: hinn at uiuc.edu (d. michelle hinn)
Date: Tue, 12 Feb 2008 00:01:08 -0600
Subject: [games_access] Blizzard, WoW, and Accessibility Concerns
In-Reply-To: <p06230910c3cf7d893032@[130.126.29.22]>
References: <6.1.0.6.2.20080206054638.01e3b818@enigami.com>
	<227401c868b4$4e0b1410$0202a8c0@oneswitch>
	<p06230910c3cf7d893032@[130.126.29.22]>
Message-ID: <p0623092bc3d6e243ef06@[130.126.29.30]>

Hi all,

It's been brought to my attention that there are some gamers with 
mobility impairments who have been blocked from playing World of 
Warcraft due to a policy that is in place that "kicks off" any gamer 
who is using something that looks like a cheat when meanwhile it's 
actually an accessibility mod that works with an accessible 
controller or some such.

I'm happy to say that thanks to Jason Della Rocca's help (IGDA Exec 
Director) I now have direct contact with the COO of Blizzard who is 
extremely dismayed by the fact that some gamers with disabilities 
have been blocked from playing WoW and by the reaction(s) they have 
allegedly received from the company's tech support, etc. Paul Sams , 
Blizzard COO, would like me to put all gamers who have been 
experiencing this issue in direct contact with him so that a mutually 
agreeable solution can be found. This is one of those rare chances 
that we have to talk to one of the highest higher ups at a company to 
help correct accessibility problems. To quote him: "(he) will take 
this seriously!"

If you or someone you know has a disability and has been banned from 
play WoW due to the use of an accessible controller or key remapping, 
please contact or have them contact me directly at hinn at uiuc.edu and 
we will get this worked out with Blizzard. As I said, Paul was 
extremely upset when he learned that there may be someone (or some 
people) on his team that, according to what I have heard, did not 
make this issue a priority and instead handled the issue with a lack 
of grace. I have the confidence that this is an accessibility issue 
that can be fixed but we need the full details from the gamers that 
have been impacted so that Blizzard knows how to (1) fix the problem 
and (2) address the issue(s) related to the responses given and/or 
the outright ignoring of the issue in the chain of command.

So please drop me an email if you've or someone you know has been 
impacted by this and we will get this issue on the way to being 
fixed! And please let gamers on any forums or lists know that they 
should contact me (go ahead and put in my email address) so that I 
can introduce them to Paul.

Thanks everyone!
Michelle


From richard at audiogames.net  Tue Feb 12 02:05:59 2008
From: richard at audiogames.net (AudioGames.net)
Date: Tue, 12 Feb 2008 08:05:59 +0100
Subject: [games_access] Blizzard, WoW, and Accessibility Concerns
References: <6.1.0.6.2.20080206054638.01e3b818@enigami.com><227401c868b4$4e0b1410$0202a8c0@oneswitch><p06230910c3cf7d893032@[130.126.29.22]>
	<p0623092bc3d6e243ef06@[130.126.29.30]>
Message-ID: <003c01c86d45$b9cb5260$6402a8c0@Delletje>

Hi,

Good news! I once started collecting accessibility(-friendly) macro's and 
addon-s for Wow but I found that the functionality of many early addons that 
allowed for better accessibility (like auto-movement, auto-attack) were 
disabled in later patches. Even something simple as knowing when the 
"sneak"-sound is played (which one could use to make your own closed caption 
caption) is unavailable. I have a wish list somewhere I could send you... ?

But before I get in on how to make WoW accessible, I have always been 
wondering whatever happened to Rock Band? Several of us gave (critical) 
feedback but I never heard from it again... ? I really like you bringing in 
real-world cases to the SIG, Michelle, but I don't really like it that when 
we give possible solutions and suggestions, the rest of the conversation is 
seemingly behind closed doors? Or was there no further conversation?

Greets,

Richard




----- Original Message ----- 
From: "d. michelle hinn" <hinn at uiuc.edu>
To: "IGDA Games Accessibility SIG Mailing List" <games_access at igda.org>
Sent: Tuesday, February 12, 2008 7:01 AM
Subject: [games_access] Blizzard, WoW, and Accessibility Concerns


> Hi all,
>
> It's been brought to my attention that there are some gamers with mobility 
> impairments who have been blocked from playing World of Warcraft due to a 
> policy that is in place that "kicks off" any gamer who is using something 
> that looks like a cheat when meanwhile it's actually an accessibility mod 
> that works with an accessible controller or some such.
>
> I'm happy to say that thanks to Jason Della Rocca's help (IGDA Exec 
> Director) I now have direct contact with the COO of Blizzard who is 
> extremely dismayed by the fact that some gamers with disabilities have 
> been blocked from playing WoW and by the reaction(s) they have allegedly 
> received from the company's tech support, etc. Paul Sams , Blizzard COO, 
> would like me to put all gamers who have been experiencing this issue in 
> direct contact with him so that a mutually agreeable solution can be 
> found. This is one of those rare chances that we have to talk to one of 
> the highest higher ups at a company to help correct accessibility 
> problems. To quote him: "(he) will take this seriously!"
>
> If you or someone you know has a disability and has been banned from play 
> WoW due to the use of an accessible controller or key remapping, please 
> contact or have them contact me directly at hinn at uiuc.edu and we will get 
> this worked out with Blizzard. As I said, Paul was extremely upset when he 
> learned that there may be someone (or some people) on his team that, 
> according to what I have heard, did not make this issue a priority and 
> instead handled the issue with a lack of grace. I have the confidence that 
> this is an accessibility issue that can be fixed but we need the full 
> details from the gamers that have been impacted so that Blizzard knows how 
> to (1) fix the problem and (2) address the issue(s) related to the 
> responses given and/or the outright ignoring of the issue in the chain of 
> command.
>
> So please drop me an email if you've or someone you know has been impacted 
> by this and we will get this issue on the way to being fixed! And please 
> let gamers on any forums or lists know that they should contact me (go 
> ahead and put in my email address) so that I can introduce them to Paul.
>
> Thanks everyone!
> Michelle
> _______________________________________________
> games_access mailing list
> games_access at igda.org
> http://seven.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/games_access 



From hinn at uiuc.edu  Tue Feb 12 02:55:16 2008
From: hinn at uiuc.edu (d. michelle hinn)
Date: Tue, 12 Feb 2008 01:55:16 -0600
Subject: [games_access] Blizzard, WoW, and Accessibility Concerns
In-Reply-To: <003c01c86d45$b9cb5260$6402a8c0@Delletje>
References: <6.1.0.6.2.20080206054638.01e3b818@enigami.com><227401c868b4$4e0b1410$0202
	a8c0@oneswitch><p06230910c3cf7d893032@[130.126.29.22]>
	<p0623092bc3d6e243ef06@[130.126.29.30]>
	<003c01c86d45$b9cb5260$6402a8c0@Delletje>
Message-ID: <p0623092fc3d6f7c7fa0d@[130.126.29.30]>

Here's more about the most current issue on Mark's site:

http://ablegamers.com/index.php/Disabled-Gamers-News/Adventurers-Wanted-Disabled-Need-Not-Apply.html

The COO of Blizzard needs more feedback from gamers with disabilities 
so anyone who has been directly affected are who we really need to 
hear from, especially if they have gotten rude, negative, or no 
response. To Paul, that is NOT ok that this has been happening. So a 
wish list would be nice and probably would be welcomed by Paul but 
the most serious issue now is those who have been kicked from the 
system due to policy changes in the terms of service and so forth.

As for Rock Band -- I have given the feedback to Alex who has been 
passing it along and I have more to send him that I've just gotten 
feedback about but the prep for GDC is killing me at the moment. I 
have also introduced him to Eelke (not sure where they are in that 
conversation so I'll let Eelke fill the SIG in about this) about 
Blind Hero. Alex has been in Japan for the Asia launch and then 
Europe is up next. As soon as the PAL version goes gold in the UK he 
will be sending RB kits to Barrie and a few other hardware solutions 
people in the US (he would prefer to send everything out at the same 
time just to make things easier to keep track of). There's nothing 
going on "behind closed doors" -- whenever I hear that there's 
something that's being changed due to our feedback I tell the list. I 
sent him most of this info before the winter holidays so I have been 
making sure I follow up with Alex whenever I can so that things move 
forward and change happens. He's a good guy and he's on our side but 
he's also the CEO so I can imagine he has a lot to do at all times!

If you ever want updates on anything, all you have to do is ask. I 
can't read minds and I don't always know that people are upset at not 
getting updates when there's nothing yet to update anyone on other 
than my persistence and putting SIG members in touch with people as 
needed. I didn't think to update the list when I email introduced 
Eelke and when I learned when the UK version would being going gold 
so that Barrie could receive a couple of kits for different platforms 
to mod. But there you have it -- (1) Eelke has been introduced to 
Alex about "blind hero"; (2) Barrie should be getting two kits soon 
-- one for Xbox 360 and one for PS2; (3) Mark, Eelke, and I will be 
getting one around the same time because we are or know US mod 
people; (4) Alex has received one report and will soon be receiving 
another with the solutions that were brainstormed on (and that I'm 
still receiving info about).

Other updates related to everything else going on THIS week as we 
prep for GDC that is next week:

* Over 3000 press releases are going out today sent by me personally 
about the SIG's work at GDC, including the donation of equipment and 
the time of two employees per company that both Emotiv and 
NaturalPoint are providing for accessibility arcade.

* GarageGames has "expressed interest" in accessibility and I am 
explaining to them for the 90th time that they have never responded 
to the work that Eelke and Reid did despite numerous calls and emails 
and if they really want to SHOW interest, then they need to meet up 
with us at GDC and look at what they worked on for Garage and then 
work with them to get it INCLUDED into Torque as initially discussed 
last year.

* I have been trying to make sure that everyone going to GDC from the 
SIG has access to as many receptions and product launches that I can 
possibly get extra passes for (I've pulled in so many favors for this 
GDC, it's insane). Everyone going has been working their asses off to 
get ready.

* I'm hoping that we have the best GDC yet even though we won't be as 
visible in sessions but instead are visible with fliers (that Mark 
updated and is printing), our DVDs (that Reid and Thomas worked on 
together), and more.

* Mark has been working on a new SIG site that we hope will be 
launched shortly.

* I'm working on a letter with Ben to help raise more matching funds 
for our grant at GDC -- that's where the bulk of my work and time 
will be spent doing next week.

* I never claim that brainstorming on this list that I send to CEOs, 
etc of gaming companies are MY ideas  alone -- I ALWAYS put the SIG 
first and foremost when I send them. Everything I do that is based on 
work/comments/etc is as a representative of the SIG. Sometimes I get 
busy -- like when a dissertation deadline is coming up -- so I am 
first to admit that I don't always share everything I do in a day on 
behalf of the SIG.

You may not have meant your email to be as harsh sounding as it was 
-- "closed doors" to me is a remark that you feel that I am doing 
things for the good of only myself, which is further from the truth 
than you can imagine. I apologize, however, if I have mistaken your 
tone. It is the middle of the night for me and I still have much to 
do before the rest of the US wakes up for the day.

Michelle


>Hi,
>
>Good news! I once started collecting accessibility(-friendly) 
>macro's and addon-s for Wow but I found that the functionality of 
>many early addons that allowed for better accessibility (like 
>auto-movement, auto-attack) were disabled in later patches. Even 
>something simple as knowing when the "sneak"-sound is played (which 
>one could use to make your own closed caption caption) is 
>unavailable. I have a wish list somewhere I could send you... ?
>
>But before I get in on how to make WoW accessible, I have always 
>been wondering whatever happened to Rock Band? Several of us gave 
>(critical) feedback but I never heard from it again... ? I really 
>like you bringing in real-world cases to the SIG, Michelle, but I 
>don't really like it that when we give possible solutions and 
>suggestions, the rest of the conversation is seemingly behind closed 
>doors? Or was there no further conversation?
>
>Greets,
>
>Richard
>
>
>
>
>----- Original Message ----- From: "d. michelle hinn" <hinn at uiuc.edu>
>To: "IGDA Games Accessibility SIG Mailing List" <games_access at igda.org>
>Sent: Tuesday, February 12, 2008 7:01 AM
>Subject: [games_access] Blizzard, WoW, and Accessibility Concerns
>
>>Hi all,
>>
>>It's been brought to my attention that there are some gamers with 
>>mobility impairments who have been blocked from playing World of 
>>Warcraft due to a policy that is in place that "kicks off" any 
>>gamer who is using something that looks like a cheat when meanwhile 
>>it's actually an accessibility mod that works with an accessible 
>>controller or some such.
>>
>>I'm happy to say that thanks to Jason Della Rocca's help (IGDA Exec 
>>Director) I now have direct contact with the COO of Blizzard who is 
>>extremely dismayed by the fact that some gamers with disabilities 
>>have been blocked from playing WoW and by the reaction(s) they have 
>>allegedly received from the company's tech support, etc. Paul Sams 
>>, Blizzard COO, would like me to put all gamers who have been 
>>experiencing this issue in direct contact with him so that a 
>>mutually agreeable solution can be found. This is one of those rare 
>>chances that we have to talk to one of the highest higher ups at a 
>>company to help correct accessibility problems. To quote him: "(he) 
>>will take this seriously!"
>>
>>If you or someone you know has a disability and has been banned 
>>from play WoW due to the use of an accessible controller or key 
>>remapping, please contact or have them contact me directly at 
>>hinn at uiuc.edu and we will get this worked out with Blizzard. As I 
>>said, Paul was extremely upset when he learned that there may be 
>>someone (or some people) on his team that, according to what I have 
>>heard, did not make this issue a priority and instead handled the 
>>issue with a lack of grace. I have the confidence that this is an 
>>accessibility issue that can be fixed but we need the full details 
>>from the gamers that have been impacted so that Blizzard knows how 
>>to (1) fix the problem and (2) address the issue(s) related to the 
>>responses given and/or the outright ignoring of the issue in the 
>>chain of command.
>>
>>So please drop me an email if you've or someone you know has been 
>>impacted by this and we will get this issue on the way to being 
>>fixed! And please let gamers on any forums or lists know that they 
>>should contact me (go ahead and put in my email address) so that I 
>>can introduce them to Paul.
>>
>>Thanks everyone!
>>Michelle
>>_______________________________________________
>>games_access mailing list
>>games_access at igda.org
>>http://seven.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/games_access
>
>_______________________________________________
>games_access mailing list
>games_access at igda.org
>http://seven.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/games_access
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From garethrwhite at gmail.com  Tue Feb 12 07:33:46 2008
From: garethrwhite at gmail.com (Gareth White)
Date: Tue, 12 Feb 2008 12:33:46 +0000
Subject: [games_access] Volunteers Wanted for Research : Second Life for the
	Blind
Message-ID: <c8e4b1e90802120433y448b2a40p435cd7d8887dabb6@mail.gmail.com>

Hi,

I'm a researcher at the University of Sussex in the UK, and I've been
looking into the accessibility of Second Life for blind and severely
visually impaired users.

For the next stage of our project we want to conduct a round of interviews
and are now looking for volunteers to participate, who must be 18 years or
older. We'd like to take 30 minutes of your time for a voice chat to hear
about your experiences of getting around in the real world, and any
experiences you have of doing so in virtual worlds. The aim is to direct our
further work developing interaction techniques for blind users in Second
Life.

For more information please read the Explanatory
Statement<http://www.informatics.sussex.ac.uk/users/gw43/publications/The%20Accessibility%20of%20Second%20Life%20for%20Blind%20Users/Explanatory%20Statement.doc>and
Consent
Form<http://www.informatics.sussex.ac.uk/users/gw43/publications/The%20Accessibility%20of%20Second%20Life%20for%20Blind%20Users/Consent%20Form.doc>.


If you'd like to participate please send an email to G.White at sussex.ac.uk,
confirming that you've read both of these documents and agree to the
conditions listed in the consent form.

You can read more about the project on our
blog<http://blindsecondlife.blogspot.com/>
_________________
Research Fellow, DPhil Student.
Interact Lab, Human-Centred Technology Group, Department of Informatics,
School of Science and Technology.

Chichester 3R253
University of Sussex
Falmer
Brighton
BN1 9QJ
UK
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From hinn at uiuc.edu  Tue Feb 12 08:08:00 2008
From: hinn at uiuc.edu (d. michelle hinn)
Date: Tue, 12 Feb 2008 07:08:00 -0600
Subject: [games_access] Volunteers Wanted for Research : Second Life for
 the Blind
In-Reply-To: <c8e4b1e90802120433y448b2a40p435cd7d8887dabb6@mail.gmail.com>
References: <c8e4b1e90802120433y448b2a40p435cd7d8887dabb6@mail.gmail.com>
Message-ID: <p0623093ac3d749f53cc9@[130.126.29.30]>

Hi Gareth -- thanks for letting us know about this project and I wish 
you the best of luck! I'll forward this to a few other lists I know 
about that have more visually impaired gamers on them as well and I'm 
sure that a few people on this list will post this info on their 
blogs and forums.

Please let me know if there's anything I/we can do to help out further!

Cheers,
Michelle
Chairperson, IGDA Game Accessibility SIG

>Hi,
>
>I'm a researcher at the University of Sussex in the UK, and I've 
>been looking into the accessibility of Second Life for blind and 
>severely visually impaired users.
>
>For the next stage of our project we want to conduct a round of 
>interviews and are now looking for volunteers to participate, who 
>must be 18 years or older. We'd like to take 30 minutes of your time 
>for a voice chat to hear about your experiences of getting around in 
>the real world, and any experiences you have of doing so in virtual 
>worlds. The aim is to direct our further work developing interaction 
>techniques for blind users in Second Life.
>
>For more information please read the 
><http://www.informatics.sussex.ac.uk/users/gw43/publications/The%20Accessibility%20of%20Second%20Life%20for%20Blind%20Users/Explanatory%20Statement.doc>Explanatory 
>Statement and 
><http://www.informatics.sussex.ac.uk/users/gw43/publications/The%20Accessibility%20of%20Second%20Life%20for%20Blind%20Users/Consent%20Form.doc>Consent 
>Form.
>
>If you'd like to participate please send an email to 
><mailto:G.White at sussex.ac.uk>G.White at sussex.ac.uk, confirming that 
>you've read both of these documents and agree to the conditions 
>listed in the consent form.
>
>You can read more about the project on our 
><http://blindsecondlife.blogspot.com/>blog
>_________________
>Research Fellow, DPhil Student.
>Interact Lab, Human-Centred Technology Group, Department of 
>Informatics, School of Science and Technology.
>
>Chichester 3R253
>University of Sussex
>Falmer
>Brighton
>BN1 9QJ
>UK
>
>_______________________________________________
>games_access mailing list
>games_access at igda.org
>http://seven.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/games_access
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From thomas at pininteractive.com  Tue Feb 12 15:16:17 2008
From: thomas at pininteractive.com (Thomas Westin)
Date: Tue, 12 Feb 2008 21:16:17 +0100
Subject: [games_access] Blizzard, WoW, and Accessibility Concerns
In-Reply-To: <p0623092fc3d6f7c7fa0d@[130.126.29.30]>
References: <6.1.0.6.2.20080206054638.01e3b818@enigami.com><227401c868b4$4e0b1410$0202a8c0@oneswitch><p06230910c3cf7d893032@[130.126.29.22]><p0623092bc3d6e243ef06@[130.126.29.30]><003c01c86d45$b9cb5260$6402a8c0@Delletje>
	<p0623092fc3d6f7c7fa0d@[130.126.29.30]>
Message-ID: <3B0D1889-688B-43D4-A94D-031E575EE12B@pininteractive.com>

Hello all,

it's great that we get attention from CEO's and COO's - that's the  
level of attention we really need. Perhaps we can start bringing their  
companies together with other big players sometime soon to form what  
was the original idea before the SIG was formally started - a Game  
Accessibility Consortium - similar to the W3C. That would be very,  
very nice. Then we would have all the funding we could ever need, and  
game access would be part of all game devs, and the SIG members would  
be rich and famous from their expertise (OK, I'm dreaming a bit...)

just to add a bit to the list of stuff going on; I've got an article  
accepted by Adobe to publish on their developer forum soon, where I  
also release some source code from Terraformers.

Regarding GAIM; currently integrating Michael Ellis' stuff into GAIM,  
will publish it soon

/Thomas

On 12 feb 2008, at 08.55, d. michelle hinn wrote:

> Here's more about the most current issue on Mark's site:
>
> http://ablegamers.com/index.php/Disabled-Gamers-News/Adventurers-Wanted-Disabled-Need-Not-Apply.html
>
> The COO of Blizzard needs more feedback from gamers with  
> disabilities so anyone who has been directly affected are who we  
> really need to hear from, especially if they have gotten rude,  
> negative, or no response. To Paul, that is NOT ok that this has been  
> happening. So a wish list would be nice and probably would be  
> welcomed by Paul but the most serious issue now is those who have  
> been kicked from the system due to policy changes in the terms of  
> service and so forth.
>
> As for Rock Band -- I have given the feedback to Alex who has been  
> passing it along and I have more to send him that I've just gotten  
> feedback about but the prep for GDC is killing me at the moment. I  
> have also introduced him to Eelke (not sure where they are in that  
> conversation so I'll let Eelke fill the SIG in about this) about  
> Blind Hero. Alex has been in Japan for the Asia launch and then  
> Europe is up next. As soon as the PAL version goes gold in the UK he  
> will be sending RB kits to Barrie and a few other hardware solutions  
> people in the US (he would prefer to send everything out at the same  
> time just to make things easier to keep track of). There's nothing  
> going on "behind closed doors" -- whenever I hear that there's  
> something that's being changed due to our feedback I tell the list.  
> I sent him most of this info before the winter holidays so I have  
> been making sure I follow up with Alex whenever I can so that things  
> move forward and change happens. He's a good guy and he's on our  
> side but he's also the CEO so I can imagine he has a lot to do at  
> all times!
>
> If you ever want updates on anything, all you have to do is ask. I  
> can't read minds and I don't always know that people are upset at  
> not getting updates when there's nothing yet to update anyone on  
> other than my persistence and putting SIG members in touch with  
> people as needed. I didn't think to update the list when I email  
> introduced Eelke and when I learned when the UK version would being  
> going gold so that Barrie could receive a couple of kits for  
> different platforms to mod. But there you have it -- (1) Eelke has  
> been introduced to Alex about "blind hero"; (2) Barrie should be  
> getting two kits soon -- one for Xbox 360 and one for PS2; (3) Mark,  
> Eelke, and I will be getting one around the same time because we are  
> or know US mod people; (4) Alex has received one report and will  
> soon be receiving another with the solutions that were brainstormed  
> on (and that I'm still receiving info about).
>
> Other updates related to everything else going on THIS week as we  
> prep for GDC that is next week:
>
> * Over 3000 press releases are going out today sent by me personally  
> about the SIG's work at GDC, including the donation of equipment and  
> the time of two employees per company that both Emotiv and  
> NaturalPoint are providing for accessibility arcade.
>
> * GarageGames has "expressed interest" in accessibility and I am  
> explaining to them for the 90th time that they have never responded  
> to the work that Eelke and Reid did despite numerous calls and  
> emails and if they really want to SHOW interest, then they need to  
> meet up with us at GDC and look at what they worked on for Garage  
> and then work with them to get it INCLUDED into Torque as initially  
> discussed last year.
>
> * I have been trying to make sure that everyone going to GDC from  
> the SIG has access to as many receptions and product launches that I  
> can possibly get extra passes for (I've pulled in so many favors for  
> this GDC, it's insane). Everyone going has been working their asses  
> off to get ready.
>
> * I'm hoping that we have the best GDC yet even though we won't be  
> as visible in sessions but instead are visible with fliers (that  
> Mark updated and is printing), our DVDs (that Reid and Thomas worked  
> on together), and more.
>
> * Mark has been working on a new SIG site that we hope will be  
> launched shortly.
>
> * I'm working on a letter with Ben to help raise more matching funds  
> for our grant at GDC -- that's where the bulk of my work and time  
> will be spent doing next week.
>
> * I never claim that brainstorming on this list that I send to CEOs,  
> etc of gaming companies are MY ideas  alone -- I ALWAYS put the SIG  
> first and foremost when I send them. Everything I do that is based  
> on work/comments/etc is as a representative of the SIG. Sometimes I  
> get busy -- like when a dissertation deadline is coming up -- so I  
> am first to admit that I don't always share everything I do in a day  
> on behalf of the SIG.
>
> You may not have meant your email to be as harsh sounding as it was  
> -- "closed doors" to me is a remark that you feel that I am doing  
> things for the good of only myself, which is further from the truth  
> than you can imagine. I apologize, however, if I have mistaken your  
> tone. It is the middle of the night for me and I still have much to  
> do before the rest of the US wakes up for the day.
>
> Michelle
>
>
>> Hi,
>>
>> Good news! I once started collecting accessibility(-friendly)  
>> macro's and addon-s for Wow but I found that the functionality of  
>> many early addons that allowed for better accessibility (like auto- 
>> movement, auto-attack) were disabled in later patches. Even  
>> something simple as knowing when the "sneak"-sound is played (which  
>> one could use to make your own closed caption caption) is  
>> unavailable. I have a wish list somewhere I could send you... ?
>>
>> But before I get in on how to make WoW accessible, I have always  
>> been wondering whatever happened to Rock Band? Several of us gave  
>> (critical) feedback but I never heard from it again... ? I really  
>> like you bringing in real-world cases to the SIG, Michelle, but I  
>> don't really like it that when we give possible solutions and  
>> suggestions, the rest of the conversation is seemingly behind  
>> closed doors? Or was there no further conversation?
>>
>> Greets,
>>
>> Richard
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> ----- Original Message ----- From: "d. michelle hinn" <hinn at uiuc.edu>
>> To: "IGDA Games Accessibility SIG Mailing List" <games_access at igda.org 
>> >
>> Sent: Tuesday, February 12, 2008 7:01 AM
>> Subject: [games_access] Blizzard, WoW, and Accessibility Concerns
>>> Hi all,
>>>
>>> It's been brought to my attention that there are some gamers with  
>>> mobility impairments who have been blocked from playing World of  
>>> Warcraft due to a policy that is in place that "kicks off" any  
>>> gamer who is using something that looks like a cheat when  
>>> meanwhile it's actually an accessibility mod that works with an  
>>> accessible controller or some such.
>>>
>>> I'm happy to say that thanks to Jason Della Rocca's help (IGDA  
>>> Exec Director) I now have direct contact with the COO of Blizzard  
>>> who is extremely dismayed by the fact that some gamers with  
>>> disabilities have been blocked from playing WoW and by the  
>>> reaction(s) they have allegedly received from the company's tech  
>>> support, etc. Paul Sams , Blizzard COO, would like me to put all  
>>> gamers who have been experiencing this issue in direct contact  
>>> with him so that a mutually agreeable solution can be found. This  
>>> is one of those rare chances that we have to talk to one of the  
>>> highest higher ups at a company to help correct accessibility  
>>> problems. To quote him: "(he) will take this seriously!"
>>>
>>> If you or someone you know has a disability and has been banned  
>>> from play WoW due to the use of an accessible controller or key  
>>> remapping, please contact or have them contact me directly at hinn at uiuc.edu 
>>>  and we will get this worked out with Blizzard. As I said, Paul  
>>> was extremely upset when he learned that there may be someone (or  
>>> some people) on his team that, according to what I have heard, did  
>>> not make this issue a priority and instead handled the issue with  
>>> a lack of grace. I have the confidence that this is an  
>>> accessibility issue that can be fixed but we need the full details  
>>> from the gamers that have been impacted so that Blizzard knows how  
>>> to (1) fix the problem and (2) address the issue(s) related to the  
>>> responses given and/or the outright ignoring of the issue in the  
>>> chain of command.
>>>
>>> So please drop me an email if you've or someone you know has been  
>>> impacted by this and we will get this issue on the way to being  
>>> fixed! And please let gamers on any forums or lists know that they  
>>> should contact me (go ahead and put in my email address) so that I  
>>> can introduce them to Paul.
>>>
>>> Thanks everyone!
>>> Michelle
>>> _______________________________________________
>>> games_access mailing list
>>> games_access at igda.org
>>> http://seven.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/games_access
>>
>> _______________________________________________
>> games_access mailing list
>> games_access at igda.org
>> http://seven.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/games_access
>
> _______________________________________________
> games_access mailing list
> games_access at igda.org
> http://seven.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/games_access

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From j.chetwynd at btinternet.com  Wed Feb 13 07:45:06 2008
From: j.chetwynd at btinternet.com (=?UTF-8?B?In46Jycg44GC44KK44GM44Go44GG44GU44GW44GE44G+44GX44Gf?= =?UTF-8?B?44CCIg==?=)
Date: Wed, 13 Feb 2008 12:45:06 +0000
Subject: [games_access] Blizzard, WoW, and Accessibility Concerns
In-Reply-To: <3B0D1889-688B-43D4-A94D-031E575EE12B@pininteractive.com>
References: <6.1.0.6.2.20080206054638.01e3b818@enigami.com><227401c868b4$4e0b1410$0202a8c0@oneswitch><p06230910c3cf7d893032@[130.126.29.22]><p0623092bc3d6e243ef06@[130.126.29.30]><003c01c86d45$b9cb5260$6402a8c0@Delletje>
	<p0623092fc3d6f7c7fa0d@[130.126.29.30]>
	<3B0D1889-688B-43D4-A94D-031E575EE12B@pininteractive.com>
Message-ID: <79A6E743-F20D-4CED-9542-CD7228ADB0AD@btinternet.com>

Thomas,

there's a significant cost in taking the W3C route, end-user  
involvement.

Corporates have their own agendas, which if they hold in common, it  
can be very time consuming to change*.
whereas at the moment end-users can directly input to SIG, this  
becomes increasingly difficult and unlikely as corporates and  
academics take control. at least that is my experience over the past  
decade contributing to various W3C WGs.

It is true that Ian Jacobs has suggested that including users in the  
W3C process** has been discuss, and is under consideration by the  
management group. However no timeline has been set for implementation.

Open Source also has this deficiency, software is produced by 'users'  
but not the public.
consumers have a small amount of control, but people with low  
literacy are likely to have little disposable income.
A response from Bruce Perens is awaited ~:"

regards

Jonathan Chetwynd
Accessibility Consultant on Media Literacy and the Internet

*the formal objection to WCAG2 produced some good publicity, but very  
little advance in understanding, in the main limited to a  
qualification regarding the needs of people with learning disabilities.

**A talk to CETIS "Putting the User at the Heart of the W3C Process"  
with audio and transcript:
http://wiki.cetis.ac.uk/ 
Putting_the_User_at_the_Heart_of_the_W3C_Process.


From hinn at uiuc.edu  Wed Feb 13 11:09:18 2008
From: hinn at uiuc.edu (d. michelle hinn)
Date: Wed, 13 Feb 2008 10:09:18 -0600
Subject: [games_access] Blizzard, WoW, and Accessibility Concerns
In-Reply-To: <79A6E743-F20D-4CED-9542-CD7228ADB0AD@btinternet.com>
References: <6.1.0.6.2.20080206054638.01e3b818@enigami.com><227401c868b4$4e0b1410$0202
	a8c0@oneswitch><p06230910c3cf7d893032@[130.126.29.22]><p0623092bc3d6e243ef
	06@[130.126.29.30]><003c01c86d45$b9cb5260$6402a8c0@Delletje>
	<p0623092fc3d6f7c7fa0d@[130.126.29.30]>
	<3B0D1889-688B-43D4-A94D-031E575EE12B@pininteractive.com>
	<79A6E743-F20D-4CED-9542-CD7228ADB0AD@btinternet.com>
Message-ID: <p0623094ac3d8c050cac4@[130.126.29.30]>

Hi,

I tend to agree with Jonathan on this one -- that going the W3C route 
is one that might not work well with regard to gaming. With games we 
are not just dealing with access standards...we also need to ensure 
that what is accessible is also "fun." We're also talking about 
vastly different architecture that companies adopt -- there is no 
"common language" that all games use (unlike HTML, etc). As Jonathan 
said -- now we have the consumer voice that we are just starting to 
get heard by industry. We don't want to lose this voice by taking a 
radical shift toward moving to a consortium that might be too much of 
a square peg in a round hole when it comes to talking about 
entertainment applications. With regard to the film industry (yeah, 
this example again) there is STILL no agreement as to what MUST be 
done in movie theatres and we still have the bulk of theatres not 
complying with what the US has said DOES fall under the Americans 
with Disabilities act after 7 years of the decision that captioning 
of sort must happen in theatres as requested.

Also...I really can't see moving toward a consortium resulting in the 
fame and money in this industry -- has this come true for anyone in 
the web industry? I can think of one or two people who have benefited 
fame-wise but I have no idea of their net worth. A few people on my 
campus are on different W3C WGs and are probably some of the lowest 
earning academics at the university. Maybe that's different in parts 
of Europe -- I just know it's a "don't quit your day job" thing in 
the US. ;)

We're in a bit of a lucky spot at the moment where it's the STORIES 
of the users that are affecting the CEO's, etc in paying attention to 
us -- moving to a consortium seems like a move that is one mired in 
policy and moves us away from being a group that recognizes that each 
company has their own creative values. I don't know -- just some 
morning thoughts about starting up a consortium.

Michelle

>Thomas,
>
>there's a significant cost in taking the W3C route, end-user involvement.
>
>Corporates have their own agendas, which if they hold in common, it 
>can be very time consuming to change*.
>whereas at the moment end-users can directly input to SIG, this 
>becomes increasingly difficult and unlikely as corporates and 
>academics take control. at least that is my experience over the past 
>decade contributing to various W3C WGs.
>
>It is true that Ian Jacobs has suggested that including users in the 
>W3C process** has been discuss, and is under consideration by the 
>management group. However no timeline has been set for 
>implementation.
>
>Open Source also has this deficiency, software is produced by 
>'users' but not the public.
>consumers have a small amount of control, but people with low 
>literacy are likely to have little disposable income.
>A response from Bruce Perens is awaited ~:"
>
>regards
>
>Jonathan Chetwynd
>Accessibility Consultant on Media Literacy and the Internet
>
>*the formal objection to WCAG2 produced some good publicity, but 
>very little advance in understanding, in the main limited to a 
>qualification regarding the needs of people with learning 
>disabilities.
>
>**A talk to CETIS "Putting the User at the Heart of the W3C Process" 
>with audio and transcript:
>http://wiki.cetis.ac.uk/Putting_the_User_at_the_Heart_of_the_W3C_Process.
>_______________________________________________
>games_access mailing list
>games_access at igda.org
>http://seven.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/games_access



From glinert at mit.edu  Wed Feb 13 11:08:24 2008
From: glinert at mit.edu (Eitan Glinert)
Date: Wed, 13 Feb 2008 11:08:24 -0500
Subject: [games_access] Accessible Game Design Article
Message-ID: <3dd2060e0802130808o737d9e22j5d13696a81c34549@mail.gmail.com>

Hey guys,

Gamasutra just ran my article on designing accessible games for everyone,
you can check it out here:
http://www.gamasutra.com/view/feature/3538/designing_games_that_are_.php

Please feel free to let me know what you think, point out errors, and let me
know how much better you thought Sonic was than Mario. Also, thanks to Eelke
Folmer for helping with the article, and everyone else I've talked to who
helped me shape the ideas in the piece.

Cheers, see you at GDC if you're going,
Eitan
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From hinn at uiuc.edu  Wed Feb 13 12:14:25 2008
From: hinn at uiuc.edu (d. michelle hinn)
Date: Wed, 13 Feb 2008 11:14:25 -0600
Subject: [games_access] Accessible Game Design Article
In-Reply-To: <3dd2060e0802130808o737d9e22j5d13696a81c34549@mail.gmail.com>
References: <3dd2060e0802130808o737d9e22j5d13696a81c34549@mail.gmail.com>
Message-ID: <p06230950c3d8d3ec6353@[130.126.29.30]>

Nice article, Eitan!

One small request -- while there are still some activity at 
gameaccessibility.com, there's no one really moderating it anymore 
unless Sander and Richard get some extra time to at least wipe out 
some spam on the site -- they left the group that was sponsoring the 
site and hopefully we'll be moving over resources from the site to 
the new (soon!) SIG website. While our site isn't great at the moment

http://www.igda.org/accessibility + gameaccessibility.blogspot.com

it at least gets people over to the SIG so that people don't find 
GA.com and get frustrated when no one is answering their questions (I 
know that there are a few very mad people about audio game maker). 
I've posted the invite here and there at the forum as well. So it's 
just a request, if possible, to make sure we don't leave people 
hanging. I know John and Barrie are still pretty active there but 
it's hard when no one is a moderator to keep things going.

So if there's anyway to replace an/or add the SIG link to your 
article, that would be great. We just can't afford to lose anyone in 
the movement for game accessibility! :)

Michelle

>Hey guys,
>
>Gamasutra just ran my article on designing accessible games for 
>everyone, you can check it out here:
><http://www.gamasutra.com/view/feature/3538/designing_games_that_are_.php>http://www.gamasutra.com/view/feature/3538/designing_games_that_are_.php
>
>Please feel free to let me know what you think, point out errors, 
>and let me know how much better you thought Sonic was than Mario. 
>Also, thanks to Eelke Folmer for helping with the article, and 
>everyone else I've talked to who helped me shape the ideas in the 
>piece.
>
>Cheers, see you at GDC if you're going,
>Eitan
>
>_______________________________________________
>games_access mailing list
>games_access at igda.org
>http://seven.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/games_access
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From hinn at uiuc.edu  Wed Feb 13 12:36:56 2008
From: hinn at uiuc.edu (d. michelle hinn)
Date: Wed, 13 Feb 2008 11:36:56 -0600
Subject: [games_access] Press Release: Game Accessibility Arcade to be
 Presented at Game Developers Conference 2008
In-Reply-To: <3dd2060e0802130808o737d9e22j5d13696a81c34549@mail.gmail.com>
References: <3dd2060e0802130808o737d9e22j5d13696a81c34549@mail.gmail.com>
Message-ID: <p06230951c3d8da42df57@[130.126.29.30]>

Please forward!!

For Immediate Release

Game Accessibility Arcade to be Presented at Game Developers Conference 2008

Event to Showcase Solutions for Creating 
Accessible Versions of Commercial and Independent 
Games and Game Controllers for Gamers with 
Disabilities; IGDA Game Accessibility Group to 
Host; Corporate Participants Include Emotiv, 
NaturalPoint, and more.

CHAMPAIGN, IL - February 13, 2008 - The Game 
Accessibility Special Interest Group (SIG) of the 
International Game Developers Association (IGDA) 
will be presenting its popular Accessibility 
Arcade session at the Game Developers Conference 
2008 in San Francisco at the Moscone Center, 
February 18 - 22. SIG members hope that these 
sessions will provide the opportunity will help 
raise awareness amongst game developers and the 
gaming media that people with disabilities also 
want the chance to play commercial games and game 
controllers that have been re-designed for 
computers and the latest console systems.

"The message we hope to convey at GDC 08 is that 
games are for everyone and are an important part 
of life today that cannot continue to be 
inaccessible for people with disabilities," said 
Michelle Hinn, chairperson of the Game 
Accessibility SIG, game design instructor at the 
University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, and 
Game Accessibility Researcher at the National 
Center for Supercomputing Applications. "The 
majority of games on the market remain unplayable 
by up to 10-20% of the population. This is not 
only an opportunity for developers to increase 
revenue - it is an issue of social injustice that 
must be corrected."

SIG members also want to convey that Game 
Accessibility does not mean non-creative, 
non-innovative games. Hinn welcomes both skeptics 
and supporters of game accessibility to see the 
opportunities for fostering a more socially aware 
industry and "to educate themselves and help 
break down preconceived notions about configuring 
games and controllers that can also include 
gamers with disabilities. Come take a look at 
some of the incredible next generation 
controllers that we'll have on display from 
Emotiv, Natural Point, One Switch, as well as 
game accessibility solutions such as Doom3 and 
other games with complete closed captioning by 
Reid Kimball of Games[cc] and "Blind Hero," which 
allows the blind to play guitar hero using a 
haptic device developed by SIG member Eelke 
Folmer at the University of Nevada, Reno. And 
find out more about our partner sites, 
AbleGamers.com and One Switch, to see how we are 
getting information not just to the game 
development community but also out to gamers with 
disabilities themselves about games and 
controllers that are or can become accessible at 
one of the kiosks we'll have to showcase these 
web communities. These are just some of the many 
examples we'll have for session goers to interact 
with. And, hey, who doesn't want to do the Jedi 
Mind Trick?"

Commercial controllers that help represent the 
future of accessible game play and controllers 
that will be shown include those by:

o	Emotiv: A pioneer in brain computer 
interface (BCI) technology, Emotiv Systems 
creates technologies that allow machines to take 
both conscious and non-conscious inputs directly 
from your mind. Currently focused on the gaming 
industry, its Emotiv EPOC wireless nueroheadset 
enables video games to respond to players' 
emotions and expressions and allows players to 
manipulate objects in the game using the power of 
their thoughts. This entirely new interface will 
dramatically change the gaming experience by 
making it more immersive, intuitive and personal.

o	NaturalPoint: NaturalPoint's SmartNav? 
has been making gaming possible for people with 
physical disabilities around the globe for seven 
years.  Complete computer independence is 
achieved with this hands-free ergonomic mouse by 
using only slight head movements.  Elizabeth 
Ryan, SmartNav Marketing Director, says "Optical 
head tracking has been a breakthrough in 
assistive technology, making PC gaming accessible 
for those that can only move their heads."

o	Oneswitch.org.uk: One Switch is a 
UK-based organization/web site that reaches out 
to gamers with cognitive and mobility 
disabilities throughout the world. One Switch 
provides controllers that have been "rerouted" in 
order to allow gamers with disabilities to play 
commercial computer and console games, as well as 
Do-It-Yourself guides for those who want to 
modify their own controllers to make them 
accessible.

The response by the industry toward adding in 
game accessibility features into their products 
"?has been dismal. The gaming industry cannot 
just assume that because these controllers hacks 
exist that they are off the hook," Hinn added. 
"There are many types of disabilities that impact 
game play in different ways. Even if someone is 
using these controllers, many are quite costly - 
often more than a game and even a console system 
- and many games still remain impossible to play 
due to issues such as button combination choices 
that seem to be complex just to be complex and 
cannot be reconfigured. But this criticism has 
not only been made by disability advocates - 
Industry veterans such as Ernest Adams and Peter 
Molyneux have also spoken out on the game 
complexity control issue for gamers in general. 
Solutions that help gamers with disabilities can 
enhance the game play experience for ALL gamers."

The Game Accessibility SIG will be presenting the following sessions at GDC:

Accessibility Arcade: Or How to Do the Jedi Mind 
Trick (Day One): Wednesday (Feb 20nd); 4:00pm - 
5:00pm; Room 121, North Hall

Accessibility Arcade: Or How to Do the Jedi Mind 
Trick (Day Two): Thursday (Feb 21st); 9:00am - 
10:00am; Room 121, North Hall

Dynamic Closed Captioning for Your Game 
Date/Time: Thursday (Feb 21st); 1:00pm - 2:00pm; 
Station 2, 2nd Floor

Game Accessibility & Developers with Disabilities 
Group Gathering Date/Time: Thursday (Feb 21st, 
2008); 2:30pm - 3:30pm; IGDA Booth, West Hall

For more information about these sessions, the 
SIG, or to schedule an interview about any of the 
sessions or game accessibility in general, 
contact Michelle Hinn, IGDA Game Accessibility 
SIG Chair, at 1.217.898.9684 or at hinn at uiuc.edu 
-- Members of the SIG will be available the 
entire week of GDC.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

About the IGDA Game Accessibility Special Interest Group (SIG)

The IGDA Game Accessibility SIG is a game 
industry advocacy group formed to promote 
awareness of the issues that gamers with 
disabilities face and to help provide solutions 
that can be used to design games that are 
accessible to all. For more information on the 
IGDA Game Accessibility SIG, please visit 
www.igda.org/accessibility -- Press inquires 
should be directed to the SIG chairperson 
Michelle Hinn at hinn at uiuc.edu or by mobile phone 
at 1-217-898-9684.

About the International Game Developers Association (IGDA)

The International Game Developers Association is 
a non-profit professional society that is 
committed to advancing the careers and enhancing 
the lives of game developers by connecting 
members with their peers, promoting professional 
development, and advocating on issues that affect 
the developer community. For more information on 
the IGDA, please visit www.igda.org

About Emotiv

Emotiv Systems is a pioneer in brain computer 
interface technology. Its focus is on leveraging 
neuro-technology to create the ultimate interface 
for the next-generation of man-machine 
interaction. It does this by evolving the 
interaction between human beings and electronic 
devices beyond the limits of conscious interface. 
Emotiv creates technologies that allow machines 
to take both conscious and non-conscious inputs 
directly from your brain. These technologies 
include a hardware and software platform that can 
be licensed to commercial software developers and 
other third parties, as well as a suite of 
products for consumer applications.

Today, Emotiv is developing solutions 
specifically for the electronic games industry. 
In the future, Emotiv's technology has the 
potential to be applied to numerous industries, 
including interactive television, accessibility 
design, market research, medicine, and security.

Founded by four award-winning scientists and 
technology entrepreneurs, Emotiv is headquartered 
in San Francisco, CA, and has offices in Sydney, 
Australia. Investors include Technology Venture 
Partners, Epicure Capital Partners and the 
Australian Federal Government. More information 
is available at www.emotiv.com.

About NaturalPoint

NatturalPoint is Based in Corvallis, Oregon. 
NaturalPoint? is the creator and manufacturer of 
the SmartNAV?, TrackIR?, and OptiTrack? product 
lines. NaturalPoint specializes in providing 
innovative control solutions through optical 
tracking technology, and has developed tracking 
systems for computers, video games, military 
simulators, and unique display systems. Press 
inquires should be directed to Elizabeth Ryan, 
Marketing Director, at elizabeth at naturalpoint.com 
or by mobile phone at 541.207.7976

About AbleGamers.com

AbleGamers.com is an online community for 
disabled gamers. Founded by two gamers with 
disabilities, AbleGamers provides news, 
interviews, and more to gamers with disabilities 
as well as provides a way for game developers to 
get directly connected to the potential consumer 
base of gamers with disabilities. AbleGamers is 
an official partner of the IGDA Game 
Accessibility SIG. Press inquires should be 
directed to Mark Barlet, Editor-in-chief, at 
ioo at ablegamers.com or by phone at 1-202-258-1937.

About Games[cc]

Games[cc] is a company that provides closed 
captioning solutions via its "Dynamic Closed 
Captioning" system for videogames that allows 
gamers with hearing impairments or who chose to 
game without sound to see every line of dialog, 
sound effects and music displayed on screen in 
real time, dynamically changing by the players' 
interactions. In 2006, less than 1% of all the 
games rated by the ESRB were closed captioned, 
preventing millions of deaf and hard of hearing 
players from achieving maximum enjoyment of their 
games. Press inquires should be directed to Reid 
Kimball, Owner, at seethesound at rbkdesign.com or 
by phone at 415-632-9982.

About Oneswitch.org.uk

The One Switch Organisation is a UK based web 
site reaching out to learning and physically 
disabled gamers around the world. One Switch 
provides nearly one hundred free games playable 
with a single button, an Accessible Gaming Shop, 
D.I.Y. accessible controller guides and more. One 
Switch is an official partner of the IGDA Game 
Accessibility SIG. Press inquires should be 
directed to Barrie Ellis, Owner, at 
info at oneswitch.org.uk
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From glinert at mit.edu  Wed Feb 13 13:48:53 2008
From: glinert at mit.edu (Eitan Glinert)
Date: Wed, 13 Feb 2008 13:48:53 -0500
Subject: [games_access] Accessible Game Design Article
In-Reply-To: <p06230950c3d8d3ec6353@130.126.29.30>
References: <3dd2060e0802130808o737d9e22j5d13696a81c34549@mail.gmail.com>
	<p06230950c3d8d3ec6353@130.126.29.30>
Message-ID: <3dd2060e0802131048s45f1277fx29b9cb19eae1d524@mail.gmail.com>

I'll try to get it switched.
Cheers,
Eitan

On Feb 13, 2008 12:14 PM, d. michelle hinn <hinn at uiuc.edu> wrote:

>  Nice article, Eitan!
>
> One small request -- while there are still some activity at
> gameaccessibility.com, there's no one really moderating it anymore unless
> Sander and Richard get some extra time to at least wipe out some spam on the
> site -- they left the group that was sponsoring the site and hopefully we'll
> be moving over resources from the site to the new (soon!) SIG website. While
> our site isn't great at the moment
>
> http://www.igda.org/accessibility + gameaccessibility.blogspot.com
>
> it at least gets people over to the SIG so that people don't find GA.comand get frustrated when no one is answering their questions (I know that
> there are a few very mad people about audio game maker). I've posted the
> invite here and there at the forum as well. So it's just a request, if
> possible, to make sure we don't leave people hanging. I know John and Barrie
> are still pretty active there but it's hard when no one is a moderator to
> keep things going.
>
> So if there's anyway to replace an/or add the SIG link to your article,
> that would be great. We just can't afford to lose anyone in the movement for
> game accessibility! :)
>
> Michelle
>
> Hey guys,
>
>
> Gamasutra just ran my article on designing accessible games for everyone,
> you can check it out here:
> http://www.gamasutra.com/view/feature/3538/designing_games_that_are_.php
>
> Please feel free to let me know what you think, point out errors, and let
> me know how much better you thought Sonic was than Mario. Also, thanks to
> Eelke Folmer for helping with the article, and everyone else I've talked to
> who helped me shape the ideas in the piece.
>
> Cheers, see you at GDC if you're going,
> Eitan
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> games_access mailing list
> games_access at igda.org
> http://seven.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/games_access
>
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> games_access mailing list
> games_access at igda.org
> http://seven.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/games_access
>
>
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From ioo at ablegamers.com  Wed Feb 13 16:10:00 2008
From: ioo at ablegamers.com (Ioo)
Date: Wed, 13 Feb 2008 16:10:00 -0500
Subject: [games_access] Accessible Game Design Article
In-Reply-To: <3dd2060e0802130808o737d9e22j5d13696a81c34549@mail.gmail.com>
References: <3dd2060e0802130808o737d9e22j5d13696a81c34549@mail.gmail.com>
Message-ID: <47B35CA8.4090603@ablegamers.com>

Eitan,

 You are also welcome to get things posted on AbleGamers.com, the whole 
site is about the subject. Just send it over and I will get it up.

Looks good...

Mark

Eitan Glinert wrote:
> Hey guys,
>
> Gamasutra just ran my article on designing accessible games for 
> everyone, you can check it out here:
> http://www.gamasutra.com/view/feature/3538/designing_games_that_are_.php
>
> Please feel free to let me know what you think, point out errors, and 
> let me know how much better you thought Sonic was than Mario. Also, 
> thanks to Eelke Folmer for helping with the article, and everyone else 
> I've talked to who helped me shape the ideas in the piece.
>
> Cheers, see you at GDC if you're going,
> Eitan
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> _______________________________________________
> games_access mailing list
> games_access at igda.org
> http://seven.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/games_access
>   


From hinn at uiuc.edu  Wed Feb 13 18:01:14 2008
From: hinn at uiuc.edu (d. michelle hinn)
Date: Wed, 13 Feb 2008 17:01:14 -0600
Subject: [games_access] GDC info for attendees
In-Reply-To: <47B35CA8.4090603@ablegamers.com>
References: <3dd2060e0802130808o737d9e22j5d13696a81c34549@mail.gmail.com>
	<47B35CA8.4090603@ablegamers.com>
Message-ID: <p0623095dc3d923d81e96@[130.126.29.30]>

Hi all,

I'm having a very bad reaction to a new medication I started (and 
stopped) yesterday and so I'm trying to get out info to GDC attendees 
as quickly as possible. I know...when is something health-related NOT 
going on for me? Don't worry -- it's under control now. Just have to 
wait the last side effects out.

Here's the main bit of info to know for right now -- our session 
rooms (at least the accessibility arcade ones) will NOT have internet 
access of ANY sort. Many of you remember how bad the access was (if 
you could even get it) last year -- it's supposed to be even worse 
this year. So if you have something to show that is, say, a website, 
make sure you have a local version available on your laptop. 
Obviously that's not going to be ideal for all sites but it's all we 
can do. If a local version is not going to fly, try taking screen 
shots to at least walk people through and explain that our room has 
no internet connection -- no one's gonna give us grief about it.

Also, last call for getting us info about companies that you want us 
to try and get in touch with at GDC. Almost everyone I know has 
nearly every minute blocked out for GDC -- I know I only have a few 
openings left for Friday at this point and am trying to combine 
everything that I can! This is going to be the largest GDC yet (they 
are now expecting upwards and over 20,000 people!

BTW -- the stuff with Blizzard is going well and I'll have a report 
that is longer than "is going well" shortly.

Thank all!
Michelle


From thomas at pininteractive.com  Thu Feb 14 03:36:55 2008
From: thomas at pininteractive.com (Thomas Westin)
Date: Thu, 14 Feb 2008 09:36:55 +0100
Subject: [games_access] Blizzard, WoW, and Accessibility Concerns
In-Reply-To: <p0623094ac3d8c050cac4@[130.126.29.30]>
References: <6.1.0.6.2.20080206054638.01e3b818@enigami.com><227401c868b4$4e0b1410$0202a8c0@oneswitch><p06230910c3cf7d893032@[130.126.29.22]><p0623092bc3d6e243ef06@[130.126.29.30]><003c01c86d45$b9cb5260$6402a8c0@Delletje><p0623092fc3d6f7c7fa0d@[130.126.29.30]><3B0D1889-688B-43D4-A94D-031E575EE12B@pininteractive.com><79A6E743-F20D-4CED-9542-CD7228ADB0AD@btinternet.com>
	<p0623094ac3d8c050cac4@[130.126.29.30]>
Message-ID: <45B28CCB-13F1-420F-AF13-FFC86C97B5AA@pininteractive.com>

Hi,

yes the rich and famous comment was just me dreaming :)

But I don't quite follow about the rest. I'm certain Blizzard and  
others are well aware of the importance of fun? And having a  
consortium is not stopping us from involving end-users. When I made  
the comparison with W3C I didn't intend us to copy their organisation,  
just referred to it as a concept for industry collaboration.

Regarding accessibility and film theatres: I agree but games are of  
course different; you have "serious games" but not "serious film  
theatres", or maybe I have missed something :) - the term "serious" is  
a problem of it's own though but we have to live with it now :)
- as we have discussed many times, non-entertainment applications of  
games demands accessibility

It's great that CEOs listen to the end-users this way and respond, but  
still it's better if it is done pro-actively, so the end users don't  
have to tell them, I think we all can agree on that.

-So why not take the chance now that we have the attention from CEOs  
and COOs to discuss a _proactive_ way to make games as accessible as  
possible, through industry collaboration? Call it something different  
than a consortium if you like, but a bi-lateral, formal organization  
that can put some efforts and dollars into game access is a good thing  
in my mind.

And further, it is not an option between the SIG and a consortium, I  
think both are needed. And as the consortium members need expertise to  
develop accessibility in their games, yes the rich and famous, or at  
least getting paid a little for all our work, could become more than a  
dream.

/Thomas



On 13 feb 2008, at 17.09, d. michelle hinn wrote:

> Hi,
>
> I tend to agree with Jonathan on this one -- that going the W3C  
> route is one that might not work well with regard to gaming. With  
> games we are not just dealing with access standards...we also need  
> to ensure that what is accessible is also "fun." We're also talking  
> about vastly different architecture that companies adopt -- there is  
> no "common language" that all games use (unlike HTML, etc). As  
> Jonathan said -- now we have the consumer voice that we are just  
> starting to get heard by industry. We don't want to lose this voice  
> by taking a radical shift toward moving to a consortium that might  
> be too much of a square peg in a round hole when it comes to talking  
> about entertainment applications. With regard to the film industry  
> (yeah, this example again) there is STILL no agreement as to what  
> MUST be done in movie theatres and we still have the bulk of  
> theatres not complying with what the US has said DOES fall under the  
> Americans with Disabilities act after 7 years of the decision that  
> captioning of sort must happen in theatres as requested.
>
> Also...I really can't see moving toward a consortium resulting in  
> the fame and money in this industry -- has this come true for anyone  
> in the web industry? I can think of one or two people who have  
> benefited fame-wise but I have no idea of their net worth. A few  
> people on my campus are on different W3C WGs and are probably some  
> of the lowest earning academics at the university. Maybe that's  
> different in parts of Europe -- I just know it's a "don't quit your  
> day job" thing in the US. ;)
>
> We're in a bit of a lucky spot at the moment where it's the STORIES  
> of the users that are affecting the CEO's, etc in paying attention  
> to us -- moving to a consortium seems like a move that is one mired  
> in policy and moves us away from being a group that recognizes that  
> each company has their own creative values. I don't know -- just  
> some morning thoughts about starting up a consortium.
>
> Michelle
>
>> Thomas,
>>
>> there's a significant cost in taking the W3C route, end-user  
>> involvement.
>>
>> Corporates have their own agendas, which if they hold in common, it  
>> can be very time consuming to change*.
>> whereas at the moment end-users can directly input to SIG, this  
>> becomes increasingly difficult and unlikely as corporates and  
>> academics take control. at least that is my experience over the  
>> past decade contributing to various W3C WGs.
>>
>> It is true that Ian Jacobs has suggested that including users in  
>> the W3C process** has been discuss, and is under consideration by  
>> the management group. However no timeline has been set for  
>> implementation.
>>
>> Open Source also has this deficiency, software is produced by  
>> 'users' but not the public.
>> consumers have a small amount of control, but people with low  
>> literacy are likely to have little disposable income.
>> A response from Bruce Perens is awaited ~:"
>>
>> regards
>>
>> Jonathan Chetwynd
>> Accessibility Consultant on Media Literacy and the Internet
>>
>> *the formal objection to WCAG2 produced some good publicity, but  
>> very little advance in understanding, in the main limited to a  
>> qualification regarding the needs of people with learning  
>> disabilities.
>>
>> **A talk to CETIS "Putting the User at the Heart of the W3C  
>> Process" with audio and transcript:
>> http://wiki.cetis.ac.uk/Putting_the_User_at_the_Heart_of_the_W3C_Process 
>> .
>> _______________________________________________
>> games_access mailing list
>> games_access at igda.org
>> http://seven.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/games_access
>
> _______________________________________________
> games_access mailing list
> games_access at igda.org
> http://seven.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/games_access



From thomas at pininteractive.com  Thu Feb 14 03:51:43 2008
From: thomas at pininteractive.com (Thomas Westin)
Date: Thu, 14 Feb 2008 09:51:43 +0100
Subject: [games_access] Blizzard, WoW, and Accessibility Concerns
In-Reply-To: <45B28CCB-13F1-420F-AF13-FFC86C97B5AA@pininteractive.com>
References: <6.1.0.6.2.20080206054638.01e3b818@enigami.com><227401c868b4$4e0b1410$0202a8c0@oneswitch><p06230910c3cf7d893032@[130.126.29.22]><p0623092bc3d6e243ef06@[130.126.29.30]><003c01c86d45$b9cb5260$6402a8c0@Delletje><p0623092fc3d6f7c7fa0d@[130.126.29.30]><3B0D1889-688B-43D4-A94D-031E575EE12B@pininteractive.com><79A6E743-F20D-4CED-9542-CD7228ADB0AD@btinternet.com>
	<p0623094ac3d8c050cac4@[130.126.29.30]>
	<45B28CCB-13F1-420F-AF13-FFC86C97B5AA@pininteractive.com>
Message-ID: <F5EDAF77-06D0-4BA1-80B2-CCD331490726@pininteractive.com>

Hello again,

just adding a couple of things:

On 14 feb 2008, at 09.36, Thomas Westin wrote:

> With games we are not just dealing with access standards...we also  
> need to ensure that what is accessible is also "fun."
Just to make clear what I meant so you don't get me wrong: I'm certain  
you didn't mean that the game industry are unaware of the fun factor,  
but rather that implementing accessibility takes greater care about  
not spoiling the content of the game, i.e making it too easy etc.  
However, that's just part of the challenge, and why we need a  
financially strong organisation too, which the SIG is not.

> We're also talking about vastly different architecture that  
> companies adopt -- there is no "common language" that all games use  
> (unlike HTML, etc)
Yes I agree, but my efforts with the GAIM is addressing exactly this  
problem through UML. UML is a common denominator where you can design  
and code visually and then generate solutions for different languages  
and architectures. I know, it takes a _lot_ of work to make this work  
completely automagically, cross-platforms etc, perhaps it never will,  
but I think it can help a lot in this process.

/Thomas


On 14 feb 2008, at 09.36, Thomas Westin wrote:

> Hi,
>
> yes the rich and famous comment was just me dreaming :)
>
> But I don't quite follow about the rest. I'm certain Blizzard and  
> others are well aware of the importance of fun? And having a  
> consortium is not stopping us from involving end-users. When I made  
> the comparison with W3C I didn't intend us to copy their  
> organisation, just referred to it as a concept for industry  
> collaboration.
>
> Regarding accessibility and film theatres: I agree but games are of  
> course different; you have "serious games" but not "serious film  
> theatres", or maybe I have missed something :) - the term "serious"  
> is a problem of it's own though but we have to live with it now :)
> - as we have discussed many times, non-entertainment applications of  
> games demands accessibility
>
> It's great that CEOs listen to the end-users this way and respond,  
> but still it's better if it is done pro-actively, so the end users  
> don't have to tell them, I think we all can agree on that.
>
> -So why not take the chance now that we have the attention from CEOs  
> and COOs to discuss a _proactive_ way to make games as accessible as  
> possible, through industry collaboration? Call it something  
> different than a consortium if you like, but a bi-lateral, formal  
> organization that can put some efforts and dollars into game access  
> is a good thing in my mind.
>
> And further, it is not an option between the SIG and a consortium, I  
> think both are needed. And as the consortium members need expertise  
> to develop accessibility in their games, yes the rich and famous, or  
> at least getting paid a little for all our work, could become more  
> than a dream.
>
> /Thomas
>
>
>
> On 13 feb 2008, at 17.09, d. michelle hinn wrote:
>
>> Hi,
>>
>> I tend to agree with Jonathan on this one -- that going the W3C  
>> route is one that might not work well with regard to gaming. With  
>> games we are not just dealing with access standards...we also need  
>> to ensure that what is accessible is also "fun." We're also talking  
>> about vastly different architecture that companies adopt -- there  
>> is no "common language" that all games use (unlike HTML, etc). As  
>> Jonathan said -- now we have the consumer voice that we are just  
>> starting to get heard by industry. We don't want to lose this voice  
>> by taking a radical shift toward moving to a consortium that might  
>> be too much of a square peg in a round hole when it comes to  
>> talking about entertainment applications. With regard to the film  
>> industry (yeah, this example again) there is STILL no agreement as  
>> to what MUST be done in movie theatres and we still have the bulk  
>> of theatres not complying with what the US has said DOES fall under  
>> the Americans with Disabilities act after 7 years of the decision  
>> that captioning of sort must happen in theatres as requested.
>>
>> Also...I really can't see moving toward a consortium resulting in  
>> the fame and money in this industry -- has this come true for  
>> anyone in the web industry? I can think of one or two people who  
>> have benefited fame-wise but I have no idea of their net worth. A  
>> few people on my campus are on different W3C WGs and are probably  
>> some of the lowest earning academics at the university. Maybe  
>> that's different in parts of Europe -- I just know it's a "don't  
>> quit your day job" thing in the US. ;)
>>
>> We're in a bit of a lucky spot at the moment where it's the STORIES  
>> of the users that are affecting the CEO's, etc in paying attention  
>> to us -- moving to a consortium seems like a move that is one mired  
>> in policy and moves us away from being a group that recognizes that  
>> each company has their own creative values. I don't know -- just  
>> some morning thoughts about starting up a consortium.
>>
>> Michelle
>>
>>> Thomas,
>>>
>>> there's a significant cost in taking the W3C route, end-user  
>>> involvement.
>>>
>>> Corporates have their own agendas, which if they hold in common,  
>>> it can be very time consuming to change*.
>>> whereas at the moment end-users can directly input to SIG, this  
>>> becomes increasingly difficult and unlikely as corporates and  
>>> academics take control. at least that is my experience over the  
>>> past decade contributing to various W3C WGs.
>>>
>>> It is true that Ian Jacobs has suggested that including users in  
>>> the W3C process** has been discuss, and is under consideration by  
>>> the management group. However no timeline has been set for  
>>> implementation.
>>>
>>> Open Source also has this deficiency, software is produced by  
>>> 'users' but not the public.
>>> consumers have a small amount of control, but people with low  
>>> literacy are likely to have little disposable income.
>>> A response from Bruce Perens is awaited ~:"
>>>
>>> regards
>>>
>>> Jonathan Chetwynd
>>> Accessibility Consultant on Media Literacy and the Internet
>>>
>>> *the formal objection to WCAG2 produced some good publicity, but  
>>> very little advance in understanding, in the main limited to a  
>>> qualification regarding the needs of people with learning  
>>> disabilities.
>>>
>>> **A talk to CETIS "Putting the User at the Heart of the W3C  
>>> Process" with audio and transcript:
>>> http://wiki.cetis.ac.uk/Putting_the_User_at_the_Heart_of_the_W3C_Process 
>>> .
>>> _______________________________________________
>>> games_access mailing list
>>> games_access at igda.org
>>> http://seven.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/games_access
>>
>> _______________________________________________
>> games_access mailing list
>> games_access at igda.org
>> http://seven.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/games_access
>



From hinn at uiuc.edu  Thu Feb 14 17:40:43 2008
From: hinn at uiuc.edu (d. michelle hinn)
Date: Thu, 14 Feb 2008 16:40:43 -0600
Subject: [games_access] Blizzard, WoW, and Accessibility Concerns
In-Reply-To: <F5EDAF77-06D0-4BA1-80B2-CCD331490726@pininteractive.com>
References: <6.1.0.6.2.20080206054638.01e3b818@enigami.com><227401c868b4$4e0b1410$0202
	a8c0@oneswitch><p06230910c3cf7d893032@[130.126.29.22]><p0623092bc3d6e243ef
	06@[130.126.29.30]><003c01c86d45$b9cb5260$6402a8c0@Delletje><p0623092fc3d6
	f7c7fa0d@[130.126.29.30]><3B0D1889-688B-43D4-A94D-031E575EE12B@pininteract
	ive.com><79A6E743-F20D-4CED-9542-CD7228ADB0AD@btinternet.com>
	<p0623094ac3d8c050cac4@[130.126.29.30]>
	<45B28CCB-13F1-420F-AF13-FFC86C97B5AA@pininteractive.com>
	<F5EDAF77-06D0-4BA1-80B2-CCD331490726@pininteractive.com>
Message-ID: <p06230921c3da6d9c3572@[130.126.29.55]>

Just a really quick thing about a financially strong organization -- 
that's what I've been working to make the SIG into. A new 
organization puts finances in competition with the SIG at this point 
where we are just now an independent non-profit that's has raised 
over $30k in funding in a VERY short period of time (ie, months) and 
is now open to getting much more in funding. It's not millions at 
this point but it's the first time we've seen any money in the SIG. 
Perhaps I haven't been as clear as I could have been -- we're now 
starting to see money coming in that CAN support projects like this 
AND pay people. Why splinter the group right now into two separate 
groups when we've finally JUST evolved into a more independent group?

Also, we really only have two CEO/COOs attention right now so I think 
we may be jumping the gun a bit here. :) And at this point it's end 
user reports and reactions that is the ONLY thing that is getting 
them into the accessibility group. So I guess I see the support of 
those in positions of power for something that is pro-active as a 
"not-quote-ready-for-prime-time" idea. I mean, yeah, we see that it 
makes sense for companies to go this route but then every time we 
present the idea of doing things BEFORE it becomes a "panic reaction" 
(like in the WoW case) we hear "yeah, but that's going to cost 
money..." The complaints and talk of REAL lawsuits from individual 
players (not the SIG) is what's making people start to jump.

The UML issue is a whole other thing -- so far the big three console 
companies don't even have anything that's universal and I don't yet 
see them giving on that (if ever).

I'm not saying that a consortium/group/whatever is a totally bad idea 
-- not at all. It's just a question of -- is this really the right 
time to go down that route independent from the SIG when we've just 
started getting *some* financial support and *some* interest from 
higher ups. We still don't have companies knocking down our door but 
we are now a group that is much more independent than it's ever been. 
I guess I'm thinking that we may shoot ourselves in the foot by 
spinning off something else. And I also am not sure how a new group 
would have a whole bunch of money from the start?

At the end of the day -- we're still a group that's about 10 people 
strong, with only about 4-5 people at the best of times active at any 
one time. So we have to keep that reality in mind. I guess I'm not 
quite sure where the bandwidth is going to come from?

Just some thoughts...

Michelle

>Hello again,
>
>just adding a couple of things:
>
>On 14 feb 2008, at 09.36, Thomas Westin wrote:
>
>>With games we are not just dealing with access standards...we also 
>>need to ensure that what is accessible is also "fun."
>Just to make clear what I meant so you don't get me wrong: I'm 
>certain you didn't mean that the game industry are unaware of the 
>fun factor, but rather that implementing accessibility takes greater 
>care about not spoiling the content of the game, i.e making it too 
>easy etc. However, that's just part of the challenge, and why we 
>need a financially strong organisation too, which the SIG is not.
>
>>We're also talking about vastly different architecture that 
>>companies adopt -- there is no "common language" that all games use 
>>(unlike HTML, etc)
>Yes I agree, but my efforts with the GAIM is addressing exactly this 
>problem through UML. UML is a common denominator where you can 
>design and code visually and then generate solutions for different 
>languages and architectures. I know, it takes a _lot_ of work to 
>make this work completely automagically, cross-platforms etc, 
>perhaps it never will, but I think it can help a lot in this process.
>
>/Thomas
>
>
>On 14 feb 2008, at 09.36, Thomas Westin wrote:
>
>>Hi,
>>
>>yes the rich and famous comment was just me dreaming :)
>>
>>But I don't quite follow about the rest. I'm certain Blizzard and 
>>others are well aware of the importance of fun? And having a 
>>consortium is not stopping us from involving end-users. When I made 
>>the comparison with W3C I didn't intend us to copy their 
>>organisation, just referred to it as a concept for industry 
>>collaboration.
>>
>>Regarding accessibility and film theatres: I agree but games are of 
>>course different; you have "serious games" but not "serious film 
>>theatres", or maybe I have missed something :) - the term "serious" 
>>is a problem of it's own though but we have to live with it now :)
>>- as we have discussed many times, non-entertainment applications 
>>of games demands accessibility
>>
>>It's great that CEOs listen to the end-users this way and respond, 
>>but still it's better if it is done pro-actively, so the end users 
>>don't have to tell them, I think we all can agree on that.
>>
>>-So why not take the chance now that we have the attention from 
>>CEOs and COOs to discuss a _proactive_ way to make games as 
>>accessible as possible, through industry collaboration? Call it 
>>something different than a consortium if you like, but a 
>>bi-lateral, formal organization that can put some efforts and 
>>dollars into game access is a good thing in my mind.
>>
>>And further, it is not an option between the SIG and a consortium, 
>>I think both are needed. And as the consortium members need 
>>expertise to develop accessibility in their games, yes the rich and 
>>famous, or at least getting paid a little for all our work, could 
>>become more than a dream.
>>
>>/Thomas
>>
>>
>>
>>On 13 feb 2008, at 17.09, d. michelle hinn wrote:
>>
>>>Hi,
>>>
>>>I tend to agree with Jonathan on this one -- that going the W3C 
>>>route is one that might not work well with regard to gaming. With 
>>>games we are not just dealing with access standards...we also need 
>>>to ensure that what is accessible is also "fun." We're also 
>>>talking about vastly different architecture that companies adopt 
>>>-- there is no "common language" that all games use (unlike HTML, 
>>>etc). As Jonathan said -- now we have the consumer voice that we 
>>>are just starting to get heard by industry. We don't want to lose 
>>>this voice by taking a radical shift toward moving to a consortium 
>>>that might be too much of a square peg in a round hole when it 
>>>comes to talking about entertainment applications. With regard to 
>>>the film industry (yeah, this example again) there is STILL no 
>>>agreement as to what MUST be done in movie theatres and we still 
>>>have the bulk of theatres not complying with what the US has said 
>>>DOES fall under the Americans with Disabilities act after 7 years 
>>>of the decision that captioning of sort must happen in theatres as 
>>>requested.
>>>
>>>Also...I really can't see moving toward a consortium resulting in 
>>>the fame and money in this industry -- has this come true for 
>>>anyone in the web industry? I can think of one or two people who 
>>>have benefited fame-wise but I have no idea of their net worth. A 
>>>few people on my campus are on different W3C WGs and are probably 
>>>some of the lowest earning academics at the university. Maybe 
>>>that's different in parts of Europe -- I just know it's a "don't 
>>>quit your day job" thing in the US. ;)
>>>
>>>We're in a bit of a lucky spot at the moment where it's the 
>>>STORIES of the users that are affecting the CEO's, etc in paying 
>>>attention to us -- moving to a consortium seems like a move that 
>>>is one mired in policy and moves us away from being a group that 
>>>recognizes that each company has their own creative values. I 
>>>don't know -- just some morning thoughts about starting up a 
>>>consortium.
>>>
>>>Michelle
>>>
>>>>Thomas,
>>>>
>>>>there's a significant cost in taking the W3C route, end-user involvement.
>>>>
>>>>Corporates have their own agendas, which if they hold in common, 
>>>>it can be very time consuming to change*.
>>>>whereas at the moment end-users can directly input to SIG, this 
>>>>becomes increasingly difficult and unlikely as corporates and 
>>>>academics take control. at least that is my experience over the 
>>>>past decade contributing to various W3C WGs.
>>>>
>>>>It is true that Ian Jacobs has suggested that including users in 
>>>>the W3C process** has been discuss, and is under consideration by 
>>>>the management group. However no timeline has been set for 
>>>>implementation.
>>>>
>>>>Open Source also has this deficiency, software is produced by 
>>>>'users' but not the public.
>>>>consumers have a small amount of control, but people with low 
>>>>literacy are likely to have little disposable income.
>>>>A response from Bruce Perens is awaited ~:"
>>>>
>>>>regards
>>>>
>>>>Jonathan Chetwynd
>>>>Accessibility Consultant on Media Literacy and the Internet
>>>>
>>>>*the formal objection to WCAG2 produced some good publicity, but 
>>>>very little advance in understanding, in the main limited to a 
>>>>qualification regarding the needs of people with learning 
>>>>disabilities.
>>>>
>>>>**A talk to CETIS "Putting the User at the Heart of the W3C 
>>>>Process" with audio and transcript:
>>>>http://wiki.cetis.ac.uk/Putting_the_User_at_the_Heart_of_the_W3C_Process.
>>>>_______________________________________________
>>>>games_access mailing list
>>>>games_access at igda.org
>>>>http://seven.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/games_access
>>>
>>>_______________________________________________
>>>games_access mailing list
>>>games_access at igda.org
>>>http://seven.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/games_access
>>
>
>_______________________________________________
>games_access mailing list
>games_access at igda.org
>http://seven.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/games_access



From thomas at pininteractive.com  Thu Feb 14 18:12:31 2008
From: thomas at pininteractive.com (Thomas Westin)
Date: Fri, 15 Feb 2008 00:12:31 +0100
Subject: [games_access] Blizzard, WoW, and Accessibility Concerns
In-Reply-To: <p06230921c3da6d9c3572@[130.126.29.55]>
References: <6.1.0.6.2.20080206054638.01e3b818@enigami.com><227401c868b4$4e0b1410$0202a8c0@oneswitch><p06230910c3cf7d893032@[130.126.29.22]><p0623092bc3d6e243ef06@[130.126.29.30]><003c01c86d45$b9cb5260$6402a8c0@Delletje><p0623092fc3d6f7c7fa0d@[130.126.29.30]><3B0D1889-688B-43D4-A94D-031E575EE12B@pininteractive.com><79A6E743-F20D-4CED-9542-CD7228ADB0AD@btinternet.com><p0623094ac3d8c050cac4@[130.126.29.30]><45B28CCB-13F1-420F-AF13-FFC86C97B5AA@pininteractive.com><F5EDAF77-06D0-4BA1-80B2-CCD331490726@pininteractive.com>
	<p06230921c3da6d9c3572@[130.126.29.55]>
Message-ID: <DC70BE32-BC75-4E8B-B258-5B0A68636406@pininteractive.com>

Hello Michelle

you know you have my deepest respect for all the work you  put into  
the SIG and I think it's great what you and Ben has done on the  
financial side

I don't want to splinter the group - rather I would see the consortium  
thing as an extension to the SIG, a strong partner from which both the  
SIG members and the companies can win

Yes I also realise it's a long road before we can get a consortium  
become real, but talking to those executives we have contact with is a  
good way to plant some seeds for this. I'm not saying we should focus  
on this now as a SIG but I'm trying to live up to my part of the  
Industry committee, I have so far done efforts with Adobe with the  
article I mentioned. Don't worry, although I may sound enthusiastic  
I'm also careful about bandwidth as you put it; we must push forward  
slowly  - hey it's been five years soon and we're still around  
pushing :) but setting the goal high helps reaching the moon.

The UML thing (GAIM) is in itself independent of the final  
implementation; i.e it's not necessary (for me, at this point) to get  
the console companies to have final implementation code; rather they  
can choose to use the GAIM (when it's released in a first, public  
version) to generate code which they can and must adapt to their  
specific platforms - unless of course we get direct access to their  
development platform and can code it ourselves - which is hard without  
big money or deep, established contacts with the companies involved -  
which would also be a benefit from a consortium

Anyhow, I'll stop my dreaming now and get back to work... or sleep

Sweet dreams :)

/Thomas



On 14 feb 2008, at 23.40, d. michelle hinn wrote:

> Just a really quick thing about a financially strong organization --  
> that's what I've been working to make the SIG into. A new  
> organization puts finances in competition with the SIG at this point  
> where we are just now an independent non-profit that's has raised  
> over $30k in funding in a VERY short period of time (ie, months) and  
> is now open to getting much more in funding. It's not millions at  
> this point but it's the first time we've seen any money in the SIG.  
> Perhaps I haven't been as clear as I could have been -- we're now  
> starting to see money coming in that CAN support projects like this  
> AND pay people. Why splinter the group right now into two separate  
> groups when we've finally JUST evolved into a more independent group?
>
> Also, we really only have two CEO/COOs attention right now so I  
> think we may be jumping the gun a bit here. :) And at this point  
> it's end user reports and reactions that is the ONLY thing that is  
> getting them into the accessibility group. So I guess I see the  
> support of those in positions of power for something that is pro- 
> active as a "not-quote-ready-for-prime-time" idea. I mean, yeah, we  
> see that it makes sense for companies to go this route but then  
> every time we present the idea of doing things BEFORE it becomes a  
> "panic reaction" (like in the WoW case) we hear "yeah, but that's  
> going to cost money..." The complaints and talk of REAL lawsuits  
> from individual players (not the SIG) is what's making people start  
> to jump.
>
> The UML issue is a whole other thing -- so far the big three console  
> companies don't even have anything that's universal and I don't yet  
> see them giving on that (if ever).
>
> I'm not saying that a consortium/group/whatever is a totally bad  
> idea -- not at all. It's just a question of -- is this really the  
> right time to go down that route independent from the SIG when we've  
> just started getting *some* financial support and *some* interest  
> from higher ups. We still don't have companies knocking down our  
> door but we are now a group that is much more independent than it's  
> ever been. I guess I'm thinking that we may shoot ourselves in the  
> foot by spinning off something else. And I also am not sure how a  
> new group would have a whole bunch of money from the start?
>
> At the end of the day -- we're still a group that's about 10 people  
> strong, with only about 4-5 people at the best of times active at  
> any one time. So we have to keep that reality in mind. I guess I'm  
> not quite sure where the bandwidth is going to come from?
>
> Just some thoughts...
>
> Michelle
>
>> Hello again,
>>
>> just adding a couple of things:
>>
>> On 14 feb 2008, at 09.36, Thomas Westin wrote:
>>
>>> With games we are not just dealing with access standards...we also  
>>> need to ensure that what is accessible is also "fun."
>> Just to make clear what I meant so you don't get me wrong: I'm  
>> certain you didn't mean that the game industry are unaware of the  
>> fun factor, but rather that implementing accessibility takes  
>> greater care about not spoiling the content of the game, i.e making  
>> it too easy etc. However, that's just part of the challenge, and  
>> why we need a financially strong organisation too, which the SIG is  
>> not.
>>
>>> We're also talking about vastly different architecture that  
>>> companies adopt -- there is no "common language" that all games  
>>> use (unlike HTML, etc)
>> Yes I agree, but my efforts with the GAIM is addressing exactly  
>> this problem through UML. UML is a common denominator where you can  
>> design and code visually and then generate solutions for different  
>> languages and architectures. I know, it takes a _lot_ of work to  
>> make this work completely automagically, cross-platforms etc,  
>> perhaps it never will, but I think it can help a lot in this process.
>>
>> /Thomas
>>
>>
>> On 14 feb 2008, at 09.36, Thomas Westin wrote:
>>
>>> Hi,
>>>
>>> yes the rich and famous comment was just me dreaming :)
>>>
>>> But I don't quite follow about the rest. I'm certain Blizzard and  
>>> others are well aware of the importance of fun? And having a  
>>> consortium is not stopping us from involving end-users. When I  
>>> made the comparison with W3C I didn't intend us to copy their  
>>> organisation, just referred to it as a concept for industry  
>>> collaboration.
>>>
>>> Regarding accessibility and film theatres: I agree but games are  
>>> of course different; you have "serious games" but not "serious  
>>> film theatres", or maybe I have missed something :) - the term  
>>> "serious" is a problem of it's own though but we have to live with  
>>> it now :)
>>> - as we have discussed many times, non-entertainment applications  
>>> of games demands accessibility
>>>
>>> It's great that CEOs listen to the end-users this way and respond,  
>>> but still it's better if it is done pro-actively, so the end users  
>>> don't have to tell them, I think we all can agree on that.
>>>
>>> -So why not take the chance now that we have the attention from  
>>> CEOs and COOs to discuss a _proactive_ way to make games as  
>>> accessible as possible, through industry collaboration? Call it  
>>> something different than a consortium if you like, but a bi- 
>>> lateral, formal organization that can put some efforts and dollars  
>>> into game access is a good thing in my mind.
>>>
>>> And further, it is not an option between the SIG and a consortium,  
>>> I think both are needed. And as the consortium members need  
>>> expertise to develop accessibility in their games, yes the rich  
>>> and famous, or at least getting paid a little for all our work,  
>>> could become more than a dream.
>>>
>>> /Thomas
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> On 13 feb 2008, at 17.09, d. michelle hinn wrote:
>>>
>>>> Hi,
>>>>
>>>> I tend to agree with Jonathan on this one -- that going the W3C  
>>>> route is one that might not work well with regard to gaming. With  
>>>> games we are not just dealing with access standards...we also  
>>>> need to ensure that what is accessible is also "fun." We're also  
>>>> talking about vastly different architecture that companies adopt  
>>>> -- there is no "common language" that all games use (unlike HTML,  
>>>> etc). As Jonathan said -- now we have the consumer voice that we  
>>>> are just starting to get heard by industry. We don't want to lose  
>>>> this voice by taking a radical shift toward moving to a  
>>>> consortium that might be too much of a square peg in a round hole  
>>>> when it comes to talking about entertainment applications. With  
>>>> regard to the film industry (yeah, this example again) there is  
>>>> STILL no agreement as to what MUST be done in movie theatres and  
>>>> we still have the bulk of theatres not complying with what the US  
>>>> has said DOES fall under the Americans with Disabilities act  
>>>> after 7 years of the decision that captioning of sort must happen  
>>>> in theatres as requested.
>>>>
>>>> Also...I really can't see moving toward a consortium resulting in  
>>>> the fame and money in this industry -- has this come true for  
>>>> anyone in the web industry? I can think of one or two people who  
>>>> have benefited fame-wise but I have no idea of their net worth. A  
>>>> few people on my campus are on different W3C WGs and are probably  
>>>> some of the lowest earning academics at the university. Maybe  
>>>> that's different in parts of Europe -- I just know it's a "don't  
>>>> quit your day job" thing in the US. ;)
>>>>
>>>> We're in a bit of a lucky spot at the moment where it's the  
>>>> STORIES of the users that are affecting the CEO's, etc in paying  
>>>> attention to us -- moving to a consortium seems like a move that  
>>>> is one mired in policy and moves us away from being a group that  
>>>> recognizes that each company has their own creative values. I  
>>>> don't know -- just some morning thoughts about starting up a  
>>>> consortium.
>>>>
>>>> Michelle
>>>>
>>>>> Thomas,
>>>>>
>>>>> there's a significant cost in taking the W3C route, end-user  
>>>>> involvement.
>>>>>
>>>>> Corporates have their own agendas, which if they hold in common,  
>>>>> it can be very time consuming to change*.
>>>>> whereas at the moment end-users can directly input to SIG, this  
>>>>> becomes increasingly difficult and unlikely as corporates and  
>>>>> academics take control. at least that is my experience over the  
>>>>> past decade contributing to various W3C WGs.
>>>>>
>>>>> It is true that Ian Jacobs has suggested that including users in  
>>>>> the W3C process** has been discuss, and is under consideration  
>>>>> by the management group. However no timeline has been set for  
>>>>> implementation.
>>>>>
>>>>> Open Source also has this deficiency, software is produced by  
>>>>> 'users' but not the public.
>>>>> consumers have a small amount of control, but people with low  
>>>>> literacy are likely to have little disposable income.
>>>>> A response from Bruce Perens is awaited ~:"
>>>>>
>>>>> regards
>>>>>
>>>>> Jonathan Chetwynd
>>>>> Accessibility Consultant on Media Literacy and the Internet
>>>>>
>>>>> *the formal objection to WCAG2 produced some good publicity, but  
>>>>> very little advance in understanding, in the main limited to a  
>>>>> qualification regarding the needs of people with learning  
>>>>> disabilities.
>>>>>
>>>>> **A talk to CETIS "Putting the User at the Heart of the W3C  
>>>>> Process" with audio and transcript:
>>>>> http://wiki.cetis.ac.uk/Putting_the_User_at_the_Heart_of_the_W3C_Process 
>>>>> .
>>>>> _______________________________________________
>>>>> games_access mailing list
>>>>> games_access at igda.org
>>>>> http://seven.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/games_access
>>>>
>>>> _______________________________________________
>>>> games_access mailing list
>>>> games_access at igda.org
>>>> http://seven.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/games_access
>>>
>>
>> _______________________________________________
>> games_access mailing list
>> games_access at igda.org
>> http://seven.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/games_access
>
> _______________________________________________
> games_access mailing list
> games_access at igda.org
> http://seven.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/games_access



From hinn at uiuc.edu  Thu Feb 14 18:57:38 2008
From: hinn at uiuc.edu (d. michelle hinn)
Date: Thu, 14 Feb 2008 17:57:38 -0600
Subject: [games_access] Blizzard, WoW, and Accessibility Concerns
In-Reply-To: <DC70BE32-BC75-4E8B-B258-5B0A68636406@pininteractive.com>
References: <6.1.0.6.2.20080206054638.01e3b818@enigami.com><227401c868b4$4e0b1410$0202
	a8c0@oneswitch><p06230910c3cf7d893032@[130.126.29.22]><p0623092bc3d6e243ef
	06@[130.126.29.30]><003c01c86d45$b9cb5260$6402a8c0@Delletje><p0623092fc3d6
	f7c7fa0d@[130.126.29.30]><3B0D1889-688B-43D4-A94D-031E575EE12B@pininteract
	ive.com><79A6E743-F20D-4CED-9542-CD7228ADB0AD@btinternet.com><p0623094ac3d
	8c050cac4@[130.126.29.30]><45B28CCB-13F1-420F-AF13-FFC86C97B5AA@pininterac
	tive.com><F5EDAF77-06D0-4BA1-80B2-CCD331490726@pininteractive.com>
	<p06230921c3da6d9c3572@[130.126.29.55]>
	<DC70BE32-BC75-4E8B-B258-5B0A68636406@pininteractive.com>
Message-ID: <p06230925c3da7dca0031@[130.126.29.55]>

Hey Thomas,

Yeah, I agree that we should aim for a powerful project for the SIG 
-- and it's my hope that all the money we are raising will help start 
that project and continue/start others. I want us to start moving 
toward being a group that can afford to pay stipends to those who are 
putting in the work on these projects. My main concern was that you 
were saying that we should splinter off now just as we were seeing 
success in fund raising, attention getting within the industry -- but 
I see that you weren't saying that. :) I agree -- we can and should 
have dreams of where this can go!

I guess I still don't quite understand why an independent 
consortium/separate group would be a more successful move and/or a 
move that gets more respect in this particular industry. Why not do 
all these things as part of the SIG? We're now being supported by the 
ECA/ESA in addition to the IGDA so I see where we are now and where 
we are moving towards as being ideal for supporting this kind of 
project -- and is exactly why we're raising the money and extending 
our group's partnerships. We're also going to need to form a board of 
directors to help determine how money should be spent so that 
companies know that they are putting funds into a group with the 
proper checks and balances. So coming from a group management 
perspective, having to do something like this twice -- once for the 
SIG and then again for a consortium even if it's done by two 
different people -- seems like something that puts all our time into 
doing these kinds of "administrivia" and none of it into projects.

Anyway, I guess because I'm kind of stuck in the middle of all this 
set up of legal and administrative realities with where the SIG is 
moving into now and I see anything that can reduce the work of 
setting up new groups as a way to save time and money and actually 
make change happen. That's mainly what I was responding from -- it's 
a nasty pain to deal with an international group where laws of 
non-profits differ in every country...why not make that work go as 
far as possible so that people leading the projects and the industry 
can benefit from that work already being done?

So that's all I meant -- I see all the drudge work of that comes with 
being financially independent as a group and I want to make sure all 
that drudge work results in successful projects that we support. :)

Michelle

>Hello Michelle
>
>you know you have my deepest respect for all the work you  put into 
>the SIG and I think it's great what you and Ben has done on the 
>financial side
>
>I don't want to splinter the group - rather I would see the 
>consortium thing as an extension to the SIG, a strong partner from 
>which both the SIG members and the companies can win
>
>Yes I also realise it's a long road before we can get a consortium 
>become real, but talking to those executives we have contact with is 
>a good way to plant some seeds for this. I'm not saying we should 
>focus on this now as a SIG but I'm trying to live up to my part of 
>the Industry committee, I have so far done efforts with Adobe with 
>the article I mentioned. Don't worry, although I may sound 
>enthusiastic I'm also careful about bandwidth as you put it; we must 
>push forward slowly  - hey it's been five years soon and we're still 
>around pushing :) but setting the goal high helps reaching the moon.
>
>The UML thing (GAIM) is in itself independent of the final 
>implementation; i.e it's not necessary (for me, at this point) to 
>get the console companies to have final implementation code; rather 
>they can choose to use the GAIM (when it's released in a first, 
>public version) to generate code which they can and must adapt to 
>their specific platforms - unless of course we get direct access to 
>their development platform and can code it ourselves - which is hard 
>without big money or deep, established contacts with the companies 
>involved - which would also be a benefit from a consortium
>
>Anyhow, I'll stop my dreaming now and get back to work... or sleep
>
>Sweet dreams :)
>
>/Thomas
>
>
>
>On 14 feb 2008, at 23.40, d. michelle hinn wrote:
>
>>Just a really quick thing about a financially strong organization 
>>-- that's what I've been working to make the SIG into. A new 
>>organization puts finances in competition with the SIG at this 
>>point where we are just now an independent non-profit that's has 
>>raised over $30k in funding in a VERY short period of time (ie, 
>>months) and is now open to getting much more in funding. It's not 
>>millions at this point but it's the first time we've seen any money 
>>in the SIG. Perhaps I haven't been as clear as I could have been -- 
>>we're now starting to see money coming in that CAN support projects 
>>like this AND pay people. Why splinter the group right now into two 
>>separate groups when we've finally JUST evolved into a more 
>>independent group?
>>
>>Also, we really only have two CEO/COOs attention right now so I 
>>think we may be jumping the gun a bit here. :) And at this point 
>>it's end user reports and reactions that is the ONLY thing that is 
>>getting them into the accessibility group. So I guess I see the 
>>support of those in positions of power for something that is 
>>pro-active as a "not-quote-ready-for-prime-time" idea. I mean, 
>>yeah, we see that it makes sense for companies to go this route but 
>>then every time we present the idea of doing things BEFORE it 
>>becomes a "panic reaction" (like in the WoW case) we hear "yeah, 
>>but that's going to cost money..." The complaints and talk of REAL 
>>lawsuits from individual players (not the SIG) is what's making 
>>people start to jump.
>>
>>The UML issue is a whole other thing -- so far the big three 
>>console companies don't even have anything that's universal and I 
>>don't yet see them giving on that (if ever).
>>
>>I'm not saying that a consortium/group/whatever is a totally bad 
>>idea -- not at all. It's just a question of -- is this really the 
>>right time to go down that route independent from the SIG when 
>>we've just started getting *some* financial support and *some* 
>>interest from higher ups. We still don't have companies knocking 
>>down our door but we are now a group that is much more independent 
>>than it's ever been. I guess I'm thinking that we may shoot 
>>ourselves in the foot by spinning off something else. And I also am 
>>not sure how a new group would have a whole bunch of money from the 
>>start?
>>
>>At the end of the day -- we're still a group that's about 10 people 
>>strong, with only about 4-5 people at the best of times active at 
>>any one time. So we have to keep that reality in mind. I guess I'm 
>>not quite sure where the bandwidth is going to come from?
>>
>>Just some thoughts...
>>
>>Michelle
>>
>>>Hello again,
>>>
>>>just adding a couple of things:
>>>
>>>On 14 feb 2008, at 09.36, Thomas Westin wrote:
>>>
>>>>With games we are not just dealing with access standards...we 
>>>>also need to ensure that what is accessible is also "fun."
>>>Just to make clear what I meant so you don't get me wrong: I'm 
>>>certain you didn't mean that the game industry are unaware of the 
>>>fun factor, but rather that implementing accessibility takes 
>>>greater care about not spoiling the content of the game, i.e 
>>>making it too easy etc. However, that's just part of the 
>>>challenge, and why we need a financially strong organisation too, 
>>>which the SIG is not.
>>>
>>>>We're also talking about vastly different architecture that 
>>>>companies adopt -- there is no "common language" that all games 
>>>>use (unlike HTML, etc)
>>>Yes I agree, but my efforts with the GAIM is addressing exactly 
>>>this problem through UML. UML is a common denominator where you 
>>>can design and code visually and then generate solutions for 
>>>different languages and architectures. I know, it takes a _lot_ of 
>>>work to make this work completely automagically, cross-platforms 
>>>etc, perhaps it never will, but I think it can help a lot in this 
>>>process.
>>>
>>>/Thomas
>>>
>>>
>>>On 14 feb 2008, at 09.36, Thomas Westin wrote:
>>>
>>>>Hi,
>>>>
>>>>yes the rich and famous comment was just me dreaming :)
>>>>
>>>>But I don't quite follow about the rest. I'm certain Blizzard and 
>>>>others are well aware of the importance of fun? And having a 
>>>>consortium is not stopping us from involving end-users. When I 
>>>>made the comparison with W3C I didn't intend us to copy their 
>>>>organisation, just referred to it as a concept for industry 
>>>>collaboration.
>>>>
>>>>Regarding accessibility and film theatres: I agree but games are 
>>>>of course different; you have "serious games" but not "serious 
>>>>film theatres", or maybe I have missed something :) - the term 
>>>>"serious" is a problem of it's own though but we have to live 
>>>>with it now :)
>>>>- as we have discussed many times, non-entertainment applications 
>>>>of games demands accessibility
>>>>
>>>>It's great that CEOs listen to the end-users this way and 
>>>>respond, but still it's better if it is done pro-actively, so the 
>>>>end users don't have to tell them, I think we all can agree on 
>>>>that.
>>>>
>>>>-So why not take the chance now that we have the attention from 
>>>>CEOs and COOs to discuss a _proactive_ way to make games as 
>>>>accessible as possible, through industry collaboration? Call it 
>>>>something different than a consortium if you like, but a 
>>>>bi-lateral, formal organization that can put some efforts and 
>>>>dollars into game access is a good thing in my mind.
>>>>
>>>>And further, it is not an option between the SIG and a 
>>>>consortium, I think both are needed. And as the consortium 
>>>>members need expertise to develop accessibility in their games, 
>>>>yes the rich and famous, or at least getting paid a little for 
>>>>all our work, could become more than a dream.
>>>>
>>>>/Thomas
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>On 13 feb 2008, at 17.09, d. michelle hinn wrote:
>>>>
>>>>>Hi,
>>>>>
>>>>>I tend to agree with Jonathan on this one -- that going the W3C 
>>>>>route is one that might not work well with regard to gaming. 
>>>>>With games we are not just dealing with access standards...we 
>>>>>also need to ensure that what is accessible is also "fun." We're 
>>>>>also talking about vastly different architecture that companies 
>>>>>adopt -- there is no "common language" that all games use 
>>>>>(unlike HTML, etc). As Jonathan said -- now we have the consumer 
>>>>>voice that we are just starting to get heard by industry. We 
>>>>>don't want to lose this voice by taking a radical shift toward 
>>>>>moving to a consortium that might be too much of a square peg in 
>>>>>a round hole when it comes to talking about entertainment 
>>>>>applications. With regard to the film industry (yeah, this 
>>>>>example again) there is STILL no agreement as to what MUST be 
>>>>>done in movie theatres and we still have the bulk of theatres 
>>>>>not complying with what the US has said DOES fall under the 
>>>>>Americans with Disabilities act after 7 years of the decision 
>>>>>that captioning of sort must happen in theatres as requested.
>>>>>
>>>>>Also...I really can't see moving toward a consortium resulting 
>>>>>in the fame and money in this industry -- has this come true for 
>>>>>anyone in the web industry? I can think of one or two people who 
>>>>>have benefited fame-wise but I have no idea of their net worth. 
>>>>>A few people on my campus are on different W3C WGs and are 
>>>>>probably some of the lowest earning academics at the university. 
>>>>>Maybe that's different in parts of Europe -- I just know it's a 
>>>>>"don't quit your day job" thing in the US. ;)
>>>>>
>>>>>We're in a bit of a lucky spot at the moment where it's the 
>>>>>STORIES of the users that are affecting the CEO's, etc in paying 
>>>>>attention to us -- moving to a consortium seems like a move that 
>>>>>is one mired in policy and moves us away from being a group that 
>>>>>recognizes that each company has their own creative values. I 
>>>>>don't know -- just some morning thoughts about starting up a 
>>>>>consortium.
>>>>>
>>>>>Michelle
>>>>>
>>>>>>Thomas,
>>>>>>
>>>>>>there's a significant cost in taking the W3C route, end-user involvement.
>>>>>>
>>>>>>Corporates have their own agendas, which if they hold in 
>>>>>>common, it can be very time consuming to change*.
>>>>>>whereas at the moment end-users can directly input to SIG, this 
>>>>>>becomes increasingly difficult and unlikely as corporates and 
>>>>>>academics take control. at least that is my experience over the 
>>>>>>past decade contributing to various W3C WGs.
>>>>>>
>>>>>>It is true that Ian Jacobs has suggested that including users 
>>>>>>in the W3C process** has been discuss, and is under 
>>>>>>consideration by the management group. However no timeline has 
>>>>>>been set for implementation.
>>>>>>
>>>>>>Open Source also has this deficiency, software is produced by 
>>>>>>'users' but not the public.
>>>>>>consumers have a small amount of control, but people with low 
>>>>>>literacy are likely to have little disposable income.
>>>>>>A response from Bruce Perens is awaited ~:"
>>>>>>
>>>>>>regards
>>>>>>
>>>>>>Jonathan Chetwynd
>>>>>>Accessibility Consultant on Media Literacy and the Internet
>>>>>>
>>>>>>*the formal objection to WCAG2 produced some good publicity, 
>>>>>>but very little advance in understanding, in the main limited 
>>>>>>to a qualification regarding the needs of people with learning 
>>>>>>disabilities.
>>>>>>
>>>>>>**A talk to CETIS "Putting the User at the Heart of the W3C 
>>>>>>Process" with audio and transcript:
>>>>>>http://wiki.cetis.ac.uk/Putting_the_User_at_the_Heart_of_the_W3C_Process.
>>>>>>_______________________________________________
>>>>>>games_access mailing list
>>>>>>games_access at igda.org
>>>>>>http://seven.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/games_access
>>>>>
>>>>>_______________________________________________
>>>>>games_access mailing list
>>>>>games_access at igda.org
>>>>>http://seven.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/games_access
>>>>
>>>
>>>_______________________________________________
>>>games_access mailing list
>>>games_access at igda.org
>>>http://seven.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/games_access
>>
>>_______________________________________________
>>games_access mailing list
>>games_access at igda.org
>>http://seven.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/games_access
>
>_______________________________________________
>games_access mailing list
>games_access at igda.org
>http://seven.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/games_access



From richard at audiogames.net  Fri Feb 15 02:37:41 2008
From: richard at audiogames.net (AudioGames.net)
Date: Fri, 15 Feb 2008 08:37:41 +0100
Subject: [games_access] Illinois shooting
References: <6.1.0.6.2.20080206054638.01e3b818@enigami.com><227401c868b4$4e0b1410$0202a8c0@oneswitch><p06230910c3cf7d893032@[130.126.29.22]><p0623092bc3d6e243ef06@[130.126.29.30]><003c01c86d45$b9cb5260$6402a8c0@Delletje><p0623092fc3d6f7c7fa0d@[130.126.29.30]><3B0D1889-688B-43D4-A94D-031E575EE12B@pininteractive.com><79A6E743-F20D-4CED-9542-CD7228ADB0AD@btinternet.com><p0623094ac3d8c050cac4@[130.126.29.30]><45B28CCB-13F1-420F-AF13-FFC86C97B5AA@pininteractive.com><F5EDAF77-06D0-4BA1-80B2-CCD331490726@pininteractive.com><p06230921c3da6d9c3572@[130.126.29.55]><DC70BE32-BC75-4E8B-B258-5B0A68636406@pininteractive.com>
	<p06230925c3da7dca0031@[130.126.29.55]>
Message-ID: <000601c86fa5$a5cf6aa0$6402a8c0@Delletje>

Everything okay with you over there, Michelle?

http://www.niu.edu/index.shtml



From reid at rbkdesign.com  Fri Feb 15 11:35:13 2008
From: reid at rbkdesign.com (Reid Kimball)
Date: Fri, 15 Feb 2008 08:35:13 -0800
Subject: [games_access] Illinois shooting
In-Reply-To: <000601c86fa5$a5cf6aa0$6402a8c0@Delletje>
References: <6.1.0.6.2.20080206054638.01e3b818@enigami.com>
	<3B0D1889-688B-43D4-A94D-031E575EE12B@pininteractive.com>
	<79A6E743-F20D-4CED-9542-CD7228ADB0AD@btinternet.com>
	<p0623094ac3d8c050cac4@130.126.29.30>
	<45B28CCB-13F1-420F-AF13-FFC86C97B5AA@pininteractive.com>
	<F5EDAF77-06D0-4BA1-80B2-CCD331490726@pininteractive.com>
	<p06230921c3da6d9c3572@130.126.29.55>
	<DC70BE32-BC75-4E8B-B258-5B0A68636406@pininteractive.com>
	<p06230925c3da7dca0031@130.126.29.55>
	<000601c86fa5$a5cf6aa0$6402a8c0@Delletje>
Message-ID: <a6673b8d0802150835i28666965t7e90716ff7263e6a@mail.gmail.com>

Just so everyone isn't super worried, this is not the same university
where Michelle works, but it is close (same state). Hope you and
everyone else is holding up OK.

On Thu, Feb 14, 2008 at 11:37 PM, AudioGames.net <richard at audiogames.net> wrote:
> Everything okay with you over there, Michelle?
>
>  http://www.niu.edu/index.shtml
>
>  _______________________________________________
>  games_access mailing list
>  games_access at igda.org
>  http://seven.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/games_access
>


From hinn at uiuc.edu  Fri Feb 15 12:03:17 2008
From: hinn at uiuc.edu (d. michelle hinn)
Date: Fri, 15 Feb 2008 11:03:17 -0600
Subject: [games_access] Illinois shooting
In-Reply-To: <000601c86fa5$a5cf6aa0$6402a8c0@Delletje>
References: <6.1.0.6.2.20080206054638.01e3b818@enigami.com><227401c868b4$4e0b1410$0202
	a8c0@oneswitch><p06230910c3cf7d893032@[130.126.29.22]><p0623092bc3d6e243ef
	06@[130.126.29.30]><003c01c86d45$b9cb5260$6402a8c0@Delletje><p0623092fc3d6
	f7c7fa0d@[130.126.29.30]><3B0D1889-688B-43D4-A94D-031E575EE12B@pininteract
	ive.com><79A6E743-F20D-4CED-9542-CD7228ADB0AD@btinternet.com><p0623094ac3d
	8c050cac4@[130.126.29.30]><45B28CCB-13F1-420F-AF13-FFC86C97B5AA@pininterac
	tive.com><F5EDAF77-06D0-4BA1-80B2-CCD331490726@pininteractive.com><p062309
	21c3da6d9c3572@[130.126.29.55]><DC70BE32-BC75-4E8B-B258-5B0A68636406@pinin
	teractive.com>	<p06230925c3da7dca0031@[130.126.29.55]>
	<000601c86fa5$a5cf6aa0$6402a8c0@Delletje>
Message-ID: <p0623096dc3db76123107@[130.126.29.55]>

Yeah, not my school -- it's about 3-4 hours away.

>Everything okay with you over there, Michelle?
>
>http://www.niu.edu/index.shtml
>
>_______________________________________________
>games_access mailing list
>games_access at igda.org
>http://seven.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/games_access



From hinn at uiuc.edu  Fri Feb 15 12:15:06 2008
From: hinn at uiuc.edu (d. michelle hinn)
Date: Fri, 15 Feb 2008 11:15:06 -0600
Subject: [games_access] Illinois shooting
In-Reply-To: <000601c86fa5$a5cf6aa0$6402a8c0@Delletje>
References: <6.1.0.6.2.20080206054638.01e3b818@enigami.com><227401c868b4$4e0b1410$0202
	a8c0@oneswitch><p06230910c3cf7d893032@[130.126.29.22]><p0623092bc3d6e243ef
	06@[130.126.29.30]><003c01c86d45$b9cb5260$6402a8c0@Delletje><p0623092fc3d6
	f7c7fa0d@[130.126.29.30]><3B0D1889-688B-43D4-A94D-031E575EE12B@pininteract
	ive.com><79A6E743-F20D-4CED-9542-CD7228ADB0AD@btinternet.com><p0623094ac3d
	8c050cac4@[130.126.29.30]><45B28CCB-13F1-420F-AF13-FFC86C97B5AA@pininterac
	tive.com><F5EDAF77-06D0-4BA1-80B2-CCD331490726@pininteractive.com><p062309
	21c3da6d9c3572@[130.126.29.55]><DC70BE32-BC75-4E8B-B258-5B0A68636406@pinin
	teractive.com>	<p06230925c3da7dca0031@[130.126.29.55]>
	<000601c86fa5$a5cf6aa0$6402a8c0@Delletje>
Message-ID: <p0623096fc3db7830b053@[130.126.29.55]>

Oh -- just reading the rest of my email and what we didn't know 
yesterday -- the shooter was from my university and not that 
university. Eeee.

I just told Barrie that we're in this world where suicide bombing and 
suicide after shooting other innocent people is getting to be a 
report we hear way too often...the world's pretty wounded at the 
moment (political commentary aside).

Michelle

>Everything okay with you over there, Michelle?
>
>http://www.niu.edu/index.shtml
>
>_______________________________________________
>games_access mailing list
>games_access at igda.org
>http://seven.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/games_access



From hinn at uiuc.edu  Sat Feb 16 14:11:18 2008
From: hinn at uiuc.edu (d. michelle hinn)
Date: Sat, 16 Feb 2008 13:11:18 -0600
Subject: [games_access] GameSpy!
In-Reply-To: <a6673b8d0802151000s5aea3d16s7a997a0c378e9add@mail.gmail.com>
References: <6.1.0.6.2.20080206054638.01e3b818@enigami.com>	
	<p06230910c3cf7d893032@130.126.29.22>	
	<003c01c86d45$b9cb5260$6402a8c0@Delletje>	
	<79A6E743-F20D-4CED-9542-CD7228ADB0AD@btinternet.com>	
	<F5EDAF77-06D0-4BA1-80B2-CCD331490726@pininteractive.com>	
	<p06230925c3da7dca0031@130.126.29.55>	
	<000601c86fa5$a5cf6aa0$6402a8c0@Delletje>	
	<p0623096fc3db7830b053@130.126.29.55>
	<a6673b8d0802151000s5aea3d16s7a997a0c378e9add@mail.gmail.com>
Message-ID: <p06230903c3dce5824f64@[130.126.29.55]>

GameSpy posted our press release for GDC!

http://www.gamespy.com/articles/852/852665p1.html


Cool!
Michelle
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From arthit73 at cablespeed.com  Sat Feb 16 14:45:21 2008
From: arthit73 at cablespeed.com (Robert Florio)
Date: Sat, 16 Feb 2008 14:45:21 -0500
Subject: [games_access] GameSpy!
In-Reply-To: <p06230903c3dce5824f64@[130.126.29.55]>
References: <6.1.0.6.2.20080206054638.01e3b818@enigami.com>	<p06230910c3cf7d893032@130.126.29.22>	<003c01c86d45$b9cb5260$6402a8c0@Delletje>	<79A6E743-F20D-4CED-9542-CD7228ADB0AD@btinternet.com>	<F5EDAF77-06D0-4BA1-80B2-CCD331490726@pininteractive.com>	<p06230925c3da7dca0031@130.126.29.55>	<000601c86fa5$a5cf6aa0$6402a8c0@Delletje>	<p0623096fc3db7830b053@130.126.29.55><a6673b8d0802151000s5aea3d16s7a997a0c378e9add@mail.gmail.com>
	<p06230903c3dce5824f64@[130.126.29.55]>
Message-ID: <002501c870d4$8bff6f50$6401a8c0@RobertFlorio>

Hey that's exciting looking at the the Times for the schedule of our list
events looks like something I could have made on an early morning flight to
get there for.  Oh well hopefully better decisions next year.

 

Robert

 

  _____  

From: games_access-bounces at igda.org [mailto:games_access-bounces at igda.org]
On Behalf Of d. michelle hinn
Sent: Saturday, February 16, 2008 2:11 PM
To: games_access at igda.org
Subject: [games_access] GameSpy!

 

GameSpy posted our press release for GDC!

 

http://www.gamespy.com/articles/852/852665p1.html

 

 

Cool!

Michelle

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From hinn at uiuc.edu  Sat Feb 16 15:38:54 2008
From: hinn at uiuc.edu (d. michelle hinn)
Date: Sat, 16 Feb 2008 14:38:54 -0600
Subject: [games_access] GameSpy!
In-Reply-To: <002501c870d4$8bff6f50$6401a8c0@RobertFlorio>
References: <6.1.0.6.2.20080206054638.01e3b818@enigami.com>
	<p06230910c3cf7d893032@130.126.29.22>
	<003c01c86d45$b9cb5260$6402a8c0@Delletje>
	<79A6E743-F20D-4CED-9542-CD7228ADB0AD@btinternet.com>
	<F5EDAF77-06D0-4BA1-80B2-CCD331490726@pininteractive.com>
	<p06230925c3da7dca0031@130.126.29.55>
	<000601c86fa5$a5cf6aa0$6402a8c0@Delletje>
	<p0623096fc3db7830b053@130.126.29.55><a6673b8d0802151000s5aea3d16s7a997a0c
	378e9add@mail.gmail.com>	<p06230903c3dce5824f64@[130.126.29.55]>
	<002501c870d4$8bff6f50$6401a8c0@RobertFlorio>
Message-ID: <p06230942c3dcf70369ab@[130.126.29.55]>

Yeah, that's how it happens -- one year we have all day Monday, 8am 
Wednesday and 4pm Friday and then next we get a nice neat little 
schedule. They give us the times really late so we had no idea until 
a few weeks ago when exactly we were going to present and by then 
hotels and flights were already super $$$ and/or impossible to get. 
So it might be better to make reservations for next year instead of 
waiting until they are super high price later  due to penalty fees as 
long as you get refundable reservations. It's also easier to raise 
funds with the more time we have. We only had a couple passes so we 
had to go with people who already had reservations -- if we changed 
anything in the last couple of weeks, they'd have killed me and/or 
not been able to do it! So the sooner you can confirm that you are 
100% committed to going and provide reservation details the better.

Then there's the whole "will the plane be delayed or cancelled" fun 
that seems to happen nearly 50% of the time (49% of the time it takes 
you to some place in Costa Rica and then 1% is "other") ;)

Regardless, I'm still booked nearly solid from Monday morn - Friday 
afternoon. Most of the IGDA stuff takes place Monday and Tuesday.

Next year we will probably have another workshop along with the IGDA 
diversity committee and that will be either Monday or Tuesday. No 
telling about anything else for the week -- we have next year's round 
of proposals to get through!

Michelle

>Hey that's exciting looking at the the Times for the schedule of our 
>list events looks like something I could have made on an early 
>morning flight to get there for.  Oh well hopefully better decisions 
>next year.
>
>Robert
>
>
>From: games_access-bounces at igda.org 
>[mailto:games_access-bounces at igda.org] On Behalf Of d. michelle hinn
>Sent: Saturday, February 16, 2008 2:11 PM
>To: games_access at igda.org
>Subject: [games_access] GameSpy!
>
>GameSpy posted our press release for GDC!
>
>http://www.gamespy.com/articles/852/852665p1.html
>
>
>Cool!
>Michelle
>
>_______________________________________________
>games_access mailing list
>games_access at igda.org
>http://seven.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/games_access
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From barrie.ellis at oneswitch.org.uk  Fri Feb 22 04:46:57 2008
From: barrie.ellis at oneswitch.org.uk (Barrie Ellis)
Date: Fri, 22 Feb 2008 09:46:57 -0000
Subject: [games_access] Bowling on the Wii - and Super Monkey Ball Bowling -
	switch inaccessible
Message-ID: <050a01c87537$dddc9110$0202a8c0@oneswitch>

Realise this may be a bit of a long shot...

Just got hold of my first Nintendo Wii for proper testing, on loan from www.specialeffect.org.uk for their accessible gaming roadshow project. Wii Sports is great, but....

Take a look at these links via new-kotaku:

http://kotaku.com/gaming/a-picture-worth-a-thousand-words/wii-to-the-rescue-269596.php
http://kotaku.com/337925/nintendo-australia-brighten-up-a-girls-christmas-day

The Wii-remote is fine for some when strapped to their arms - although trigger control looks awkward, but some are playing in a hand over hand manner - which isn't exactly the ideal solution. That lad is obviously having fun - but wouldn't it be better if he could play for himself?

I've just discovered for myself that it's possible to hook up my Playstation 2-Switch Interface Deluxe and Redux controllers to the Wii using a Gamecube adapter - plugging into the Wii's joypad sockets. So it's possible to play Gamecube games and Virtual Console games on the Wii with accessibility switches, arcade sticks and so on.

Great but Wii games and the front end menu are only accessible with the Wii-remote...

Would it really be hard for Wii developers to make their games work with the JoyPad controllers too? All of Wii Sports could be made to work with the D-pad and the A button. All the point and click type games would be simple to get working on JoyPads too... Then this would come so much closer to being a potentially universally accessible machine.

Presently - there are lots of people that can't play. I've people in my immediate family unable to play due to shoulder and joint pains. This relatively simple addition to Wii games included as an optional extra would make a big difference....


And getting onto my immediate point...

I know that when this Wii gets taken out on the Roadshow with Wii Sports - there'll be some kids unable to use it and will likely be made a bit despondent by this fact. I've looked for some alternatives that the GameCube had and have turned up Sega's Super Monkey Ball. It's got a nice mini-golf bonus game that can be played with a few buttons. It's also got a potentially lovely one-switch bowling game to compete with Wii Bowling - but it's completely ruined by the overly-fast automatic aiming. Basically your aim sweeps from left to right and back again very quickly - when you hit your switch that's your aim. If it's no good (which it typically won't be) your go is a total waste of time, although it will still ask you to select your power...

Two things would have made this mini-game fun. 1. The option to slow down the automatic aiming. 2. The option to put barriers up so your ball doesn't fly off the edge. 

Does anyone on this list have any contact with Sega for me to pass on this message. It would be great if we could get this fixed (or even better - Wii Sports working on a JoyPad compatible controller - for those unable to physically control a Wii-remote)???

Barrie
www.OneSwitch.org.uk

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From lynnvm at carolina.rr.com  Fri Feb 22 19:13:09 2008
From: lynnvm at carolina.rr.com (Lynn Marentette)
Date: Fri, 22 Feb 2008 19:13:09 -0500
Subject: [games_access] games_access Digest, Vol 45, Issue 19
In-Reply-To: <mailman.15.1203692407.14986.games_access@igda.org>
References: <mailman.15.1203692407.14986.games_access@igda.org>
Message-ID: <001e01c875b0$df2b2620$c401000a@HOME>

Barry,
 
Thanks for the information you've shared in your post!  I look forward to
your updates. You've made some important points.
 
Lynn Marentette
 
http://interactivemultimediatechnology.blogspot.com
<http://interactivemultimediatechnology.blogspot.com/> 
 
Realise this may be a bit of a long shot...
 
Just got hold of my first Nintendo Wii for proper testing, on loan from
www.specialeffect.org.uk for their accessible gaming roadshow project. Wii
Sports is great, but....
 
Take a look at these links via new-kotaku:
 
http://kotaku.com/gaming/a-picture-worth-a-thousand-words/wii-to-the-rescue-
269596.php
http://kotaku.com/337925/nintendo-australia-brighten-up-a-girls-christmas-da
y
 
The Wii-remote is fine for some when strapped to their arms - although
trigger control looks awkward, but some are playing in a hand over hand
manner - which isn't exactly the ideal solution. That lad is obviously
having fun - but wouldn't it be better if he could play for himself?
 
I've just discovered for myself that it's possible to hook up my Playstation
2-Switch Interface Deluxe and Redux controllers to the Wii using a Gamecube
adapter - plugging into the Wii's joypad sockets. So it's possible to play
Gamecube games and Virtual Console games on the Wii with accessibility
switches, arcade sticks and so on.
 
Great but Wii games and the front end menu are only accessible with the
Wii-remote...
 
Would it really be hard for Wii developers to make their games work with the
JoyPad controllers too? All of Wii Sports could be made to work with the
D-pad and the A button. All the point and click type games would be simple
to get working on JoyPads too... Then this would come so much closer to
being a potentially universally accessible machine.
 
Presently - there are lots of people that can't play. I've people in my
immediate family unable to play due to shoulder and joint pains. This
relatively simple addition to Wii games included as an optional extra would
make a big difference....
 
 
And getting onto my immediate point...
 
I know that when this Wii gets taken out on the Roadshow with Wii Sports -
there'll be some kids unable to use it and will likely be made a bit
despondent by this fact. I've looked for some alternatives that the GameCube
had and have turned up Sega's Super Monkey Ball. It's got a nice mini-golf
bonus game that can be played with a few buttons. It's also got a
potentially lovely one-switch bowling game to compete with Wii Bowling - but
it's completely ruined by the overly-fast automatic aiming. Basically your
aim sweeps from left to right and back again very quickly - when you hit
your switch that's your aim. If it's no good (which it typically won't be)
your go is a total waste of time, although it will still ask you to select
your power...
 
Two things would have made this mini-game fun. 1. The option to slow down
the automatic aiming. 2. The option to put barriers up so your ball doesn't
fly off the edge. 
 
Does anyone on this list have any contact with Sega for me to pass on this
message. It would be great if we could get this fixed (or even better - Wii
Sports working on a JoyPad compatible controller - for those unable to
physically control a Wii-remote)???
 
Barrie
www.OneSwitch.org.uk
 
 
********************************************
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From richard at audiogames.net  Sat Feb 23 06:31:18 2008
From: richard at audiogames.net (AudioGames.net)
Date: Sat, 23 Feb 2008 12:31:18 +0100
Subject: [games_access] games_access Digest, Vol 45, Issue 19
References: <mailman.15.1203692407.14986.games_access@igda.org>
	<001e01c875b0$df2b2620$c401000a@HOME>
Message-ID: <006601c8760f$9d314ce0$6402a8c0@Delletje>

I agree! Excellent post... an inspiration :)

  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: Lynn Marentette 
  To: games_access at igda.org 
  Sent: Saturday, February 23, 2008 1:13 AM
  Subject: Re: [games_access] games_access Digest, Vol 45, Issue 19


  Barry,

   

  Thanks for the information you've shared in your post!  I look forward to your updates. You've made some important points.

   

  Lynn Marentette

   

  http://interactivemultimediatechnology.blogspot.com

   

  Realise this may be a bit of a long shot...

   

  Just got hold of my first Nintendo Wii for proper testing, on loan from www.specialeffect.org.uk for their accessible gaming roadshow project. Wii Sports is great, but....

   

  Take a look at these links via new-kotaku:

   

  http://kotaku.com/gaming/a-picture-worth-a-thousand-words/wii-to-the-rescue-269596.php

  http://kotaku.com/337925/nintendo-australia-brighten-up-a-girls-christmas-day

   

  The Wii-remote is fine for some when strapped to their arms - although trigger control looks awkward, but some are playing in a hand over hand manner - which isn't exactly the ideal solution. That lad is obviously having fun - but wouldn't it be better if he could play for himself?

   

  I've just discovered for myself that it's possible to hook up my Playstation 2-Switch Interface Deluxe and Redux controllers to the Wii using a Gamecube adapter - plugging into the Wii's joypad sockets. So it's possible to play Gamecube games and Virtual Console games on the Wii with accessibility switches, arcade sticks and so on.

   

  Great but Wii games and the front end menu are only accessible with the Wii-remote...

   

  Would it really be hard for Wii developers to make their games work with the JoyPad controllers too? All of Wii Sports could be made to work with the D-pad and the A button. All the point and click type games would be simple to get working on JoyPads too... Then this would come so much closer to being a potentially universally accessible machine.

   

  Presently - there are lots of people that can't play. I've people in my immediate family unable to play due to shoulder and joint pains. This relatively simple addition to Wii games included as an optional extra would make a big difference....

   

   

  And getting onto my immediate point...

   

  I know that when this Wii gets taken out on the Roadshow with Wii Sports - there'll be some kids unable to use it and will likely be made a bit despondent by this fact. I've looked for some alternatives that the GameCube had and have turned up Sega's Super Monkey Ball. It's got a nice mini-golf bonus game that can be played with a few buttons. It's also got a potentially lovely one-switch bowling game to compete with Wii Bowling - but it's completely ruined by the overly-fast automatic aiming. Basically your aim sweeps from left to right and back again very quickly - when you hit your switch that's your aim. If it's no good (which it typically won't be) your go is a total waste of time, although it will still ask you to select your power...

   

  Two things would have made this mini-game fun. 1. The option to slow down the automatic aiming. 2. The option to put barriers up so your ball doesn't fly off the edge. 

   

  Does anyone on this list have any contact with Sega for me to pass on this message. It would be great if we could get this fixed (or even better - Wii Sports working on a JoyPad compatible controller - for those unable to physically control a Wii-remote)???

   

  Barrie

  www.OneSwitch.org.uk

   

   

  ********************************************



------------------------------------------------------------------------------


  _______________________________________________
  games_access mailing list
  games_access at igda.org
  http://seven.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/games_access
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From hinn at uiuc.edu  Sat Feb 23 19:20:38 2008
From: hinn at uiuc.edu (hinn at uiuc.edu)
Date: Sat, 23 Feb 2008 18:20:38 -0600 (CST)
Subject: [games_access] Sega
Message-ID: <20080223182038.BCC62420@expms2.cites.uiuc.edu>

Hi Barrie -- I might have some contacts. I'm still in San Fran for the weekend. Chris and I are having two days of vacation -- our only two days of vacation in two years! So I'll check for you when I get back.

Signing off to get back to relaxing! :)

Michelle

---- Original message ----
>Date: Sat, 23 Feb 2008 12:31:18 +0100
>From: "AudioGames.net" <richard at audiogames.net>  
>Subject: Re: [games_access] games_access Digest, Vol 45, Issue 19  
>To: <lynnvm at carolina.rr.com>, "IGDA Games Accessibility SIG Mailing List" <games_access at igda.org>
>
>   Link: File-List
>   I agree! Excellent post... an inspiration :)
>    
>
>     ----- Original Message -----
>     From: Lynn Marentette
>     To: games_access at igda.org
>     Sent: Saturday, February 23, 2008 1:13 AM
>     Subject: Re: [games_access] games_access Digest,
>     Vol 45, Issue 19
>
>     Barry,
>
>      
>
>     Thanks for the information you've shared in your
>     post!  I look forward to your updates. You?ve
>     made some important points.
>
>      
>
>     Lynn Marentette
>
>      
>
>     http://interactivemultimediatechnology.blogspot.com
>
>      
>
>     Realise this may be a bit of a long shot...
>
>      
>
>     Just got hold of my first Nintendo Wii for proper
>     testing, on loan from www.specialeffect.org.uk for
>     their accessible gaming roadshow project. Wii
>     Sports is great, but....
>
>      
>
>     Take a look at these links via new-kotaku:
>
>      
>
>     http://kotaku.com/gaming/a-picture-worth-a-thousand-words/wii-to-the-rescue-269596.php
>
>     http://kotaku.com/337925/nintendo-australia-brighten-up-a-girls-christmas-day
>
>      
>
>     The Wii-remote is fine for some when strapped to
>     their arms - although trigger control looks
>     awkward, but some are playing in a hand over hand
>     manner - which isn't exactly the ideal solution.
>     That lad is obviously having fun - but wouldn't it
>     be better if he could play for himself?
>
>      
>
>     I've just discovered for myself that it's possible
>     to hook up my Playstation 2-Switch Interface
>     Deluxe and Redux controllers to the Wii using a
>     Gamecube adapter - plugging into the Wii's joypad
>     sockets. So it's possible to play Gamecube games
>     and Virtual Console games on the Wii with
>     accessibility switches, arcade sticks and so on.
>
>      
>
>     Great but Wii games and the front end menu are
>     only accessible with the Wii-remote...
>
>      
>
>     Would it really be hard for Wii developers to make
>     their games work with the JoyPad controllers too?
>     All of Wii Sports could be made to work with the
>     D-pad and the A button. All the point and click
>     type games would be simple to get working on
>     JoyPads too... Then this would come so much closer
>     to being a potentially universally accessible
>     machine.
>
>      
>
>     Presently - there are lots of people that can't
>     play. I've people in my immediate family unable to
>     play due to shoulder and joint pains. This
>     relatively simple addition to Wii games included
>     as an optional extra would make a big
>     difference....
>
>      
>
>      
>
>     And getting onto my immediate point...
>
>      
>
>     I know that when this Wii gets taken out on the
>     Roadshow with Wii Sports - there'll be some kids
>     unable to use it and will likely be made a bit
>     despondent by this fact. I've looked for some
>     alternatives that the GameCube had and have turned
>     up Sega's Super Monkey Ball. It's got a nice
>     mini-golf bonus game that can be played with a few
>     buttons. It's also got a potentially lovely
>     one-switch bowling game to compete with Wii
>     Bowling - but it's completely ruined by the
>     overly-fast automatic aiming. Basically your aim
>     sweeps from left to right and back again very
>     quickly - when you hit your switch that's your
>     aim. If it's no good (which it typically won't be)
>     your go is a total waste of time, although it will
>     still ask you to select your power...
>
>      
>
>     Two things would have made this mini-game fun. 1.
>     The option to slow down the automatic aiming. 2.
>     The option to put barriers up so your ball doesn't
>     fly off the edge.
>
>      
>
>     Does anyone on this list have any contact with
>     Sega for me to pass on this message. It would be
>     great if we could get this fixed (or even better -
>     Wii Sports working on a JoyPad compatible
>     controller - for those unable to physically
>     control a Wii-remote)???
>
>      
>
>     Barrie
>
>     www.OneSwitch.org.uk
>
>      
>
>      
>
>     ********************************************
>
>     ------------------------------------------------
>
>     _______________________________________________
>     games_access mailing list
>     games_access at igda.org
>     http://seven.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/games_access
>________________
>_______________________________________________
>games_access mailing list
>games_access at igda.org
>http://seven.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/games_access
.......................................
these are mediocre times and people are 
losing hope. it's hard for many people 
to believe that there are extraordinary 
things inside themselves, as well as 
others. i hope you can keep an open 
mind.
 -- "unbreakable"
.......................................

From arthit73 at cablespeed.com  Sun Feb 24 12:14:25 2008
From: arthit73 at cablespeed.com (Robert Florio)
Date: Sun, 24 Feb 2008 12:14:25 -0500
Subject: [games_access] petition again?
In-Reply-To: <001e01c875b0$df2b2620$c401000a@HOME>
References: <mailman.15.1203692407.14986.games_access@igda.org>
	<001e01c875b0$df2b2620$c401000a@HOME>
Message-ID: <011f01c87708$b645a380$6401a8c0@RobertFlorio>

Alright so about that petition that I wrote a while ago and getting excited
about releasing it soon.  I think it will work I think the writing was fine
anybody have any thoughts I guess I'm asking if anyone wants to help get the
word out about it...  I've been thinking about it lately I think it's going
to work.  I have it on my other computer I'll have to post it and then give
you guys the link.

 

I hope you all had a great time and much success at the conference in
California.

 

Robert

www.RobertFlorio.com

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From jbannick at 7128.com  Tue Feb 26 05:27:39 2008
From: jbannick at 7128.com (John Bannick)
Date: Tue, 26 Feb 2008 05:27:39 -0500
Subject: [games_access] Accessibility Page
Message-ID: <6.1.0.6.2.20080226052416.01e40498@enigami.com>

A colleague, Dark, just tipped me off to an interesting Web page.
It presents accessibility information about the game Igor.

It's at: http://www.elmerproductions.com/igor/accessibility.phtml

The developer put this page up after Dark made some accessibility requests 
re that game.

A good example of what a game company can do to make their games more 
accessible.

John Bannick
7-128 Software



From barrie.ellis at oneswitch.org.uk  Tue Feb 26 10:21:56 2008
From: barrie.ellis at oneswitch.org.uk (Barrie Ellis)
Date: Tue, 26 Feb 2008 15:21:56 -0000
Subject: [games_access] games_access Digest, Vol 45, Issue 19
References: <mailman.15.1203692407.14986.games_access@igda.org><001e01c875b0$df2b2620$c401000a@HOME>
	<006601c8760f$9d314ce0$6402a8c0@Delletje>
Message-ID: <009901c8788b$5485c7e0$0202a8c0@oneswitch>

Thanks for support all... Hope you enjoyed your well deserved break, Michelle. If you could send me some Sega / Nintendo contacts for me to forward these thoughts onto that would be very fine.

Cheers,

Barrie

  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: AudioGames.net 
  To: lynnvm at carolina.rr.com ; IGDA Games Accessibility SIG Mailing List 
  Sent: Saturday, February 23, 2008 11:31 AM
  Subject: Re: [games_access] games_access Digest, Vol 45, Issue 19


  I agree! Excellent post... an inspiration :)

    ----- Original Message ----- 
    From: Lynn Marentette 
    To: games_access at igda.org 
    Sent: Saturday, February 23, 2008 1:13 AM
    Subject: Re: [games_access] games_access Digest, Vol 45, Issue 19


    Barry,

     

    Thanks for the information you've shared in your post!  I look forward to your updates. You've made some important points.

     

    Lynn Marentette

     

    http://interactivemultimediatechnology.blogspot.com

     

    Realise this may be a bit of a long shot...

     

    Just got hold of my first Nintendo Wii for proper testing, on loan from www.specialeffect.org.uk for their accessible gaming roadshow project. Wii Sports is great, but....

     

    Take a look at these links via new-kotaku:

     

    http://kotaku.com/gaming/a-picture-worth-a-thousand-words/wii-to-the-rescue-269596.php

    http://kotaku.com/337925/nintendo-australia-brighten-up-a-girls-christmas-day

     

    The Wii-remote is fine for some when strapped to their arms - although trigger control looks awkward, but some are playing in a hand over hand manner - which isn't exactly the ideal solution. That lad is obviously having fun - but wouldn't it be better if he could play for himself?

     

    I've just discovered for myself that it's possible to hook up my Playstation 2-Switch Interface Deluxe and Redux controllers to the Wii using a Gamecube adapter - plugging into the Wii's joypad sockets. So it's possible to play Gamecube games and Virtual Console games on the Wii with accessibility switches, arcade sticks and so on.

     

    Great but Wii games and the front end menu are only accessible with the Wii-remote...

     

    Would it really be hard for Wii developers to make their games work with the JoyPad controllers too? All of Wii Sports could be made to work with the D-pad and the A button. All the point and click type games would be simple to get working on JoyPads too... Then this would come so much closer to being a potentially universally accessible machine.

     

    Presently - there are lots of people that can't play. I've people in my immediate family unable to play due to shoulder and joint pains. This relatively simple addition to Wii games included as an optional extra would make a big difference....

     

     

    And getting onto my immediate point...

     

    I know that when this Wii gets taken out on the Roadshow with Wii Sports - there'll be some kids unable to use it and will likely be made a bit despondent by this fact. I've looked for some alternatives that the GameCube had and have turned up Sega's Super Monkey Ball. It's got a nice mini-golf bonus game that can be played with a few buttons. It's also got a potentially lovely one-switch bowling game to compete with Wii Bowling - but it's completely ruined by the overly-fast automatic aiming. Basically your aim sweeps from left to right and back again very quickly - when you hit your switch that's your aim. If it's no good (which it typically won't be) your go is a total waste of time, although it will still ask you to select your power...

     

    Two things would have made this mini-game fun. 1. The option to slow down the automatic aiming. 2. The option to put barriers up so your ball doesn't fly off the edge. 

     

    Does anyone on this list have any contact with Sega for me to pass on this message. It would be great if we could get this fixed (or even better - Wii Sports working on a JoyPad compatible controller - for those unable to physically control a Wii-remote)???

     

    Barrie

    www.OneSwitch.org.uk

     

     

    ********************************************



----------------------------------------------------------------------------


    _______________________________________________
    games_access mailing list
    games_access at igda.org
    http://seven.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/games_access



------------------------------------------------------------------------------


  _______________________________________________
  games_access mailing list
  games_access at igda.org
  http://seven.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/games_access
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From arthit73 at cablespeed.com  Tue Feb 26 15:44:51 2008
From: arthit73 at cablespeed.com (Robert Florio)
Date: Tue, 26 Feb 2008 15:44:51 -0500
Subject: [games_access] games for health conference Baltimore?  When?
In-Reply-To: AAAAADBf8GSYa4xDlD4sBa5lcIykti0A
References: AAAAADBf8GSYa4xDlD4sBa5lcIykti0A
Message-ID: <000901c878b8$6f88efe0$6501a8c0@Inspiron>

Does anyone know when the Baltimore games for health conference is going to
be last I heard it was in May?  I am available to speak their.  And also if
the opportunity comes up to actually show my documentary.  I look forward to
sending the documentary for private viewing online for a view of you soon.
It is about my life in the beginning and the majority about game design
accessibility in mind trip to San Jose, California game design conference,
my life and how I affect athletes through my painting and an amazing
conclusion.  A great message of encouragement.

Robert
www.RobertFlorio.com  





-----Original Message-----
From: games_access-bounces at igda.org [mailto:games_access-bounces at igda.org]
On Behalf Of John Bannick
Sent: Monday, January 28, 2008 10:16 PM
To: games_access at igda.org
Subject: [games_access] ALERT Game Book Uploaded for the DVD

Thomas,

I just uploaded an update to the ALERT Game Book.

Had a boffo week fixing some minor, but irritating, things and didn't want 
to miss the unexpected opportunity to send the best we have.

No big deal. Just wanted you to know, if you noticed the date change.

John

_______________________________________________
games_access mailing list
games_access at igda.org
http://seven.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/games_access



From glinert at mit.edu  Tue Feb 26 15:50:06 2008
From: glinert at mit.edu (Eitan Glinert)
Date: Tue, 26 Feb 2008 15:50:06 -0500
Subject: [games_access] games for health conference Baltimore? When?
In-Reply-To: <000901c878b8$6f88efe0$6501a8c0@Inspiron>
References: <000901c878b8$6f88efe0$6501a8c0@Inspiron>
Message-ID: <3dd2060e0802261250o146de293sa770c6a6784b4dd3@mail.gmail.com>

Talk to Ben Sawyer (cc'ed here), he organizes it. I actually think he's on
the accessibility list too, so he might have already read this. Also, you're
right, the conference is usually in May.
Eitan

On Tue, Feb 26, 2008 at 3:44 PM, Robert Florio <arthit73 at cablespeed.com>
wrote:

> Does anyone know when the Baltimore games for health conference is going
> to
> be last I heard it was in May?  I am available to speak their.  And also
> if
> the opportunity comes up to actually show my documentary.  I look forward
> to
> sending the documentary for private viewing online for a view of you soon.
> It is about my life in the beginning and the majority about game design
> accessibility in mind trip to San Jose, California game design conference,
> my life and how I affect athletes through my painting and an amazing
> conclusion.  A great message of encouragement.
>
> Robert
> www.RobertFlorio.com
>
>
>
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: games_access-bounces at igda.org [mailto:games_access-bounces at igda.org]
> On Behalf Of John Bannick
> Sent: Monday, January 28, 2008 10:16 PM
> To: games_access at igda.org
> Subject: [games_access] ALERT Game Book Uploaded for the DVD
>
> Thomas,
>
> I just uploaded an update to the ALERT Game Book.
>
> Had a boffo week fixing some minor, but irritating, things and didn't want
> to miss the unexpected opportunity to send the best we have.
>
> No big deal. Just wanted you to know, if you noticed the date change.
>
> John
>
> _______________________________________________
> games_access mailing list
> games_access at igda.org
> http://seven.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/games_access
>
> _______________________________________________
> games_access mailing list
> games_access at igda.org
> http://seven.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/games_access
>
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From hinn at uiuc.edu  Tue Feb 26 16:43:14 2008
From: hinn at uiuc.edu (hinn at uiuc.edu)
Date: Tue, 26 Feb 2008 15:43:14 -0600 (CST)
Subject: [games_access] games for health conference Baltimore? When?
Message-ID: <20080226154314.BCG50200@expms2.cites.uiuc.edu>

It is in May -- I have more details and will send them shortly -- I entered a pain cycle during GDC and so I haven't been online much since Friday. Anyway...we have a special single day conference just on game accessibility that is during the games for health conference that I am organizing.

Michelle

---- Original message ----
>Date: Tue, 26 Feb 2008 15:50:06 -0500
>From: "Eitan Glinert" <glinert at mit.edu>  
>Subject: Re: [games_access] games for health conference Baltimore? When?  
>To: "IGDA Games Accessibility SIG Mailing List" <games_access at igda.org>, "Ben Sawyer" <bsawyer at dmill.com>
>
>   Talk to Ben Sawyer (cc'ed here), he organizes it. I
>   actually think he's on the accessibility list too,
>   so he might have already read this. Also, you're
>   right, the conference is usually in May.
>   Eitan
>
>   On Tue, Feb 26, 2008 at 3:44 PM, Robert Florio
>   <arthit73 at cablespeed.com> wrote:
>
>     Does anyone know when the Baltimore games for
>     health conference is going to
>     be last I heard it was in May?  I am available to
>     speak their.  And also if
>     the opportunity comes up to actually show my
>     documentary.  I look forward to
>     sending the documentary for private viewing online
>     for a view of you soon.
>     It is about my life in the beginning and the
>     majority about game design
>     accessibility in mind trip to San Jose, California
>     game design conference,
>     my life and how I affect athletes through my
>     painting and an amazing
>     conclusion.  A great message of encouragement.
>
>     Robert
>     www.RobertFlorio.com
>
>     -----Original Message-----
>     From: games_access-bounces at igda.org
>     [mailto:games_access-bounces at igda.org]
>     On Behalf Of John Bannick
>     Sent: Monday, January 28, 2008 10:16 PM
>     To: games_access at igda.org
>     Subject: [games_access] ALERT Game Book Uploaded
>     for the DVD
>
>     Thomas,
>
>     I just uploaded an update to the ALERT Game Book.
>
>     Had a boffo week fixing some minor, but
>     irritating, things and didn't want
>     to miss the unexpected opportunity to send the
>     best we have.
>
>     No big deal. Just wanted you to know, if you
>     noticed the date change.
>
>     John
>
>     _______________________________________________
>     games_access mailing list
>     games_access at igda.org
>     http://seven.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/games_access
>
>     _______________________________________________
>     games_access mailing list
>     games_access at igda.org
>     http://seven.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/games_access
>________________
>_______________________________________________
>games_access mailing list
>games_access at igda.org
>http://seven.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/games_access
.......................................
these are mediocre times and people are 
losing hope. it's hard for many people 
to believe that there are extraordinary 
things inside themselves, as well as 
others. i hope you can keep an open 
mind.
 -- "unbreakable"
.......................................


From hinn at uiuc.edu  Tue Feb 26 20:29:12 2008
From: hinn at uiuc.edu (d. michelle hinn)
Date: Tue, 26 Feb 2008 17:29:12 -0800
Subject: [games_access] GDC 2008 Debrief
In-Reply-To: <20080223182038.BCC62420@expms2.cites.uiuc.edu>
References: <20080223182038.BCC62420@expms2.cites.uiuc.edu>
Message-ID: <p06230901c3ea5edf5c4b@[130.126.29.86]>

Hi All,

I don't have a lot of energy at the moment but I wanted to let 
everyone know how well things went at this year's GDC! We/I 
definitely missed having the whole gang around this year (or as much 
of the gang as we have had before) but it's definitely not the only 
conference and, in fact, some of the new smaller GDCs are definitely 
worth looking into -- they have them all of the world right now! So 
we might start sponsoring some SIG members to go to conferences that 
are just a train ride away (ie, the european conferences). More on 
that later when I figure out when the next batch of deadlines are!

So our big session was Accessibility Arcade: Or How to Do the Jedi 
Mind Trick, which was repeated twice unlike the 3 times from last 
year. So some overall comments:

A/V Stuff: Of course the annual "where are the TVs?" "will they be 
arriving -- during or after our session" kinds of things came up but 
thanks to the conference associates that got worked out relatively 
quickly and I didn't have to run all over the expo looking for the 
GES (A/V) contractors. The funny thing was this year they set them up 
in the room next door so it wasn't a big deal once they knew where to 
move them to -- and it wasn't very far to move them! But honestly? 
That was the worst thing that happened and it was resolved in time 
for our session -- sure I did have a few moments of panic remembering 
last year but with everything getting solved and everyone just going 
ahead and setting up their stations and not waiting for the TVs 
before starting helped a lot. So that's not much of a "worst part," 
eh? :D Yay!

Attendees: This blew me away...and I'm know it blew away Eelke and 
Reid too who have seen way too many empty rooms we've presented to. 
It's always hard to gauge exact numbers with a session like "arcade" 
that allows people to come in late, wander in and out, etc. But 
basically...we went from having an average of 2 attendees...to about 
60-70 (The CAs gave me a better count since they were watching the 
traffic moving in and out) for the 4pm Wednesday session and about 30 
for the 9am Thursday session (not bad for early morning!!). And they 
weren't just our usual fans (yes, the cool people from "games for 
grandma and grandpa" were there -- cool as ever and always welcome!). 
We had people from Sony, Microsoft (and not one of my friends -- a 
producer of a new racing game who could use Barrie's help actually!), 
EA, and much more. Yes...the big leagues! And yes, I cried after the 
first session -- I couldn't believe that the months put into this, 
negotiating with Natural Point and Emotive and all the individually 
sent press releases helped get people in the room. It was just a half 
a year worth of stuff and to see people there who were interested and 
involved...wow...you really can't ask for much more!

Presenters:

Emotiv and Natural Point kept their deal and brought their stuff 
(although I was a wee bit scared when they said they'd show up five 
minutes ahead of the session -- and after all I went through getting 
them single session passes -- yes, I invoked my crying spell on 
them...it wasn't hard given that I was in a pain cycle and felt like 
collapsing. But I had my game face on! :) And having them come to the 
session? Golden. So that gamble I made to ask them to join us paid 
off -- it got people in the room to see and do the "jedi mind trick" 
and then they stayed to check out the SIG stuff. So next year? We do 
an all out sponsored session. Thanks to our numbers -- and the 
percentage increase over last year -- we're going to look like "wow, 
ok! they figured out how to make this accessibility thing work!" So I 
imagine that there will be no argument about our getting another 
session like this for next year and maybe even make it a little 
slicker.

Mark and Stephanie from AbleGamers rocked -- they helped pass out 
tons of our session fliers (they were combing the expo and helped me 
out a ton because I could hardly move and this undoubtedly helped 
with getting even more people in the room) and brought their 
enthusiasm and passion for helping the disabled gamer community! 
Without them I don't think I would have survived the show this year 
-- all three of us have our own disabilities and I think we did a 
pretty good job helping each other stay alive! :)

Reid and Eelke -- Amazing as usual. Reid found a SUPER place to print 
and burn the DVDs and they looked great and so professional! And 
Eelke's new Blind Hero is something to behold. That haptic glove -- 
awesome! Reid's poster looked awesome -- I'll let him talk about his 
poster session in another email! And thanks again, Eelke for bringing 
all your equipment!

Eitan -- again, always steals the spotlight with his wiimote music 
game -- I'm so glad you could join us!

Barrie, Dimitris -- you were with us in spirit as we showed "Game 
Over" and all of the cool controllers -- and we passed out your cards 
and the leftover FuturePlay fliers! :)

All -- Wow, all I can say is that this SIG really rocks -- we finally 
did it! We had a great show at GDC and with funding that we are 
getting sorted out...I'm on cloud 9. What a great achievement for all 
of us! This IS going to be our year! We have tons of developers 
asking us where they should start with accessibility (ie, which 
groups are asking for what in which game? Sure, the numbers and 
financial stuff will always be there but what a great feeling that 
now we are in a position to start talking directly to CEOs to help 
them make their first steps toward adding in even just ONE 
accessibility feature in future games.

So, hey, let's pat ourselves on the backs for a show well done -- 
sure we could have all felt a little better but that's how it goes 
sometimes. It was nice to know that we all had each other's backs and 
the passion for game accessibility was showing through and through!

Well done, everyone -- and everyone includes everyone who added to 
the DVD, helped with fliers, presenters, and just all of you who gave 
us good thoughts all week! :)

Ok...need to rest a little now. But I had to give the post mort to 
the SIG. I'm working on a posting about how much better this GDC was 
for game accessibility to be published on ablegamers too. It was a 
long year between this year's GDC and last year's but we've learned a 
lot and we keep fighting the good fight!

Michelle
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From glinert at mit.edu  Tue Feb 26 21:01:22 2008
From: glinert at mit.edu (Eitan Glinert)
Date: Tue, 26 Feb 2008 21:01:22 -0500
Subject: [games_access] Fun user interface video
Message-ID: <3dd2060e0802261801g319f612aye758583fbbbbeec9@mail.gmail.com>

Hey guys,

I just got a video up of a small side project I've been working on. It's not
designed to be accessible, but the UI is simple enough that many groups can
use it. I'm going to try to apply some of the lessons I learned making this
to games.

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-8238548103802052558&hl=en

Cheers,
Eitan
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From reid at rbkdesign.com  Tue Feb 26 21:09:24 2008
From: reid at rbkdesign.com (Reid Kimball)
Date: Tue, 26 Feb 2008 18:09:24 -0800
Subject: [games_access] GDC 2008 Debrief
In-Reply-To: <p06230901c3ea5edf5c4b@130.126.29.86>
References: <20080223182038.BCC62420@expms2.cites.uiuc.edu>
	<p06230901c3ea5edf5c4b@130.126.29.86>
Message-ID: <a6673b8d0802261809xefe3157s45aa51774a91270@mail.gmail.com>

The Poster Session (think science fair) I gave on Dynamic Closed
Captioning was really well received. I had at least 10 people show up,
which I'm happy with because the poster sessions are in a big open
area next to other presenters. There's competition for attention
between the other presenters and the fact that hundreds of people are
passing by in the open area.

After the presentation I talked with several leads, executives and
managers, one being from Sony who described an interesting barrier
they are trying to overcome. They want players of different languages
to be able to talk to each other. It's not our niche, but it was
interesting to learn about. I got great feedback on how I crafted the
message which was more about social responsibility rather than
financial. Using actual testimonials I've gotten from my emails
helped. One person asked what the numbers are and we got the idea to
ask Valve Software how many people use closed captioning in their
games.

We should encourage developers to keep track of how many people use
the accessibility features they implement. We don't have any stats so
it'd be helpful to have them do that.

I've contacted Valve Software but no response yet. I'll ping them
again next week.

Yeah, we should all be proud of what we accomplished at GDC 2008. It
was great seeing Michelle, Eitan and Eelke again and of course awesome
to meet Stephanie and Mark.

PS: Anything happen with Blizzard meeting? Did anyone meet with other
game dev companies?

-Reid

On Tue, Feb 26, 2008 at 5:29 PM, d. michelle hinn <hinn at uiuc.edu> wrote:
>
>
> Hi All,
>
>
> I don't have a lot of energy at the moment but I wanted to let everyone know
> how well things went at this year's GDC! We/I definitely missed having the
> whole gang around this year (or as much of the gang as we have had before)
> but it's definitely not the only conference and, in fact, some of the new
> smaller GDCs are definitely worth looking into -- they have them all of the
> world right now! So we might start sponsoring some SIG members to go to
> conferences that are just a train ride away (ie, the european conferences).
> More on that later when I figure out when the next batch of deadlines are!
>
>
> So our big session was Accessibility Arcade: Or How to Do the Jedi Mind
> Trick, which was repeated twice unlike the 3 times from last year. So some
> overall comments:
>
>
>
> A/V Stuff: Of course the annual "where are the TVs?" "will they be arriving
> -- during or after our session" kinds of things came up but thanks to the
> conference associates that got worked out relatively quickly and I didn't
> have to run all over the expo looking for the GES (A/V) contractors. The
> funny thing was this year they set them up in the room next door so it
> wasn't a big deal once they knew where to move them to -- and it wasn't very
> far to move them! But honestly? That was the worst thing that happened and
> it was resolved in time for our session -- sure I did have a few moments of
> panic remembering last year but with everything getting solved and everyone
> just going ahead and setting up their stations and not waiting for the TVs
> before starting helped a lot. So that's not much of a "worst part," eh? :D
> Yay!
>
>
>
> Attendees: This blew me away...and I'm know it blew away Eelke and Reid too
> who have seen way too many empty rooms we've presented to. It's always hard
> to gauge exact numbers with a session like "arcade" that allows people to
> come in late, wander in and out, etc. But basically...we went from having an
> average of 2 attendees...to about 60-70 (The CAs gave me a better count
> since they were watching the traffic moving in and out) for the 4pm
> Wednesday session and about 30 for the 9am Thursday session (not bad for
> early morning!!). And they weren't just our usual fans (yes, the cool people
> from "games for grandma and grandpa" were there -- cool as ever and always
> welcome!). We had people from Sony, Microsoft (and not one of my friends --
> a producer of a new racing game who could use Barrie's help actually!), EA,
> and much more. Yes...the big leagues! And yes, I cried after the first
> session -- I couldn't believe that the months put into this, negotiating
> with Natural Point and Emotive and all the individually sent press releases
> helped get people in the room. It was just a half a year worth of stuff and
> to see people there who were interested and involved...wow...you really
> can't ask for much more!
>
>
>
> Presenters:
>
>
>
>
> Emotiv and Natural Point kept their deal and brought their stuff (although I
> was a wee bit scared when they said they'd show up five minutes ahead of the
> session -- and after all I went through getting them single session passes
> -- yes, I invoked my crying spell on them...it wasn't hard given that I was
> in a pain cycle and felt like collapsing. But I had my game face on! :) And
> having them come to the session? Golden. So that gamble I made to ask them
> to join us paid off -- it got people in the room to see and do the "jedi
> mind trick" and then they stayed to check out the SIG stuff. So next year?
> We do an all out sponsored session. Thanks to our numbers -- and the
> percentage increase over last year -- we're going to look like "wow, ok!
> they figured out how to make this accessibility thing work!" So I imagine
> that there will be no argument about our getting another session like this
> for next year and maybe even make it a little slicker.
>
>
>
>
> Mark and Stephanie from AbleGamers rocked -- they helped pass out tons of
> our session fliers (they were combing the expo and helped me out a ton
> because I could hardly move and this undoubtedly helped with getting even
> more people in the room) and brought their enthusiasm and passion for
> helping the disabled gamer community! Without them I don't think I would
> have survived the show this year -- all three of us have our own
> disabilities and I think we did a pretty good job helping each other stay
> alive! :)
>
>
>
>
> Reid and Eelke -- Amazing as usual. Reid found a SUPER place to print and
> burn the DVDs and they looked great and so professional! And Eelke's new
> Blind Hero is something to behold. That haptic glove -- awesome! Reid's
> poster looked awesome -- I'll let him talk about his poster session in
> another email! And thanks again, Eelke for bringing all your equipment!
>
>
>
>
> Eitan -- again, always steals the spotlight with his wiimote music game --
> I'm so glad you could join us!
>
>
>
>
> Barrie, Dimitris -- you were with us in spirit as we showed "Game Over" and
> all of the cool controllers -- and we passed out your cards and the leftover
> FuturePlay fliers! :)
>
>
> All -- Wow, all I can say is that this SIG really rocks -- we finally did
> it! We had a great show at GDC and with funding that we are getting sorted
> out...I'm on cloud 9. What a great achievement for all of us! This IS going
> to be our year! We have tons of developers asking us where they should start
> with accessibility (ie, which groups are asking for what in which game?
> Sure, the numbers and financial stuff will always be there but what a great
> feeling that now we are in a position to start talking directly to CEOs to
> help them make their first steps toward adding in even just ONE
> accessibility feature in future games.
>
>
> So, hey, let's pat ourselves on the backs for a show well done -- sure we
> could have all felt a little better but that's how it goes sometimes. It was
> nice to know that we all had each other's backs and the passion for game
> accessibility was showing through and through!
>
>
> Well done, everyone -- and everyone includes everyone who added to the DVD,
> helped with fliers, presenters, and just all of you who gave us good
> thoughts all week! :)
>
>
> Ok...need to rest a little now. But I had to give the post mort to the SIG.
> I'm working on a posting about how much better this GDC was for game
> accessibility to be published on ablegamers too. It was a long year between
> this year's GDC and last year's but we've learned a lot and we keep fighting
> the good fight!
>
>
> Michelle
>
>
> _______________________________________________
>  games_access mailing list
>  games_access at igda.org
>  http://seven.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/games_access
>
>


From ioo at ablegamers.com  Tue Feb 26 21:15:05 2008
From: ioo at ablegamers.com (Ioo)
Date: Tue, 26 Feb 2008 21:15:05 -0500
Subject: [games_access] GDC 2008 Debrief
In-Reply-To: <a6673b8d0802261809xefe3157s45aa51774a91270@mail.gmail.com>
References: <20080223182038.BCC62420@expms2.cites.uiuc.edu>	<p06230901c3ea5edf5c4b@130.126.29.86>
	<a6673b8d0802261809xefe3157s45aa51774a91270@mail.gmail.com>
Message-ID: <47C4C7A9.5060908@ablegamers.com>

Reid,

 I have a email into Blizzard, but I have not recived anything back from 
them. We will see. I will keep you all posted.

Mark
AbleGamers.com

Reid Kimball wrote:
> The Poster Session (think science fair) I gave on Dynamic Closed
> Captioning was really well received. I had at least 10 people show up,
> which I'm happy with because the poster sessions are in a big open
> area next to other presenters. There's competition for attention
> between the other presenters and the fact that hundreds of people are
> passing by in the open area.
>
> After the presentation I talked with several leads, executives and
> managers, one being from Sony who described an interesting barrier
> they are trying to overcome. They want players of different languages
> to be able to talk to each other. It's not our niche, but it was
> interesting to learn about. I got great feedback on how I crafted the
> message which was more about social responsibility rather than
> financial. Using actual testimonials I've gotten from my emails
> helped. One person asked what the numbers are and we got the idea to
> ask Valve Software how many people use closed captioning in their
> games.
>
> We should encourage developers to keep track of how many people use
> the accessibility features they implement. We don't have any stats so
> it'd be helpful to have them do that.
>
> I've contacted Valve Software but no response yet. I'll ping them
> again next week.
>
> Yeah, we should all be proud of what we accomplished at GDC 2008. It
> was great seeing Michelle, Eitan and Eelke again and of course awesome
> to meet Stephanie and Mark.
>
> PS: Anything happen with Blizzard meeting? Did anyone meet with other
> game dev companies?
>
> -Reid
>
> On Tue, Feb 26, 2008 at 5:29 PM, d. michelle hinn <hinn at uiuc.edu> wrote:
>   
>> Hi All,
>>
>>
>> I don't have a lot of energy at the moment but I wanted to let everyone know
>> how well things went at this year's GDC! We/I definitely missed having the
>> whole gang around this year (or as much of the gang as we have had before)
>> but it's definitely not the only conference and, in fact, some of the new
>> smaller GDCs are definitely worth looking into -- they have them all of the
>> world right now! So we might start sponsoring some SIG members to go to
>> conferences that are just a train ride away (ie, the european conferences).
>> More on that later when I figure out when the next batch of deadlines are!
>>
>>
>> So our big session was Accessibility Arcade: Or How to Do the Jedi Mind
>> Trick, which was repeated twice unlike the 3 times from last year. So some
>> overall comments:
>>
>>
>>
>> A/V Stuff: Of course the annual "where are the TVs?" "will they be arriving
>> -- during or after our session" kinds of things came up but thanks to the
>> conference associates that got worked out relatively quickly and I didn't
>> have to run all over the expo looking for the GES (A/V) contractors. The
>> funny thing was this year they set them up in the room next door so it
>> wasn't a big deal once they knew where to move them to -- and it wasn't very
>> far to move them! But honestly? That was the worst thing that happened and
>> it was resolved in time for our session -- sure I did have a few moments of
>> panic remembering last year but with everything getting solved and everyone
>> just going ahead and setting up their stations and not waiting for the TVs
>> before starting helped a lot. So that's not much of a "worst part," eh? :D
>> Yay!
>>
>>
>>
>> Attendees: This blew me away...and I'm know it blew away Eelke and Reid too
>> who have seen way too many empty rooms we've presented to. It's always hard
>> to gauge exact numbers with a session like "arcade" that allows people to
>> come in late, wander in and out, etc. But basically...we went from having an
>> average of 2 attendees...to about 60-70 (The CAs gave me a better count
>> since they were watching the traffic moving in and out) for the 4pm
>> Wednesday session and about 30 for the 9am Thursday session (not bad for
>> early morning!!). And they weren't just our usual fans (yes, the cool people
>> from "games for grandma and grandpa" were there -- cool as ever and always
>> welcome!). We had people from Sony, Microsoft (and not one of my friends --
>> a producer of a new racing game who could use Barrie's help actually!), EA,
>> and much more. Yes...the big leagues! And yes, I cried after the first
>> session -- I couldn't believe that the months put into this, negotiating
>> with Natural Point and Emotive and all the individually sent press releases
>> helped get people in the room. It was just a half a year worth of stuff and
>> to see people there who were interested and involved...wow...you really
>> can't ask for much more!
>>
>>
>>
>> Presenters:
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> Emotiv and Natural Point kept their deal and brought their stuff (although I
>> was a wee bit scared when they said they'd show up five minutes ahead of the
>> session -- and after all I went through getting them single session passes
>> -- yes, I invoked my crying spell on them...it wasn't hard given that I was
>> in a pain cycle and felt like collapsing. But I had my game face on! :) And
>> having them come to the session? Golden. So that gamble I made to ask them
>> to join us paid off -- it got people in the room to see and do the "jedi
>> mind trick" and then they stayed to check out the SIG stuff. So next year?
>> We do an all out sponsored session. Thanks to our numbers -- and the
>> percentage increase over last year -- we're going to look like "wow, ok!
>> they figured out how to make this accessibility thing work!" So I imagine
>> that there will be no argument about our getting another session like this
>> for next year and maybe even make it a little slicker.
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> Mark and Stephanie from AbleGamers rocked -- they helped pass out tons of
>> our session fliers (they were combing the expo and helped me out a ton
>> because I could hardly move and this undoubtedly helped with getting even
>> more people in the room) and brought their enthusiasm and passion for
>> helping the disabled gamer community! Without them I don't think I would
>> have survived the show this year -- all three of us have our own
>> disabilities and I think we did a pretty good job helping each other stay
>> alive! :)
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> Reid and Eelke -- Amazing as usual. Reid found a SUPER place to print and
>> burn the DVDs and they looked great and so professional! And Eelke's new
>> Blind Hero is something to behold. That haptic glove -- awesome! Reid's
>> poster looked awesome -- I'll let him talk about his poster session in
>> another email! And thanks again, Eelke for bringing all your equipment!
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> Eitan -- again, always steals the spotlight with his wiimote music game --
>> I'm so glad you could join us!
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> Barrie, Dimitris -- you were with us in spirit as we showed "Game Over" and
>> all of the cool controllers -- and we passed out your cards and the leftover
>> FuturePlay fliers! :)
>>
>>
>> All -- Wow, all I can say is that this SIG really rocks -- we finally did
>> it! We had a great show at GDC and with funding that we are getting sorted
>> out...I'm on cloud 9. What a great achievement for all of us! This IS going
>> to be our year! We have tons of developers asking us where they should start
>> with accessibility (ie, which groups are asking for what in which game?
>> Sure, the numbers and financial stuff will always be there but what a great
>> feeling that now we are in a position to start talking directly to CEOs to
>> help them make their first steps toward adding in even just ONE
>> accessibility feature in future games.
>>
>>
>> So, hey, let's pat ourselves on the backs for a show well done -- sure we
>> could have all felt a little better but that's how it goes sometimes. It was
>> nice to know that we all had each other's backs and the passion for game
>> accessibility was showing through and through!
>>
>>
>> Well done, everyone -- and everyone includes everyone who added to the DVD,
>> helped with fliers, presenters, and just all of you who gave us good
>> thoughts all week! :)
>>
>>
>> Ok...need to rest a little now. But I had to give the post mort to the SIG.
>> I'm working on a posting about how much better this GDC was for game
>> accessibility to be published on ablegamers too. It was a long year between
>> this year's GDC and last year's but we've learned a lot and we keep fighting
>> the good fight!
>>
>>
>> Michelle
>>
>>
>> _______________________________________________
>>  games_access mailing list
>>  games_access at igda.org
>>  http://seven.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/games_access
>>
>>
>>     
> _______________________________________________
> games_access mailing list
> games_access at igda.org
> http://seven.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/games_access
>
>   


From ioo at ablegamers.com  Tue Feb 26 21:18:26 2008
From: ioo at ablegamers.com (Ioo)
Date: Tue, 26 Feb 2008 21:18:26 -0500
Subject: [games_access] Fun user interface video
In-Reply-To: <3dd2060e0802261801g319f612aye758583fbbbbeec9@mail.gmail.com>
References: <3dd2060e0802261801g319f612aye758583fbbbbeec9@mail.gmail.com>
Message-ID: <47C4C872.4080806@ablegamers.com>

I want one!

Eitan Glinert wrote:
> Hey guys,
>
> I just got a video up of a small side project I've been working on. 
> It's not designed to be accessible, but the UI is simple enough that 
> many groups can use it. I'm going to try to apply some of the lessons 
> I learned making this to games.
>
> http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-8238548103802052558&hl=en 
> <http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-8238548103802052558&hl=en>
>
> Cheers,
> Eitan
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> _______________________________________________
> games_access mailing list
> games_access at igda.org
> http://seven.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/games_access
>   


From hinn at uiuc.edu  Tue Feb 26 21:44:11 2008
From: hinn at uiuc.edu (d. michelle hinn)
Date: Tue, 26 Feb 2008 18:44:11 -0800
Subject: [games_access] GDC 2008 Debrief
In-Reply-To: <47C4C7A9.5060908@ablegamers.com>
References: <20080223182038.BCC62420@expms2.cites.uiuc.edu>
	<p06230901c3ea5edf5c4b@130.126.29.86>
	<a6673b8d0802261809xefe3157s45aa51774a91270@mail.gmail.com>
	<47C4C7A9.5060908@ablegamers.com>
Message-ID: <p06230905c3ea7c9151ed@[130.126.29.86]>

I'm also in touch with their CEO & COO -- They want to personally 
send emails to people who have been treated badly, gotten kicked off 
of WoW, etc. So if anyone knows of anyone personally who has been 
kicked for using macros in order to use accessible controllers and/or 
got no response from Blizzard, please let me know. The more people we 
have to lend their voices to this issue, the better! Obviously there 
is social responsibility but they want as many stories as possible so 
that they can see the range of problems that people are experiencing 
as well as any negative response (which is UNcool in Blizzard's 
opinion) they have received from customer service.

So the sooner we can get this info, the better so that the CEO and 
COO can follow through with what they have offered in order to start 
fixing things. I just spoke with the COO again this morning and in 
his words "he is deeply ashamed that anyone from their team may have 
treated any gamer -- with or without a disability -- badly."

With regard to numbers, it is NOT ok in Blizzard's opinion that 
anyone has been treated rudely by any member of their team but at the 
same time they'd like to know how many people have been denied access 
and how. They don't need exact numbers but they do want to know a bit 
more about how many people were WoW players before this all hit the 
fan. They believe us -- but they just want more information so that 
they can come up with a solution that keeps out cheaters but also 
allows disabled gamers to play.

Cool!
Michelle

>Reid,
>
>I have a email into Blizzard, but I have not recived anything back 
>from them. We will see. I will keep you all posted.
>
>Mark
>AbleGamers.com
>
>Reid Kimball wrote:
>>The Poster Session (think science fair) I gave on Dynamic Closed
>>Captioning was really well received. I had at least 10 people show up,
>>which I'm happy with because the poster sessions are in a big open
>>area next to other presenters. There's competition for attention
>>between the other presenters and the fact that hundreds of people are
>>passing by in the open area.
>>
>>After the presentation I talked with several leads, executives and
>>managers, one being from Sony who described an interesting barrier
>>they are trying to overcome. They want players of different languages
>>to be able to talk to each other. It's not our niche, but it was
>>interesting to learn about. I got great feedback on how I crafted the
>>message which was more about social responsibility rather than
>>financial. Using actual testimonials I've gotten from my emails
>>helped. One person asked what the numbers are and we got the idea to
>>ask Valve Software how many people use closed captioning in their
>>games.
>>
>>We should encourage developers to keep track of how many people use
>>the accessibility features they implement. We don't have any stats so
>>it'd be helpful to have them do that.
>>
>>I've contacted Valve Software but no response yet. I'll ping them
>>again next week.
>>
>>Yeah, we should all be proud of what we accomplished at GDC 2008. It
>>was great seeing Michelle, Eitan and Eelke again and of course awesome
>>to meet Stephanie and Mark.
>>
>>PS: Anything happen with Blizzard meeting? Did anyone meet with other
>>game dev companies?
>>
>>-Reid
>>
>>On Tue, Feb 26, 2008 at 5:29 PM, d. michelle hinn <hinn at uiuc.edu> wrote:
>>
>>>Hi All,
>>>
>>>
>>>I don't have a lot of energy at the moment but I wanted to let everyone know
>>>how well things went at this year's GDC! We/I definitely missed having the
>>>whole gang around this year (or as much of the gang as we have had before)
>>>but it's definitely not the only conference and, in fact, some of the new
>>>smaller GDCs are definitely worth looking into -- they have them all of the
>>>world right now! So we might start sponsoring some SIG members to go to
>>>conferences that are just a train ride away (ie, the european conferences).
>>>More on that later when I figure out when the next batch of deadlines are!
>>>
>>>
>>>So our big session was Accessibility Arcade: Or How to Do the Jedi Mind
>>>Trick, which was repeated twice unlike the 3 times from last year. So some
>>>overall comments:
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>A/V Stuff: Of course the annual "where are the TVs?" "will they be arriving
>>>-- during or after our session" kinds of things came up but thanks to the
>>>conference associates that got worked out relatively quickly and I didn't
>>>have to run all over the expo looking for the GES (A/V) contractors. The
>>>funny thing was this year they set them up in the room next door so it
>>>wasn't a big deal once they knew where to move them to -- and it wasn't very
>>>far to move them! But honestly? That was the worst thing that happened and
>>>it was resolved in time for our session -- sure I did have a few moments of
>>>panic remembering last year but with everything getting solved and everyone
>>>just going ahead and setting up their stations and not waiting for the TVs
>>>before starting helped a lot. So that's not much of a "worst part," eh? :D
>>>Yay!
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>Attendees: This blew me away...and I'm know it blew away Eelke and Reid too
>>>who have seen way too many empty rooms we've presented to. It's always hard
>>>to gauge exact numbers with a session like "arcade" that allows people to
>>>come in late, wander in and out, etc. But basically...we went from having an
>>>average of 2 attendees...to about 60-70 (The CAs gave me a better count
>>>since they were watching the traffic moving in and out) for the 4pm
>>>Wednesday session and about 30 for the 9am Thursday session (not bad for
>>>early morning!!). And they weren't just our usual fans (yes, the cool people
>>>from "games for grandma and grandpa" were there -- cool as ever and always
>>>welcome!). We had people from Sony, Microsoft (and not one of my friends --
>>>a producer of a new racing game who could use Barrie's help actually!), EA,
>>>and much more. Yes...the big leagues! And yes, I cried after the first
>>>session -- I couldn't believe that the months put into this, negotiating
>>>with Natural Point and Emotive and all the individually sent press releases
>>>helped get people in the room. It was just a half a year worth of stuff and
>>>to see people there who were interested and involved...wow...you really
>>>can't ask for much more!
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>Presenters:
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>Emotiv and Natural Point kept their deal and brought their stuff (although I
>>>was a wee bit scared when they said they'd show up five minutes ahead of the
>>>session -- and after all I went through getting them single session passes
>>>-- yes, I invoked my crying spell on them...it wasn't hard given that I was
>>>in a pain cycle and felt like collapsing. But I had my game face on! :) And
>>>having them come to the session? Golden. So that gamble I made to ask them
>>>to join us paid off -- it got people in the room to see and do the "jedi
>>>mind trick" and then they stayed to check out the SIG stuff. So next year?
>>>We do an all out sponsored session. Thanks to our numbers -- and the
>>>percentage increase over last year -- we're going to look like "wow, ok!
>>>they figured out how to make this accessibility thing work!" So I imagine
>>>that there will be no argument about our getting another session like this
>>>for next year and maybe even make it a little slicker.
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>Mark and Stephanie from AbleGamers rocked -- they helped pass out tons of
>>>our session fliers (they were combing the expo and helped me out a ton
>>>because I could hardly move and this undoubtedly helped with getting even
>>>more people in the room) and brought their enthusiasm and passion for
>>>helping the disabled gamer community! Without them I don't think I would
>>>have survived the show this year -- all three of us have our own
>>>disabilities and I think we did a pretty good job helping each other stay
>>>alive! :)
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>Reid and Eelke -- Amazing as usual. Reid found a SUPER place to print and
>>>burn the DVDs and they looked great and so professional! And Eelke's new
>>>Blind Hero is something to behold. That haptic glove -- awesome! Reid's
>>>poster looked awesome -- I'll let him talk about his poster session in
>>>another email! And thanks again, Eelke for bringing all your equipment!
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>Eitan -- again, always steals the spotlight with his wiimote music game --
>>>I'm so glad you could join us!
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>Barrie, Dimitris -- you were with us in spirit as we showed "Game Over" and
>>>all of the cool controllers -- and we passed out your cards and the leftover
>>>FuturePlay fliers! :)
>>>
>>>
>>>All -- Wow, all I can say is that this SIG really rocks -- we finally did
>>>it! We had a great show at GDC and with funding that we are getting sorted
>>>out...I'm on cloud 9. What a great achievement for all of us! This IS going
>>>to be our year! We have tons of developers asking us where they should start
>>>with accessibility (ie, which groups are asking for what in which game?
>>>Sure, the numbers and financial stuff will always be there but what a great
>>>feeling that now we are in a position to start talking directly to CEOs to
>>>help them make their first steps toward adding in even just ONE
>>>accessibility feature in future games.
>>>
>>>
>>>So, hey, let's pat ourselves on the backs for a show well done -- sure we
>>>could have all felt a little better but that's how it goes sometimes. It was
>>>nice to know that we all had each other's backs and the passion for game
>>>accessibility was showing through and through!
>>>
>>>
>>>Well done, everyone -- and everyone includes everyone who added to the DVD,
>>>helped with fliers, presenters, and just all of you who gave us good
>>>thoughts all week! :)
>>>
>>>
>>>Ok...need to rest a little now. But I had to give the post mort to the SIG.
>>>I'm working on a posting about how much better this GDC was for game
>>>accessibility to be published on ablegamers too. It was a long year between
>>>this year's GDC and last year's but we've learned a lot and we keep fighting
>>>the good fight!
>>>
>>>
>>>Michelle
>>>
>>>
>>>_______________________________________________
>>>  games_access mailing list
>>>  games_access at igda.org
>>>  http://seven.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/games_access
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>_______________________________________________
>>games_access mailing list
>>games_access at igda.org
>>http://seven.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/games_access
>>
>>
>_______________________________________________
>games_access mailing list
>games_access at igda.org
>http://seven.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/games_access



From dis at d-gamer.com  Wed Feb 27 00:34:21 2008
From: dis at d-gamer.com (Corey 'Dis' Krull)
Date: Tue, 26 Feb 2008 21:34:21 -0800
Subject: [games_access] GDC 2008 Debrief
In-Reply-To: <p06230901c3ea5edf5c4b@[130.126.29.86]>
Message-ID: <20080227053427.A40BAAE82@mailwash7.pair.com>

Congratulations guys, I was really hoping that there would be a better
turnout and more interest this year. It makes me very excited that game
developers are taking notice to accessibility issues in games. I'm looking
forward to see what happens with the games at the end of the year and the
future. Anyway, this is very good news for all of us. Keep up the good work,
I know that it's hard to do what you do but all of you make me/us very
proud.

 

Corey

DGAMER <http://d-gamer.com/> 

  _____  

Hi All,

 

I don't have a lot of energy at the moment but I wanted to let everyone know
how well things went at this year's GDC! We/I definitely missed having the
whole gang around this year (or as much of the gang as we have had before)
but it's definitely not the only conference and, in fact, some of the new
smaller GDCs are definitely worth looking into -- they have them all of the
world right now! So we might start sponsoring some SIG members to go to
conferences that are just a train ride away (ie, the european conferences).
More on that later when I figure out when the next batch of deadlines are!

 

So our big session was Accessibility Arcade: Or How to Do the Jedi Mind
Trick, which was repeated twice unlike the 3 times from last year. So some
overall comments:

 

*	A/V Stuff: Of course the annual "where are the TVs?" "will they be
arriving -- during or after our session" kinds of things came up but thanks
to the conference associates that got worked out relatively quickly and I
didn't have to run all over the expo looking for the GES (A/V) contractors.
The funny thing was this year they set them up in the room next door so it
wasn't a big deal once they knew where to move them to -- and it wasn't very
far to move them! But honestly? That was the worst thing that happened and
it was resolved in time for our session -- sure I did have a few moments of
panic remembering last year but with everything getting solved and everyone
just going ahead and setting up their stations and not waiting for the TVs
before starting helped a lot. So that's not much of a "worst part," eh? :D
Yay!

 

*	Attendees: This blew me away...and I'm know it blew away Eelke and
Reid too who have seen way too many empty rooms we've presented to. It's
always hard to gauge exact numbers with a session like "arcade" that allows
people to come in late, wander in and out, etc. But basically...we went from
having an average of 2 attendees...to about 60-70 (The CAs gave me a better
count since they were watching the traffic moving in and out) for the 4pm
Wednesday session and about 30 for the 9am Thursday session (not bad for
early morning!!). And they weren't just our usual fans (yes, the cool people
from "games for grandma and grandpa" were there -- cool as ever and always
welcome!). We had people from Sony, Microsoft (and not one of my friends --
a producer of a new racing game who could use Barrie's help actually!), EA,
and much more. Yes...the big leagues! And yes, I cried after the first
session -- I couldn't believe that the months put into this, negotiating
with Natural Point and Emotive and all the individually sent press releases
helped get people in the room. It was just a half a year worth of stuff and
to see people there who were interested and involved...wow...you really
can't ask for much more!

 

*	Presenters:

 

*	Emotiv and Natural Point kept their deal and brought their stuff
(although I was a wee bit scared when they said they'd show up five minutes
ahead of the session -- and after all I went through getting them single
session passes -- yes, I invoked my crying spell on them...it wasn't hard
given that I was in a pain cycle and felt like collapsing. But I had my game
face on! :) And having them come to the session? Golden. So that gamble I
made to ask them to join us paid off -- it got people in the room to see and
do the "jedi mind trick" and then they stayed to check out the SIG stuff. So
next year? We do an all out sponsored session. Thanks to our numbers -- and
the percentage increase over last year -- we're going to look like "wow, ok!
they figured out how to make this accessibility thing work!" So I imagine
that there will be no argument about our getting another session like this
for next year and maybe even make it a little slicker.

 

*	Mark and Stephanie from AbleGamers rocked -- they helped pass out
tons of our session fliers (they were combing the expo and helped me out a
ton because I could hardly move and this undoubtedly helped with getting
even more people in the room) and brought their enthusiasm and passion for
helping the disabled gamer community! Without them I don't think I would
have survived the show this year -- all three of us have our own
disabilities and I think we did a pretty good job helping each other stay
alive! :)

 

*	Reid and Eelke -- Amazing as usual. Reid found a SUPER place to
print and burn the DVDs and they looked great and so professional! And
Eelke's new Blind Hero is something to behold. That haptic glove -- awesome!
Reid's poster looked awesome -- I'll let him talk about his poster session
in another email! And thanks again, Eelke for bringing all your equipment!

 

*	Eitan -- again, always steals the spotlight with his wiimote music
game -- I'm so glad you could join us!

 

*	Barrie, Dimitris -- you were with us in spirit as we showed "Game
Over" and all of the cool controllers -- and we passed out your cards and
the leftover FuturePlay fliers! :)

 

All -- Wow, all I can say is that this SIG really rocks -- we finally did
it! We had a great show at GDC and with funding that we are getting sorted
out...I'm on cloud 9. What a great achievement for all of us! This IS going
to be our year! We have tons of developers asking us where they should start
with accessibility (ie, which groups are asking for what in which game?
Sure, the numbers and financial stuff will always be there but what a great
feeling that now we are in a position to start talking directly to CEOs to
help them make their first steps toward adding in even just ONE
accessibility feature in future games.

 

So, hey, let's pat ourselves on the backs for a show well done -- sure we
could have all felt a little better but that's how it goes sometimes. It was
nice to know that we all had each other's backs and the passion for game
accessibility was showing through and through!

 

Well done, everyone -- and everyone includes everyone who added to the DVD,
helped with fliers, presenters, and just all of you who gave us good
thoughts all week! :)

 

Ok...need to rest a little now. But I had to give the post mort to the SIG.
I'm working on a posting about how much better this GDC was for game
accessibility to be published on ablegamers too. It was a long year between
this year's GDC and last year's but we've learned a lot and we keep fighting
the good fight!

 

Michelle

 

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From hinn at uiuc.edu  Wed Feb 27 00:55:20 2008
From: hinn at uiuc.edu (d. michelle hinn)
Date: Tue, 26 Feb 2008 21:55:20 -0800
Subject: [games_access] GDC 2008 Debrief
In-Reply-To: <20080227053427.A40BAAE82@mailwash7.pair.com>
References: <20080227053427.A40BAAE82@mailwash7.pair.com>
Message-ID: <p06230909c3eaa9fef765@[130.126.29.86]>

Thanks Corey! I see this as a big win for all of us fighting for 
accessibility as well -- after five years on the battlelines I feel 
that we're starting to move past simply awareness toward actual 
implementation and seeing how different companies react/act on what 
they learned this year and from how we work with them in the coming 
year(s). GDC 08 definitely gave me renewed hope/excitement about how 
much we've done over the years and where it's starting to lead us!

We didn't get much/any (?) press coverage this time but it's ok -- 
right now I feel like we have companies who want to learn more about 
which disabilities would make the most sense to implement changes for 
as a "first step." And that is way more important at this stage than 
any story or film footage could do. Thanks to IGDA for helping me 
connect to some people at the top rungs of companies so we can start 
making real change happen!

Michelle

>Congratulations guys, I was really hoping that there would be a 
>better turnout and more interest this year. It makes me very excited 
>that game developers are taking notice to accessibility issues in 
>games. I'm looking forward to see what happens with the games at the 
>end of the year and the future. Anyway, this is very good news for 
>all of us. Keep up the good work, I know that it's hard to do what 
>you do but all of you make me/us very proud.
>
>Corey
><http://d-gamer.com/>DGAMER
>
>Hi All,
>
>I don't have a lot of energy at the moment but I wanted to let 
>everyone know how well things went at this year's GDC! We/I 
>definitely missed having the whole gang around this year (or as much 
>of the gang as we have had before) but it's definitely not the only 
>conference and, in fact, some of the new smaller GDCs are definitely 
>worth looking into -- they have them all of the world right now! So 
>we might start sponsoring some SIG members to go to conferences that 
>are just a train ride away (ie, the european conferences). More on 
>that later when I figure out when the next batch of deadlines are!
>
>So our big session was Accessibility Arcade: Or How to Do the Jedi 
>Mind Trick, which was repeated twice unlike the 3 times from last 
>year. So some overall comments:
>
>
>A/V Stuff: Of course the annual "where are the TVs?" "will they be 
>arriving -- during or after our session" kinds of things came up but 
>thanks to the conference associates that got worked out relatively 
>quickly and I didn't have to run all over the expo looking for the 
>GES (A/V) contractors. The funny thing was this year they set them 
>up in the room next door so it wasn't a big deal once they knew 
>where to move them to -- and it wasn't very far to move them! But 
>honestly? That was the worst thing that happened and it was resolved 
>in time for our session -- sure I did have a few moments of panic 
>remembering last year but with everything getting solved and 
>everyone just going ahead and setting up their stations and not 
>waiting for the TVs before starting helped a lot. So that's not much 
>of a "worst part," eh? :D Yay!
>
>
>Attendees: This blew me away...and I'm know it blew away Eelke and 
>Reid too who have seen way too many empty rooms we've presented to. 
>It's always hard to gauge exact numbers with a session like "arcade" 
>that allows people to come in late, wander in and out, etc. But 
>basically...we went from having an average of 2 attendees...to about 
>60-70 (The CAs gave me a better count since they were watching the 
>traffic moving in and out) for the 4pm Wednesday session and about 
>30 for the 9am Thursday session (not bad for early morning!!). And 
>they weren't just our usual fans (yes, the cool people from "games 
>for grandma and grandpa" were there -- cool as ever and always 
>welcome!). We had people from Sony, Microsoft (and not one of my 
>friends -- a producer of a new racing game who could use Barrie's 
>help actually!), EA, and much more. Yes...the big leagues! And yes, 
>I cried after the first session -- I couldn't believe that the 
>months put into this, negotiating with Natural Point and Emotive and 
>all the individually sent press releases helped get people in the 
>room. It was just a half a year worth of stuff and to see people 
>there who were interested and involved...wow...you really can't ask 
>for much more!
>
>
>Presenters:
>
>
>Emotiv and Natural Point kept their deal and brought their stuff 
>(although I was a wee bit scared when they said they'd show up five 
>minutes ahead of the session -- and after all I went through getting 
>them single session passes -- yes, I invoked my crying spell on 
>them...it wasn't hard given that I was in a pain cycle and felt like 
>collapsing. But I had my game face on! :) And having them come to 
>the session? Golden. So that gamble I made to ask them to join us 
>paid off -- it got people in the room to see and do the "jedi mind 
>trick" and then they stayed to check out the SIG stuff. So next 
>year? We do an all out sponsored session. Thanks to our numbers -- 
>and the percentage increase over last year -- we're going to look 
>like "wow, ok! they figured out how to make this accessibility thing 
>work!" So I imagine that there will be no argument about our getting 
>another session like this for next year and maybe even make it a 
>little slicker.
>
>
>Mark and Stephanie from AbleGamers rocked -- they helped pass out 
>tons of our session fliers (they were combing the expo and helped me 
>out a ton because I could hardly move and this undoubtedly helped 
>with getting even more people in the room) and brought their 
>enthusiasm and passion for helping the disabled gamer community! 
>Without them I don't think I would have survived the show this year 
>-- all three of us have our own disabilities and I think we did a 
>pretty good job helping each other stay alive! :)
>
>
>Reid and Eelke -- Amazing as usual. Reid found a SUPER place to 
>print and burn the DVDs and they looked great and so professional! 
>And Eelke's new Blind Hero is something to behold. That haptic glove 
>-- awesome! Reid's poster looked awesome -- I'll let him talk about 
>his poster session in another email! And thanks again, Eelke for 
>bringing all your equipment!
>
>
>Eitan -- again, always steals the spotlight with his wiimote music 
>game -- I'm so glad you could join us!
>
>
>Barrie, Dimitris -- you were with us in spirit as we showed "Game 
>Over" and all of the cool controllers -- and we passed out your 
>cards and the leftover FuturePlay fliers! :)
>
>
>All -- Wow, all I can say is that this SIG really rocks -- we 
>finally did it! We had a great show at GDC and with funding that we 
>are getting sorted out...I'm on cloud 9. What a great achievement 
>for all of us! This IS going to be our year! We have tons of 
>developers asking us where they should start with accessibility (ie, 
>which groups are asking for what in which game? Sure, the numbers 
>and financial stuff will always be there but what a great feeling 
>that now we are in a position to start talking directly to CEOs to 
>help them make their first steps toward adding in even just ONE 
>accessibility feature in future games.
>
>So, hey, let's pat ourselves on the backs for a show well done -- 
>sure we could have all felt a little better but that's how it goes 
>sometimes. It was nice to know that we all had each other's backs 
>and the passion for game accessibility was showing through and 
>through!
>
>Well done, everyone -- and everyone includes everyone who added to 
>the DVD, helped with fliers, presenters, and just all of you who 
>gave us good thoughts all week! :)
>
>Ok...need to rest a little now. But I had to give the post mort to 
>the SIG. I'm working on a posting about how much better this GDC was 
>for game accessibility to be published on ablegamers too. It was a 
>long year between this year's GDC and last year's but we've learned 
>a lot and we keep fighting the good fight!
>
>Michelle
>
>
>_______________________________________________
>games_access mailing list
>games_access at igda.org
>http://seven.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/games_access
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From jbannick at 7128.com  Wed Feb 27 05:11:57 2008
From: jbannick at 7128.com (John Bannick)
Date: Wed, 27 Feb 2008 05:11:57 -0500
Subject: [games_access] GDC 2008 Debrief
Message-ID: <6.1.0.6.2.20080227051126.01ddc5d8@enigami.com>

You guys rock!



From barrie.ellis at oneswitch.org.uk  Wed Feb 27 14:52:56 2008
From: barrie.ellis at oneswitch.org.uk (Barrie Ellis)
Date: Wed, 27 Feb 2008 19:52:56 -0000
Subject: [games_access] Wii one-handed use with Nunchuk
Message-ID: <037201c8797a$62fa21f0$0202a8c0@oneswitch>

Found this via Ben Heck's site:

http://rmculy.iweb.bsu.edu/web/

Barrie

p.s. - Brilliant news all re. GDC - good on you all.
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From jbannick at 7128.com  Wed Feb 27 17:06:15 2008
From: jbannick at 7128.com (John Bannick)
Date: Wed, 27 Feb 2008 17:06:15 -0500
Subject: [games_access] The ALERT Project is Finally Out
Message-ID: <6.1.0.6.2.20080227170049.01e2c608@enigami.com>

Folks,

Our company just released the Accessible Learning through Entertainment and 
Recreation Tools (ALERT) project.

It's a free on-line service for people searching for free or low-cost 
accessible computer games suitable for learning or rehabilitative environments.

It provides the following:

1. Where to get those accessible games
2. What to look for in selecting those games
3.How to apply those games to learning objectives
4. Who to go to for help

The accessibility accommodations include blindness, low vision, color 
blindness, deafness, motion impairment, and cognitive impairment.

The ALERT project is being publicized to school psychologists, special 
education teachers, geriatric care managers, the early stage Alzheimer's 
community, and the brain training market.  Hopefully it'll get some 
accessible games into the hands of people who can use them.

And yes, the free ALERT Game Book that is part of the project is indeed 
very similar to the one I sent to Thomas for the GDC DVD.  However, the 
text in this ALERT Game Book is focused on educators and caregivers rather 
than developers.

BTW. Some of you may know that it was a school psychologist's request for 
information on this site that prompted the ALERT project.

If anyone here knows an educator or caregiver who might want to use 
accessible computer games for their work, its a good resource, totally 
free, and doesn't ask for an email address or require registration.

The ALERT project is at www.7128.com

(And I am soooo glad that's finally done. So I can get back to actually 
coding.)

John Bannick
CTO
7-128 Software



From hinn at uiuc.edu  Wed Feb 27 17:24:08 2008
From: hinn at uiuc.edu (d. michelle hinn)
Date: Wed, 27 Feb 2008 14:24:08 -0800
Subject: [games_access] The ALERT Project is Finally Out
In-Reply-To: <6.1.0.6.2.20080227170049.01e2c608@enigami.com>
References: <6.1.0.6.2.20080227170049.01e2c608@enigami.com>
Message-ID: <p0623090cc3eb90cb0f89@[130.126.29.86]>

John -- this is great! I know a lot of teachers in Illinois who will 
benefit from this and I am about to speak to an audience of special 
education teachers in the state next week about gaming and special 
education so this is fantastic timing!

Also, the American Educational Research Association meeting is coming 
up soon and I will see if some colleagues will add this to their 
talks on technology and education. We should talk about putting in a 
proposal for that conference for next year. There are also a few 
other education conferences I know about who would be very interested 
in this. I've spoken at these conferences before -- they are very 
different than gaming conferences but this is exactly the audience 
for this.

I also know a lot of folks who are involved with special education at 
the US national level -- would you be interested in a co 7-128/SIG 
press release that went to those folks in particular? I have a whole 
database full of state contacts for the US as well as the UK. If so, 
let me know and we'll work out the details. I'm always happy to help 
out the education folks -- they have had budget hit after budget hit 
and a free resource like ALERT will be GREATLY appreciated. So they 
need to hear about this! I'd be glad to help out in this way.

I'm sure that Lynn (on this list) will be thrilled when she reads 
your announcement as well!

Michelle

>Folks,
>
>Our company just released the Accessible Learning through 
>Entertainment and Recreation Tools (ALERT) project.
>
>It's a free on-line service for people searching for free or 
>low-cost accessible computer games suitable for learning or 
>rehabilitative environments.
>
>It provides the following:
>
>1. Where to get those accessible games
>2. What to look for in selecting those games
>3.How to apply those games to learning objectives
>4. Who to go to for help
>
>The accessibility accommodations include blindness, low vision, 
>color blindness, deafness, motion impairment, and cognitive 
>impairment.
>
>The ALERT project is being publicized to school psychologists, 
>special education teachers, geriatric care managers, the early stage 
>Alzheimer's community, and the brain training market.  Hopefully 
>it'll get some accessible games into the hands of people who can use 
>them.
>
>And yes, the free ALERT Game Book that is part of the project is 
>indeed very similar to the one I sent to Thomas for the GDC DVD. 
>However, the text in this ALERT Game Book is focused on educators 
>and caregivers rather than developers.
>
>BTW. Some of you may know that it was a school psychologist's 
>request for information on this site that prompted the ALERT project.
>
>If anyone here knows an educator or caregiver who might want to use 
>accessible computer games for their work, its a good resource, 
>totally free, and doesn't ask for an email address or require 
>registration.
>
>The ALERT project is at www.7128.com
>
>(And I am soooo glad that's finally done. So I can get back to 
>actually coding.)
>
>John Bannick
>CTO
>7-128 Software
>
>_______________________________________________
>games_access mailing list
>games_access at igda.org
>http://seven.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/games_access



From ioo at ablegamers.com  Wed Feb 27 22:47:51 2008
From: ioo at ablegamers.com (Ioo)
Date: Wed, 27 Feb 2008 22:47:51 -0500
Subject: [games_access] Michelle Hinn Recaps GDC @ AbleGamers.com
In-Reply-To: <6.1.0.6.2.20080227170049.01e2c608@enigami.com>
References: <6.1.0.6.2.20080227170049.01e2c608@enigami.com>
Message-ID: <47C62EE7.4030805@ablegamers.com>

Just wanted to share, it is a good one... Nothing that you have not 
heard I am sure, but enjoy.

http://ablegamers.com/index.php/Disabled-Gamers-News/Michelle-Hinn-GDC-Recap.html

.mark
AbleGamers.com




From hinn at uiuc.edu  Thu Feb 28 05:15:35 2008
From: hinn at uiuc.edu (d. michelle hinn)
Date: Thu, 28 Feb 2008 04:15:35 -0600
Subject: [games_access] Michelle Hinn Recaps GDC @ AbleGamers.com
In-Reply-To: <47C62EE7.4030805@ablegamers.com>
References: <6.1.0.6.2.20080227170049.01e2c608@enigami.com>
	<47C62EE7.4030805@ablegamers.com>
Message-ID: <p06230918c3ec32ca0755@[130.126.29.86]>

Wow -- thanks Mark! My first real media article -- I've never been a 
"reporter" before! Very cool! I have a couple other pieces in the 
works but I knew that I had to get this one out as soon as I could 
after I debriefed everyone on the overall GDC experience this year.

I loved the graphic with the 2 people next to many...although...not 
that many were women...but then again...that was pretty close to the 
actual gender breakdown of attendees for our session. :)

GDC on a whole, though, has gotten a lot more gender diverse...a long 
way to go still but it's good to see more and more women attending 
each year.

I definitely urge everyone who has some opinion pieces or reviews of 
games, hardware, etc to consider AbleGamers as a destination point 
for your articles. This is different than blog postings -- more in 
the line of a full scale media piece that you would see in Gamasutra 
or CNET and such. Then we can send out press releases when AG wants a 
major article to hit the press to try and get it picked up by the AP 
and then reprinted in other news media citing AbleGamers as the 
original source (every bit counts!). And it's nice to have a e-zine 
about game accessibility written for gamers with disabilities.

Mark was telling me at GDC that he'd like to get some RSS feeds from 
the SIG blog and Barrie's blog (with his permission, of course) to 
help add even more content (with links back to the original source, 
of course!). And he's always looking for writers so if you or any of 
your students want to build up your writing resume please do email 
him at ioo at ablegamers.com and I'm sure he will greatly appreciate the 
help! And for gaming students, it never hurts to have some articles 
on the ol' resume to show the different facets of involvement in the 
game industry.

Sure, there are more established gaming e-journals and e-mags (not to 
mention print journal and mags) out there but I see AbleGamers as 
"our" (as in everyone fighting the good fight for game accessibility) 
journal so let's help it grow! And there's nothing keeping you from 
writing articles for multiple sources and audiences -- obviously 
anything for AbleGamers is going to be focused on the disabled gaming 
community where as a version for Gamasutra is going to be focused 
more on connecting with developers. And the more press our issues and 
projects get, the better!

Thanks again, Mark, for everything you've been doing to help out 
gamers with disabilities through your site. I'm proud to have you as 
a member of the SIG! Hell, I'm proud of all of us right now! Go 
GA-SIG and all of the projects SIG members are involved with whether 
it's an official SIG project or a solo effort!!! It's all good! :)

Michelle


>Just wanted to share, it is a good one... Nothing that you have not 
>heard I am sure, but enjoy.
>
>http://ablegamers.com/index.php/Disabled-Gamers-News/Michelle-Hinn-GDC-Recap.html
>
>.mark
>AbleGamers.com
>
>
>_______________________________________________
>games_access mailing list
>games_access at igda.org
>http://seven.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/games_access



From jbannick at 7128.com  Thu Feb 28 05:25:44 2008
From: jbannick at 7128.com (John Bannick)
Date: Thu, 28 Feb 2008 05:25:44 -0500
Subject: [games_access] The ALERT Project is Finally Out
Message-ID: <6.1.0.6.2.20080228045620.01d8b430@enigami.com>

Michelle,

Glad you like it.

I'll talk with our Marketing folks today and tomorrow (one is out until 
Fri) about a joint SIG/7-128 press release to folks in special education at 
the US and UK national level.

And, of course, please do mention ALERT at your special ed talk in Illinois 
next week.
It's a good example of the SIG's growing influence on the games industry.
Is your talk to NASET?

If you would suggest ALERT to your friends in AERA that would be helpful.

I'm going to point our Marketing people at the AERA conference down in NYC 
next month.
But I suspect it's too late to do much about that, other than what you tell 
your colleagues about ALERT.

I hadn't considered educational conferences, but as a geek, I'm pretty much 
focused on coding.
What do you suggest? Is there anything we could do as a SIG that would 
further accessible games in education?
And I mean that across multiple game companies, not just our outfit.

In any event, I'll ping you Friday re the SIG/7-128 press release.
It does sound like an opportunity to do some good.

Thanks,

John 



From thomas at pininteractive.com  Thu Feb 28 05:44:06 2008
From: thomas at pininteractive.com (Thomas Westin)
Date: Thu, 28 Feb 2008 11:44:06 +0100
Subject: [games_access] GDC 2008 Debrief
In-Reply-To: <p06230901c3ea5edf5c4b@[130.126.29.86]>
References: <20080223182038.BCC62420@expms2.cites.uiuc.edu>
	<p06230901c3ea5edf5c4b@[130.126.29.86]>
Message-ID: <537322A7-51D3-4422-9E8D-45E6B2594895@pininteractive.com>

Fantastic news,

I take back my previous doubts about reaching out at GDC.

Very nice to hear you guys got through all the noise, well done!

/Thomas



On 27 feb 2008, at 02.29, d. michelle hinn wrote:

> Hi All,
>
> I don't have a lot of energy at the moment but I wanted to let  
> everyone know how well things went at this year's GDC! We/I  
> definitely missed having the whole gang around this year (or as much  
> of the gang as we have had before) but it's definitely not the only  
> conference and, in fact, some of the new smaller GDCs are definitely  
> worth looking into -- they have them all of the world right now! So  
> we might start sponsoring some SIG members to go to conferences that  
> are just a train ride away (ie, the european conferences). More on  
> that later when I figure out when the next batch of deadlines are!
>
> So our big session was Accessibility Arcade: Or How to Do the Jedi  
> Mind Trick, which was repeated twice unlike the 3 times from last  
> year. So some overall comments:
>
> A/V Stuff: Of course the annual "where are the TVs?" "will they be  
> arriving -- during or after our session" kinds of things came up but  
> thanks to the conference associates that got worked out relatively  
> quickly and I didn't have to run all over the expo looking for the  
> GES (A/V) contractors. The funny thing was this year they set them  
> up in the room next door so it wasn't a big deal once they knew  
> where to move them to -- and it wasn't very far to move them! But  
> honestly? That was the worst thing that happened and it was resolved  
> in time for our session -- sure I did have a few moments of panic  
> remembering last year but with everything getting solved and  
> everyone just going ahead and setting up their stations and not  
> waiting for the TVs before starting helped a lot. So that's not much  
> of a "worst part," eh? :D Yay!
>
> Attendees: This blew me away...and I'm know it blew away Eelke and  
> Reid too who have seen way too many empty rooms we've presented to.  
> It's always hard to gauge exact numbers with a session like "arcade"  
> that allows people to come in late, wander in and out, etc. But  
> basically...we went from having an average of 2 attendees...to about  
> 60-70 (The CAs gave me a better count since they were watching the  
> traffic moving in and out) for the 4pm Wednesday session and about  
> 30 for the 9am Thursday session (not bad for early morning!!). And  
> they weren't just our usual fans (yes, the cool people from "games  
> for grandma and grandpa" were there -- cool as ever and always  
> welcome!). We had people from Sony, Microsoft (and not one of my  
> friends -- a producer of a new racing game who could use Barrie's  
> help actually!), EA, and much more. Yes...the big leagues! And yes,  
> I cried after the first session -- I couldn't believe that the  
> months put into this, negotiating with Natural Point and Emotive and  
> all the individually sent press releases helped get people in the  
> room. It was just a half a year worth of stuff and to see people  
> there who were interested and involved...wow...you really can't ask  
> for much more!
>
> Presenters:
>
> Emotiv and Natural Point kept their deal and brought their stuff  
> (although I was a wee bit scared when they said they'd show up five  
> minutes ahead of the session -- and after all I went through getting  
> them single session passes -- yes, I invoked my crying spell on  
> them...it wasn't hard given that I was in a pain cycle and felt like  
> collapsing. But I had my game face on! :) And having them come to  
> the session? Golden. So that gamble I made to ask them to join us  
> paid off -- it got people in the room to see and do the "jedi mind  
> trick" and then they stayed to check out the SIG stuff. So next  
> year? We do an all out sponsored session. Thanks to our numbers --  
> and the percentage increase over last year -- we're going to look  
> like "wow, ok! they figured out how to make this accessibility thing  
> work!" So I imagine that there will be no argument about our getting  
> another session like this for next year and maybe even make it a  
> little slicker.
>
> Mark and Stephanie from AbleGamers rocked -- they helped pass out  
> tons of our session fliers (they were combing the expo and helped me  
> out a ton because I could hardly move and this undoubtedly helped  
> with getting even more people in the room) and brought their  
> enthusiasm and passion for helping the disabled gamer community!  
> Without them I don't think I would have survived the show this year  
> -- all three of us have our own disabilities and I think we did a  
> pretty good job helping each other stay alive! :)
>
> Reid and Eelke -- Amazing as usual. Reid found a SUPER place to  
> print and burn the DVDs and they looked great and so professional!  
> And Eelke's new Blind Hero is something to behold. That haptic glove  
> -- awesome! Reid's poster looked awesome -- I'll let him talk about  
> his poster session in another email! And thanks again, Eelke for  
> bringing all your equipment!
>
> Eitan -- again, always steals the spotlight with his wiimote music  
> game -- I'm so glad you could join us!
>
> Barrie, Dimitris -- you were with us in spirit as we showed "Game  
> Over" and all of the cool controllers -- and we passed out your  
> cards and the leftover FuturePlay fliers! :)
>
> All -- Wow, all I can say is that this SIG really rocks -- we  
> finally did it! We had a great show at GDC and with funding that we  
> are getting sorted out...I'm on cloud 9. What a great achievement  
> for all of us! This IS going to be our year! We have tons of  
> developers asking us where they should start with accessibility (ie,  
> which groups are asking for what in which game? Sure, the numbers  
> and financial stuff will always be there but what a great feeling  
> that now we are in a position to start talking directly to CEOs to  
> help them make their first steps toward adding in even just ONE  
> accessibility feature in future games.
>
> So, hey, let's pat ourselves on the backs for a show well done --  
> sure we could have all felt a little better but that's how it goes  
> sometimes. It was nice to know that we all had each other's backs  
> and the passion for game accessibility was showing through and  
> through!
>
> Well done, everyone -- and everyone includes everyone who added to  
> the DVD, helped with fliers, presenters, and just all of you who  
> gave us good thoughts all week! :)
>
> Ok...need to rest a little now. But I had to give the post mort to  
> the SIG. I'm working on a posting about how much better this GDC was  
> for game accessibility to be published on ablegamers too. It was a  
> long year between this year's GDC and last year's but we've learned  
> a lot and we keep fighting the good fight!
>
> Michelle
>
> _______________________________________________
> games_access mailing list
> games_access at igda.org
> http://seven.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/games_access

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From hinn at uiuc.edu  Thu Feb 28 06:14:09 2008
From: hinn at uiuc.edu (d. michelle hinn)
Date: Thu, 28 Feb 2008 05:14:09 -0600
Subject: [games_access] GDC 2008 Debrief
In-Reply-To: <537322A7-51D3-4422-9E8D-45E6B2594895@pininteractive.com>
References: <20080223182038.BCC62420@expms2.cites.uiuc.edu>
	<p06230901c3ea5edf5c4b@[130.126.29.86]>
	<537322A7-51D3-4422-9E8D-45E6B2594895@pininteractive.com>
Message-ID: <p0623091ac3ec426ab0d6@[130.126.29.86]>

Thanks Thomas! I wish that you had been able to come this year -- 
although you were with us in spirit, especially with all your help 
with the DVD -- thanks again for all that! It was so exciting and we 
had people asking us for more info at receptions, introducing us to 
people they'd told about all the cool stuff we showed. I think we've 
finally landed on the right type of session for us -- get a couple 
corporate sponsors doing some "out there" cool stuff that people are 
dying to see that is also accessible and then block all the exits so 
they experience the rest of our stuff. :D

But seriously, letting people walk around, seeing them call their 
friends to get to the room too is really a low key but very good way 
for us to present "game accessibility." It's literally a page pulled 
from the constructivist learning texts -- learning by doing. By 
experiencing the different controllers, game mods, etc things sink in 
much more than just hearing us talk about it. This seems to be our 
best way of getting out our message at this particular conference.

Personally it was great being able to see all the attendees make the 
rounds to the different stations and see them talking to Reid, Eelke, 
Eitan, Mark, Stephanie and me about all of our projects and build the 
excitement about game accessibility! Everyone seemed so engaged in 
what we had going on.

GDC is definitely not the only show we should aim for -- and there 
are more and more GDCs all over the globe now. Sure, there will 
always be the mother ship GDC (San Fran) but it's nice to see smaller 
versions to give GDC back it's nice closeknit feel. But as John 
announced the ALERT system aimed at educators, I immediately thought 
about education conferences that would really benefit from learning 
about this incredible (and free!) resource to help their students. So 
let's keep thinking about other avenues too!

I admit -- I was nervous as could be about this year but we did it! 
We finally figured out what the best way to reach out the the GDC 
audience is. Took us a few years...but I really get the feeling that 
the industry -- especially those in the crashing US economy -- is 
getting very appreciative of hearing about anything that can bring 
them a larger audience. The iron is hot...time to strike! :)

Michelle

>Fantastic news,
>
>I take back my previous doubts about reaching out at GDC.
>
>Very nice to hear you guys got through all the noise, well done!
>
>/Thomas
>
>
>
>On 27 feb 2008, at 02.29, d. michelle hinn wrote:
>
>>Hi All,
>>
>>I don't have a lot of energy at the moment but I wanted to let 
>>everyone know how well things went at this year's GDC! We/I 
>>definitely missed having the whole gang around this year (or as 
>>much of the gang as we have had before) but it's definitely not the 
>>only conference and, in fact, some of the new smaller GDCs are 
>>definitely worth looking into -- they have them all of the world 
>>right now! So we might start sponsoring some SIG members to go to 
>>conferences that are just a train ride away (ie, the european 
>>conferences). More on that later when I figure out when the next 
>>batch of deadlines are!
>>
>>So our big session was Accessibility Arcade: Or How to Do the Jedi 
>>Mind Trick, which was repeated twice unlike the 3 times from last 
>>year. So some overall comments:
>>
>>A/V Stuff: Of course the annual "where are the TVs?" "will they be 
>>arriving -- during or after our session" kinds of things came up 
>>but thanks to the conference associates that got worked out 
>>relatively quickly and I didn't have to run all over the expo 
>>looking for the GES (A/V) contractors. The funny thing was this 
>>year they set them up in the room next door so it wasn't a big deal 
>>once they knew where to move them to -- and it wasn't very far to 
>>move them! But honestly? That was the worst thing that happened and 
>>it was resolved in time for our session -- sure I did have a few 
>>moments of panic remembering last year but with everything getting 
>>solved and everyone just going ahead and setting up their stations 
>>and not waiting for the TVs before starting helped a lot. So that's 
>>not much of a "worst part," eh? :D Yay!
>>
>>Attendees: This blew me away...and I'm know it blew away Eelke and 
>>Reid too who have seen way too many empty rooms we've presented to. 
>>It's always hard to gauge exact numbers with a session like 
>>"arcade" that allows people to come in late, wander in and out, 
>>etc. But basically...we went from having an average of 2 
>>attendees...to about 60-70 (The CAs gave me a better count since 
>>they were watching the traffic moving in and out) for the 4pm 
>>Wednesday session and about 30 for the 9am Thursday session (not 
>>bad for early morning!!). And they weren't just our usual fans 
>>(yes, the cool people from "games for grandma and grandpa" were 
>>there -- cool as ever and always welcome!). We had people from 
>>Sony, Microsoft (and not one of my friends -- a producer of a new 
>>racing game who could use Barrie's help actually!), EA, and much 
>>more. Yes...the big leagues! And yes, I cried after the first 
>>session -- I couldn't believe that the months put into this, 
>>negotiating with Natural Point and Emotive and all the individually 
>>sent press releases helped get people in the room. It was just a 
>>half a year worth of stuff and to see people there who were 
>>interested and involved...wow...you really can't ask for much more!
>>
>>Presenters:
>>
>>Emotiv and Natural Point kept their deal and brought their stuff 
>>(although I was a wee bit scared when they said they'd show up five 
>>minutes ahead of the session -- and after all I went through 
>>getting them single session passes -- yes, I invoked my crying 
>>spell on them...it wasn't hard given that I was in a pain cycle and 
>>felt like collapsing. But I had my game face on! :) And having them 
>>come to the session? Golden. So that gamble I made to ask them to 
>>join us paid off -- it got people in the room to see and do the 
>>"jedi mind trick" and then they stayed to check out the SIG stuff. 
>>So next year? We do an all out sponsored session. Thanks to our 
>>numbers -- and the percentage increase over last year -- we're 
>>going to look like "wow, ok! they figured out how to make this 
>>accessibility thing work!" So I imagine that there will be no 
>>argument about our getting another session like this for next year 
>>and maybe even make it a little slicker.
>>
>>Mark and Stephanie from AbleGamers rocked -- they helped pass out 
>>tons of our session fliers (they were combing the expo and helped 
>>me out a ton because I could hardly move and this undoubtedly 
>>helped with getting even more people in the room) and brought their 
>>enthusiasm and passion for helping the disabled gamer community! 
>>Without them I don't think I would have survived the show this year 
>>-- all three of us have our own disabilities and I think we did a 
>>pretty good job helping each other stay alive! :)
>>
>>Reid and Eelke -- Amazing as usual. Reid found a SUPER place to 
>>print and burn the DVDs and they looked great and so professional! 
>>And Eelke's new Blind Hero is something to behold. That haptic 
>>glove -- awesome! Reid's poster looked awesome -- I'll let him talk 
>>about his poster session in another email! And thanks again, Eelke 
>>for bringing all your equipment!
>>
>>Eitan -- again, always steals the spotlight with his wiimote music 
>>game -- I'm so glad you could join us!
>>
>>Barrie, Dimitris -- you were with us in spirit as we showed "Game 
>>Over" and all of the cool controllers -- and we passed out your 
>>cards and the leftover FuturePlay fliers! :)
>>
>>All -- Wow, all I can say is that this SIG really rocks -- we 
>>finally did it! We had a great show at GDC and with funding that we 
>>are getting sorted out...I'm on cloud 9. What a great achievement 
>>for all of us! This IS going to be our year! We have tons of 
>>developers asking us where they should start with accessibility 
>>(ie, which groups are asking for what in which game? Sure, the 
>>numbers and financial stuff will always be there but what a great 
>>feeling that now we are in a position to start talking directly to 
>>CEOs to help them make their first steps toward adding in even just 
>>ONE accessibility feature in future games.
>>
>>So, hey, let's pat ourselves on the backs for a show well done -- 
>>sure we could have all felt a little better but that's how it goes 
>>sometimes. It was nice to know that we all had each other's backs 
>>and the passion for game accessibility was showing through and 
>>through!
>>
>>Well done, everyone -- and everyone includes everyone who added to 
>>the DVD, helped with fliers, presenters, and just all of you who 
>>gave us good thoughts all week! :)
>>
>>Ok...need to rest a little now. But I had to give the post mort to 
>>the SIG. I'm working on a posting about how much better this GDC 
>>was for game accessibility to be published on ablegamers too. It 
>>was a long year between this year's GDC and last year's but we've 
>>learned a lot and we keep fighting the good fight!
>>
>>Michelle
>>
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>><http://seven.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/games_access>http://seven.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/games_access
>>
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>
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From hinn at uiuc.edu  Thu Feb 28 06:14:09 2008
From: hinn at uiuc.edu (d. michelle hinn)
Date: Thu, 28 Feb 2008 05:14:09 -0600
Subject: [games_access] GDC 2008 Debrief
In-Reply-To: <537322A7-51D3-4422-9E8D-45E6B2594895@pininteractive.com>
References: <20080223182038.BCC62420@expms2.cites.uiuc.edu>
	<p06230901c3ea5edf5c4b@[130.126.29.86]>
	<537322A7-51D3-4422-9E8D-45E6B2594895@pininteractive.com>
Message-ID: <p0623091ac3ec426ab0d6@[130.126.29.86]>

Thanks Thomas! I wish that you had been able to come this year -- 
although you were with us in spirit, especially with all your help 
with the DVD -- thanks again for all that! It was so exciting and we 
had people asking us for more info at receptions, introducing us to 
people they'd told about all the cool stuff we showed. I think we've 
finally landed on the right type of session for us -- get a couple 
corporate sponsors doing some "out there" cool stuff that people are 
dying to see that is also accessible and then block all the exits so 
they experience the rest of our stuff. :D

But seriously, letting people walk around, seeing them call their 
friends to get to the room too is really a low key but very good way 
for us to present "game accessibility." It's literally a page pulled 
from the constructivist learning texts -- learning by doing. By 
experiencing the different controllers, game mods, etc things sink in 
much more than just hearing us talk about it. This seems to be our 
best way of getting out our message at this particular conference.

Personally it was great being able to see all the attendees make the 
rounds to the different stations and see them talking to Reid, Eelke, 
Eitan, Mark, Stephanie and me about all of our projects and build the 
excitement about game accessibility! Everyone seemed so engaged in 
what we had going on.

GDC is definitely not the only show we should aim for -- and there 
are more and more GDCs all over the globe now. Sure, there will 
always be the mother ship GDC (San Fran) but it's nice to see smaller 
versions to give GDC back it's nice closeknit feel. But as John 
announced the ALERT system aimed at educators, I immediately thought 
about education conferences that would really benefit from learning 
about this incredible (and free!) resource to help their students. So 
let's keep thinking about other avenues too!

I admit -- I was nervous as could be about this year but we did it! 
We finally figured out what the best way to reach out the the GDC 
audience is. Took us a few years...but I really get the feeling that 
the industry -- especially those in the crashing US economy -- is 
getting very appreciative of hearing about anything that can bring 
them a larger audience. The iron is hot...time to strike! :)

Michelle

>Fantastic news,
>
>I take back my previous doubts about reaching out at GDC.
>
>Very nice to hear you guys got through all the noise, well done!
>
>/Thomas
>
>
>
>On 27 feb 2008, at 02.29, d. michelle hinn wrote:
>
>>Hi All,
>>
>>I don't have a lot of energy at the moment but I wanted to let 
>>everyone know how well things went at this year's GDC! We/I 
>>definitely missed having the whole gang around this year (or as 
>>much of the gang as we have had before) but it's definitely not the 
>>only conference and, in fact, some of the new smaller GDCs are 
>>definitely worth looking into -- they have them all of the world 
>>right now! So we might start sponsoring some SIG members to go to 
>>conferences that are just a train ride away (ie, the european 
>>conferences). More on that later when I figure out when the next 
>>batch of deadlines are!
>>
>>So our big session was Accessibility Arcade: Or How to Do the Jedi 
>>Mind Trick, which was repeated twice unlike the 3 times from last 
>>year. So some overall comments:
>>
>>A/V Stuff: Of course the annual "where are the TVs?" "will they be 
>>arriving -- during or after our session" kinds of things came up 
>>but thanks to the conference associates that got worked out 
>>relatively quickly and I didn't have to run all over the expo 
>>looking for the GES (A/V) contractors. The funny thing was this 
>>year they set them up in the room next door so it wasn't a big deal 
>>once they knew where to move them to -- and it wasn't very far to 
>>move them! But honestly? That was the worst thing that happened and 
>>it was resolved in time for our session -- sure I did have a few 
>>moments of panic remembering last year but with everything getting 
>>solved and everyone just going ahead and setting up their stations 
>>and not waiting for the TVs before starting helped a lot. So that's 
>>not much of a "worst part," eh? :D Yay!
>>
>>Attendees: This blew me away...and I'm know it blew away Eelke and 
>>Reid too who have seen way too many empty rooms we've presented to. 
>>It's always hard to gauge exact numbers with a session like 
>>"arcade" that allows people to come in late, wander in and out, 
>>etc. But basically...we went from having an average of 2 
>>attendees...to about 60-70 (The CAs gave me a better count since 
>>they were watching the traffic moving in and out) for the 4pm 
>>Wednesday session and about 30 for the 9am Thursday session (not 
>>bad for early morning!!). And they weren't just our usual fans 
>>(yes, the cool people from "games for grandma and grandpa" were 
>>there -- cool as ever and always welcome!). We had people from 
>>Sony, Microsoft (and not one of my friends -- a producer of a new 
>>racing game who could use Barrie's help actually!), EA, and much 
>>more. Yes...the big leagues! And yes, I cried after the first 
>>session -- I couldn't believe that the months put into this, 
>>negotiating with Natural Point and Emotive and all the individually 
>>sent press releases helped get people in the room. It was just a 
>>half a year worth of stuff and to see people there who were 
>>interested and involved...wow...you really can't ask for much more!
>>
>>Presenters:
>>
>>Emotiv and Natural Point kept their deal and brought their stuff 
>>(although I was a wee bit scared when they said they'd show up five 
>>minutes ahead of the session -- and after all I went through 
>>getting them single session passes -- yes, I invoked my crying 
>>spell on them...it wasn't hard given that I was in a pain cycle and 
>>felt like collapsing. But I had my game face on! :) And having them 
>>come to the session? Golden. So that gamble I made to ask them to 
>>join us paid off -- it got people in the room to see and do the 
>>"jedi mind trick" and then they stayed to check out the SIG stuff. 
>>So next year? We do an all out sponsored session. Thanks to our 
>>numbers -- and the percentage increase over last year -- we're 
>>going to look like "wow, ok! they figured out how to make this 
>>accessibility thing work!" So I imagine that there will be no 
>>argument about our getting another session like this for next year 
>>and maybe even make it a little slicker.
>>
>>Mark and Stephanie from AbleGamers rocked -- they helped pass out 
>>tons of our session fliers (they were combing the expo and helped 
>>me out a ton because I could hardly move and this undoubtedly 
>>helped with getting even more people in the room) and brought their 
>>enthusiasm and passion for helping the disabled gamer community! 
>>Without them I don't think I would have survived the show this year 
>>-- all three of us have our own disabilities and I think we did a 
>>pretty good job helping each other stay alive! :)
>>
>>Reid and Eelke -- Amazing as usual. Reid found a SUPER place to 
>>print and burn the DVDs and they looked great and so professional! 
>>And Eelke's new Blind Hero is something to behold. That haptic 
>>glove -- awesome! Reid's poster looked awesome -- I'll let him talk 
>>about his poster session in another email! And thanks again, Eelke 
>>for bringing all your equipment!
>>
>>Eitan -- again, always steals the spotlight with his wiimote music 
>>game -- I'm so glad you could join us!
>>
>>Barrie, Dimitris -- you were with us in spirit as we showed "Game 
>>Over" and all of the cool controllers -- and we passed out your 
>>cards and the leftover FuturePlay fliers! :)
>>
>>All -- Wow, all I can say is that this SIG really rocks -- we 
>>finally did it! We had a great show at GDC and with funding that we 
>>are getting sorted out...I'm on cloud 9. What a great achievement 
>>for all of us! This IS going to be our year! We have tons of 
>>developers asking us where they should start with accessibility 
>>(ie, which groups are asking for what in which game? Sure, the 
>>numbers and financial stuff will always be there but what a great 
>>feeling that now we are in a position to start talking directly to 
>>CEOs to help them make their first steps toward adding in even just 
>>ONE accessibility feature in future games.
>>
>>So, hey, let's pat ourselves on the backs for a show well done -- 
>>sure we could have all felt a little better but that's how it goes 
>>sometimes. It was nice to know that we all had each other's backs 
>>and the passion for game accessibility was showing through and 
>>through!
>>
>>Well done, everyone -- and everyone includes everyone who added to 
>>the DVD, helped with fliers, presenters, and just all of you who 
>>gave us good thoughts all week! :)
>>
>>Ok...need to rest a little now. But I had to give the post mort to 
>>the SIG. I'm working on a posting about how much better this GDC 
>>was for game accessibility to be published on ablegamers too. It 
>>was a long year between this year's GDC and last year's but we've 
>>learned a lot and we keep fighting the good fight!
>>
>>Michelle
>>
>>_______________________________________________
>>games_access mailing list
>><mailto:games_access at igda.org>games_access at igda.org
>><http://seven.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/games_access>http://seven.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/games_access
>>
>
>
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From eelke.folmer at gmail.com  Thu Feb 28 16:08:24 2008
From: eelke.folmer at gmail.com (Eelke Folmer)
Date: Thu, 28 Feb 2008 13:08:24 -0800
Subject: [games_access] one switch bejewelled
Message-ID: <836db6300802281308p62c68dccx4f451de868c65d48@mail.gmail.com>

hi,

My student Tyler made a simple one switch bejewelled with two
different interaction mechanisms (scan & select / rotate & extend),
http://www.eelke.com/files/GEM.exe which you can download here. If
you'd like to help us with some research on which mechanism is better
please play the game using both mechanisms for a bit and mail us back
the file: statisticOutput.txt (please mail to oneswitch at eelke.com).

Disclaimer: this is not a fully fledged game since we are only
interested in finding out which mechanism works best.

Thanks Eelke


-- 
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Eelke Folmer                           Assistant Professor
Department of CS&E/171
University of Nevada              Reno, Nevada 89557
Game interaction design        www.helpyouplay.com
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