From thomas at pininteractive.com  Wed Jan  2 04:04:34 2008
From: thomas at pininteractive.com (Thomas Westin)
Date: Wed, 2 Jan 2008 10:04:34 +0100
Subject: [games_access] Fwd: GA-SIG DVD
In-Reply-To: <p06230904c39de65310f1@[130.126.29.37]>
References: <p06230904c39de65310f1@[130.126.29.37]>
Message-ID: <B78CCF17-44E9-4952-B549-7AE287605882@pininteractive.com>

Great, thanks Barrie,

and yes if IGDA could help out somehow with part of the production  
cost it would be really nice;

Since I'm not going there this year:
- the best thing would be if there are some DVD burn service locally  
in S.F who could just download the stuff from our server and burn it.  
I think that would also be the easiest thing for IGDA administration;  
rather than sending money to me somehow for buying DVDs etc in Sweden,  
and then hope for the package to arrive on time in S.F, through  
customs etc.

I will provide the printed DVD labels, optionally the DVD burn service  
can get the EPS file with the label; I guess they would have direct  
printing on the DVD instead of manually attaching labels as I use to do.

/Thomas

On 31 dec 2007, at 01.24, d. michelle hinn wrote:

> Forwarded from Barrie -- bounced for some reason. Thomas -- I'll get  
> back to the question of DVD production costs shortly.
>
> I'm back in (my) town now so I'll be catching up on the latest plus  
> replying to the staggering amount of email in my in box. :)
>
> Michelle
>
>> Hi Thomas,
>>
>> Hope you had a great Christmas. Please feel free to include  
>> anything and everything I've sent before.
>>
>> All the best and have a great 2008!
>>
>> Barrie
>> www.OneSwitch.org.uk
>>
>> ----- Original Message ----- From: "Thomas Westin" <thomas at pininteractive.com 
>> >
>> To: "IGDA Games Accessibility SIG Mailing List" <games_access at igda.org 
>> >
>> Sent: Tuesday, December 25, 2007 9:42 PM
>> Subject: [games_access] GA-SIG CD 2008
>>
>>> Hello
>>>
>>> I'm setting up a FTP account on our blade server with 80 GB  
>>> storage space available
>>>
>>> Those of you who want to contribute content to this year's GA-SIG  
>>> DVD  at Game Developers Conference 2008, please drop me an e-mail  
>>> off list  with "GA-SIG CD" as subject so I easily spot it.
>>>
>>> If you know people off list that would like to contribute too,  
>>> please forward this e-mail.
>>>
>>> It can be games, videos, papers, code, tools or something else  
>>> relevant for game accessibility.
>>>
>>> Please note the time frame; the GDC 08 takes place Feb 18, and  
>>> before that I need to arrange the production of DVDs. I've not  
>>> decided a deadline yet but somewhere by the end of January / early  
>>> February is a realistic guess.
>>>
>>> Thanks,
>>>
>>> /Thomas
>>>
>>> Pin Interactive AB
>>> :: Digital Culture Analysis :: Tools :: Worlds
>>>
>>> +46 (0)706 400 402
>>>
>>> Time zone: GMT+1 , PST+9
>>>
>>> _______________________________________________
>>> 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 Jan  2 11:13:31 2008
From: reid at rbkdesign.com (Reid Kimball)
Date: Wed, 2 Jan 2008 08:13:31 -0800
Subject: [games_access] Fwd: GA-SIG DVD
In-Reply-To: <B78CCF17-44E9-4952-B549-7AE287605882@pininteractive.com>
References: <p06230904c39de65310f1@130.126.29.37>
	<B78CCF17-44E9-4952-B549-7AE287605882@pininteractive.com>
Message-ID: <a6673b8d0801020813q6c18c80bt275e4d2e27d9971b@mail.gmail.com>

I'm in SF, I'll volunteer to get the DVD's printed.

-Reid

On Jan 2, 2008 1:04 AM, Thomas Westin <thomas at pininteractive.com> wrote:
> Great, thanks Barrie,
>
> and yes if IGDA could help out somehow with part of the production
> cost it would be really nice;
>
> Since I'm not going there this year:
> - the best thing would be if there are some DVD burn service locally
> in S.F who could just download the stuff from our server and burn it.
> I think that would also be the easiest thing for IGDA administration;
> rather than sending money to me somehow for buying DVDs etc in Sweden,
> and then hope for the package to arrive on time in S.F, through
> customs etc.
>
> I will provide the printed DVD labels, optionally the DVD burn service
> can get the EPS file with the label; I guess they would have direct
> printing on the DVD instead of manually attaching labels as I use to do.
>
> /Thomas
>
>
> On 31 dec 2007, at 01.24, d. michelle hinn wrote:
>
> > Forwarded from Barrie -- bounced for some reason. Thomas -- I'll get
> > back to the question of DVD production costs shortly.
> >
> > I'm back in (my) town now so I'll be catching up on the latest plus
> > replying to the staggering amount of email in my in box. :)
> >
> > Michelle
> >
> >> Hi Thomas,
> >>
> >> Hope you had a great Christmas. Please feel free to include
> >> anything and everything I've sent before.
> >>
> >> All the best and have a great 2008!
> >>
> >> Barrie
> >> www.OneSwitch.org.uk
> >>
> >> ----- Original Message ----- From: "Thomas Westin" <thomas at pininteractive.com
> >> >
> >> To: "IGDA Games Accessibility SIG Mailing List" <games_access at igda.org
> >> >
> >> Sent: Tuesday, December 25, 2007 9:42 PM
> >> Subject: [games_access] GA-SIG CD 2008
> >>
> >>> Hello
> >>>
> >>> I'm setting up a FTP account on our blade server with 80 GB
> >>> storage space available
> >>>
> >>> Those of you who want to contribute content to this year's GA-SIG
> >>> DVD  at Game Developers Conference 2008, please drop me an e-mail
> >>> off list  with "GA-SIG CD" as subject so I easily spot it.
> >>>
> >>> If you know people off list that would like to contribute too,
> >>> please forward this e-mail.
> >>>
> >>> It can be games, videos, papers, code, tools or something else
> >>> relevant for game accessibility.
> >>>
> >>> Please note the time frame; the GDC 08 takes place Feb 18, and
> >>> before that I need to arrange the production of DVDs. I've not
> >>> decided a deadline yet but somewhere by the end of January / early
> >>> February is a realistic guess.
> >>>
> >>> Thanks,
> >>>
> >>> /Thomas
> >>>
> >>> Pin Interactive AB
> >>> :: Digital Culture Analysis :: Tools :: Worlds
> >>>
> >>> +46 (0)706 400 402
> >>>
> >>> Time zone: GMT+1 , PST+9
> >>>
> >>> _______________________________________________
> >>> 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  Wed Jan  2 14:04:52 2008
From: thomas at pininteractive.com (Thomas Westin)
Date: Wed, 2 Jan 2008 20:04:52 +0100
Subject: [games_access] Fwd: GA-SIG DVD
In-Reply-To: <a6673b8d0801020813q6c18c80bt275e4d2e27d9971b@mail.gmail.com>
References: <p06230904c39de65310f1@130.126.29.37><B78CCF17-44E9-4952-B549-7AE287605882@pininteractive.com>
	<a6673b8d0801020813q6c18c80bt275e4d2e27d9971b@mail.gmail.com>
Message-ID: <610B1686-D261-4265-956E-98AA8ACDD67F@pininteractive.com>

Great Reid! I'll send you the login info and we can agree on some  
deadline for submissions to the server, depending on the time needed  
for the DVD printing.

/Thomas

On 2 jan 2008, at 17.13, Reid Kimball wrote:

> I'm in SF, I'll volunteer to get the DVD's printed.
>
> -Reid
>
> On Jan 2, 2008 1:04 AM, Thomas Westin <thomas at pininteractive.com>  
> wrote:
>> Great, thanks Barrie,
>>
>> and yes if IGDA could help out somehow with part of the production
>> cost it would be really nice;
>>
>> Since I'm not going there this year:
>> - the best thing would be if there are some DVD burn service locally
>> in S.F who could just download the stuff from our server and burn it.
>> I think that would also be the easiest thing for IGDA administration;
>> rather than sending money to me somehow for buying DVDs etc in  
>> Sweden,
>> and then hope for the package to arrive on time in S.F, through
>> customs etc.
>>
>> I will provide the printed DVD labels, optionally the DVD burn  
>> service
>> can get the EPS file with the label; I guess they would have direct
>> printing on the DVD instead of manually attaching labels as I use  
>> to do.
>>
>> /Thomas
>>
>>
>> On 31 dec 2007, at 01.24, d. michelle hinn wrote:
>>
>>> Forwarded from Barrie -- bounced for some reason. Thomas -- I'll get
>>> back to the question of DVD production costs shortly.
>>>
>>> I'm back in (my) town now so I'll be catching up on the latest plus
>>> replying to the staggering amount of email in my in box. :)
>>>
>>> Michelle
>>>
>>>> Hi Thomas,
>>>>
>>>> Hope you had a great Christmas. Please feel free to include
>>>> anything and everything I've sent before.
>>>>
>>>> All the best and have a great 2008!
>>>>
>>>> Barrie
>>>> www.OneSwitch.org.uk
>>>>
>>>> ----- Original Message ----- From: "Thomas Westin" <thomas at pininteractive.com
>>>>>
>>>> To: "IGDA Games Accessibility SIG Mailing List" <games_access at igda.org
>>>>>
>>>> Sent: Tuesday, December 25, 2007 9:42 PM
>>>> Subject: [games_access] GA-SIG CD 2008
>>>>
>>>>> Hello
>>>>>
>>>>> I'm setting up a FTP account on our blade server with 80 GB
>>>>> storage space available
>>>>>
>>>>> Those of you who want to contribute content to this year's GA-SIG
>>>>> DVD  at Game Developers Conference 2008, please drop me an e-mail
>>>>> off list  with "GA-SIG CD" as subject so I easily spot it.
>>>>>
>>>>> If you know people off list that would like to contribute too,
>>>>> please forward this e-mail.
>>>>>
>>>>> It can be games, videos, papers, code, tools or something else
>>>>> relevant for game accessibility.
>>>>>
>>>>> Please note the time frame; the GDC 08 takes place Feb 18, and
>>>>> before that I need to arrange the production of DVDs. I've not
>>>>> decided a deadline yet but somewhere by the end of January / early
>>>>> February is a realistic guess.
>>>>>
>>>>> Thanks,
>>>>>
>>>>> /Thomas
>>>>>
>>>>> Pin Interactive AB
>>>>> :: Digital Culture Analysis :: Tools :: Worlds
>>>>>
>>>>> +46 (0)706 400 402
>>>>>
>>>>> Time zone: GMT+1 , PST+9
>>>>>
>>>>> _______________________________________________
>>>>> 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 reid at rbkdesign.com  Fri Jan  4 01:10:25 2008
From: reid at rbkdesign.com (Reid Kimball)
Date: Thu, 3 Jan 2008 22:10:25 -0800
Subject: [games_access] Feedback needed on poster for GDC 2008
Message-ID: <a6673b8d0801032210j3b0fc9bdmcc7a7ef9fb1dea1a@mail.gmail.com>

Hi everyone,

I'm working on a poster for my Dynamic Closed Captioning poster
session at GDC this coming Feb 2008. I'd like feedback on the poster
regarding the actual content I have on it. I wanted to keep the
content minimal, I want people talking with me rather than reading
posters. I also want the poster to prompt them to ask questions, so
not everything is explained clearly on purpose.

NOTE: I know that one screenshot is labeled as Half-Life 2 but instead
shows Doom3[CC], this is temp and I'll change it to HL2 later.

Take a look at the word 2007 version or the pdf version linked below:

http://gamescc.rbkdesign.com/GDC2008_poster02.docx
http://gamescc.rbkdesign.com/GDC2008_poster02.pdf

Thanks everyone,

-Reid


From thomas at pininteractive.com  Fri Jan  4 04:32:50 2008
From: thomas at pininteractive.com (Thomas Westin)
Date: Fri, 4 Jan 2008 10:32:50 +0100
Subject: [games_access] Feedback needed on poster for GDC 2008
In-Reply-To: <a6673b8d0801032210j3b0fc9bdmcc7a7ef9fb1dea1a@mail.gmail.com>
References: <a6673b8d0801032210j3b0fc9bdmcc7a7ef9fb1dea1a@mail.gmail.com>
Message-ID: <3CBEC537-D622-429E-9B38-873DDF9155FC@pininteractive.com>

Hi Reid,

perhaps the headline could be something that catch people's attention  
even if they don't know what DCC is

like this perhaps:

[ DO YOU HEAR WHAT I SAY? ]
[ If yes, check your hearing, this is closed captioning :) ]
[ Want to hear more? Ask me! ]

/Thomas

On 4 jan 2008, at 07.10, Reid Kimball wrote:

> Hi everyone,
>
> I'm working on a poster for my Dynamic Closed Captioning poster
> session at GDC this coming Feb 2008. I'd like feedback on the poster
> regarding the actual content I have on it. I wanted to keep the
> content minimal, I want people talking with me rather than reading
> posters. I also want the poster to prompt them to ask questions, so
> not everything is explained clearly on purpose.
>
> NOTE: I know that one screenshot is labeled as Half-Life 2 but instead
> shows Doom3[CC], this is temp and I'll change it to HL2 later.
>
> Take a look at the word 2007 version or the pdf version linked below:
>
> http://gamescc.rbkdesign.com/GDC2008_poster02.docx
> http://gamescc.rbkdesign.com/GDC2008_poster02.pdf
>
> Thanks everyone,
>
> -Reid
> _______________________________________________
> games_access mailing list
> games_access at igda.org
> http://seven.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/games_access



From richard at audiogames.net  Fri Jan  4 08:55:50 2008
From: richard at audiogames.net (AudioGames.net)
Date: Fri, 4 Jan 2008 14:55:50 +0100
Subject: [games_access] Feedback needed on poster for GDC 2008
References: <a6673b8d0801032210j3b0fc9bdmcc7a7ef9fb1dea1a@mail.gmail.com>
Message-ID: <007101c84ed9$840e5260$6402a8c0@Delletje>

Hi,

I actually like the "Ask about DCC here"*. I suggest adding [something] to tingle the imagination and which is a small reference about what DCC is about - basically give people some directions in their imagination. I think I'd do it with a graphic sign somewhere around the height of the phrase, so that they want to read on (the rest explains DDC pretty well)... what do you think?
I really like the rest of the text, very good examples!!! The only thing I can think of for improvement is that in the text I kinda miss the "Understand dialog in a noisy environment", which, in the style of the first phrase could be something like this: "Understand dialog while playing on a noise busride" or something. But I guess this is what you mean with "Understand hard to hear dialog during noisy gameplay". Mmm...I interpret this slightly different, like: the game environment is noisy vs the player environment is noisy? Mmm... you could maybe swap the word "gameplay" for something that better covers both 'environments', but... uhm... you avoid that by using gameplay, which then is about the 'activity'... mmm.... I hope I make sense... I don't have a better alternative so otherwise just scrap this remark ;)

Well done, Reid!

Greets,

Richard

* I first thought of Digital Compact Casette (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dcc)! Whahaha!!! I still got one somewhere... err... audio guy humor ... anywayz: ... after which you immediately got me thinking about closed captioning systems and stuff like that... I'm currently busy at my work with Adaptive Music Systems (for games) and defining a good overview diagram for that. Maybe it is an idea to add "Prioritized" into your abbreviation, since it is (how I understand it) an essential component** of a dynamic closed captioning system. "Dynamic Prioritized Closed Captioning"...? Like https://www.cmpevents.com/GDAU07/a.asp?option=C&V=11&SessID=5774 ;)

** looking forward to Thomas' GAIM diagram for this ;)


----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Reid Kimball" <reid at rbkdesign.com>
To: "IGDA Games Accessibility SIG Mailing List" <games_access at igda.org>
Sent: Friday, January 04, 2008 7:10 AM
Subject: [games_access] Feedback needed on poster for GDC 2008


> Hi everyone,
> 
> I'm working on a poster for my Dynamic Closed Captioning poster
> session at GDC this coming Feb 2008. I'd like feedback on the poster
> regarding the actual content I have on it. I wanted to keep the
> content minimal, I want people talking with me rather than reading
> posters. I also want the poster to prompt them to ask questions, so
> not everything is explained clearly on purpose.
> 
> NOTE: I know that one screenshot is labeled as Half-Life 2 but instead
> shows Doom3[CC], this is temp and I'll change it to HL2 later.
> 
> Take a look at the word 2007 version or the pdf version linked below:
> 
> http://gamescc.rbkdesign.com/GDC2008_poster02.docx
> http://gamescc.rbkdesign.com/GDC2008_poster02.pdf
> 
> Thanks everyone,
> 
> -Reid
> _______________________________________________
> games_access mailing list
> games_access at igda.org
> http://seven.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/games_access
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From foreversublime at hotmail.com  Fri Jan  4 12:53:23 2008
From: foreversublime at hotmail.com (Matthias Troup)
Date: Fri, 4 Jan 2008 12:53:23 -0500
Subject: [games_access] Feedback needed on poster for GDC 2008
In-Reply-To: <a6673b8d0801032210j3b0fc9bdmcc7a7ef9fb1dea1a@mail.gmail.com>
References: <a6673b8d0801032210j3b0fc9bdmcc7a7ef9fb1dea1a@mail.gmail.com>
Message-ID: <BAY135-W9EB2919D62C7DC4888A79D94C0@phx.gbl>


Reid,
 
A little off topic - Does [dcc] have any features relating to gameplay and difficulty?  Hard-to-hear sounds could be missed by anyone regardless of their hearing ability.  If the text were harder to see that would reflect the chance you might miss what the text identified.  For instance, if the text were displayed with an alpha channel correlating to how far away/loud the sound was and/or if the text were visible on-screen for a time that correlated to the distance/volume of the sound.
 
-Matt> Date: Thu, 3 Jan 2008 22:10:25 -0800> From: reid at rbkdesign.com> To: games_access at igda.org> Subject: [games_access] Feedback needed on poster for GDC 2008> > Hi everyone,> > I'm working on a poster for my Dynamic Closed Captioning poster> session at GDC this coming Feb 2008. I'd like feedback on the poster> regarding the actual content I have on it. I wanted to keep the> content minimal, I want people talking with me rather than reading> posters. I also want the poster to prompt them to ask questions, so> not everything is explained clearly on purpose.> > NOTE: I know that one screenshot is labeled as Half-Life 2 but instead> shows Doom3[CC], this is temp and I'll change it to HL2 later.> > Take a look at the word 2007 version or the pdf version linked below:> > http://gamescc.rbkdesign.com/GDC2008_poster02.docx> http://gamescc.rbkdesign.com/GDC2008_poster02.pdf> > Thanks everyone,> > -Reid> _______________________________________________> games_access mailing list> games_access at igda.org> http://seven.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/games_access
_________________________________________________________________
Share life as it happens with the new Windows Live.
http://www.windowslive.com/share.html?ocid=TXT_TAGHM_Wave2_sharelife_012008
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From reid at rbkdesign.com  Fri Jan  4 13:17:28 2008
From: reid at rbkdesign.com (Reid Kimball)
Date: Fri, 4 Jan 2008 10:17:28 -0800
Subject: [games_access] Feedback needed on poster for GDC 2008
In-Reply-To: <BAY135-W9EB2919D62C7DC4888A79D94C0@phx.gbl>
References: <a6673b8d0801032210j3b0fc9bdmcc7a7ef9fb1dea1a@mail.gmail.com>
	<BAY135-W9EB2919D62C7DC4888A79D94C0@phx.gbl>
Message-ID: <a6673b8d0801041017q34e022c1leab95d4e59173a4b@mail.gmail.com>

Of the games that use closed captioning they usually don't communicate
gameplay or other info such as distance and loudness. That is more a
style choice in my opinion, whether to change the alpha of the caption
based on how loud the sound is. My personal opinion is to err on the
side of readability and not use alpha to communicate loudness or
distance, etc. The distance can be represented in the visual sound
radar if the game/player wants to use that feature. Usually, how loud
a sound is doesn't matter, because one sound is loud or soft doesn't
usually communicate important gameplay information.

I can see developers wanting to get creative with the captions, making
them shake and look distorted to represent an earthquake, that's fine,
but I think players should have the option to turn these text
animations off and fall back to plain non-stylized captions. They may
have poor vision or a low quality TV that makes them prefer the plain
text.

I'm curious if you or anyone has other opinions? Not many people are
using captions in this way and no standards have been established.

-Reid

On Jan 4, 2008 9:53 AM, Matthias Troup <foreversublime at hotmail.com> wrote:
>
>  Reid,
>
>  A little off topic - Does [dcc] have any features relating to gameplay and
> difficulty?  Hard-to-hear sounds could be missed by anyone regardless of
> their hearing ability.  If the text were harder to see that would reflect
> the chance you might miss what the text identified.  For instance, if the
> text were displayed with an alpha channel correlating to how far away/loud
> the sound was and/or if the text were visible on-screen for a time that
> correlated to the distance/volume of the sound.
>
>  -Matt
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> > Date: Thu, 3 Jan 2008 22:10:25 -0800
> > From: reid at rbkdesign.com
> > To: games_access at igda.org
>
> > Subject: [games_access] Feedback needed on poster for GDC 2008
> >
>
> > Hi everyone,
> >
> > I'm working on a poster for my Dynamic Closed Captioning poster
> > session at GDC this coming Feb 2008. I'd like feedback on the poster
> > regarding the actual content I have on it. I wanted to keep the
> > content minimal, I want people talking with me rather than reading
> > posters. I also want the poster to prompt them to ask questions, so
> > not everything is explained clearly on purpose.
> >
> > NOTE: I know that one screenshot is labeled as Half-Life 2 but instead
> > shows Doom3[CC], this is temp and I'll change it to HL2 later.
> >
> > Take a look at the word 2007 version or the pdf version linked below:
> >
> > http://gamescc.rbkdesign.com/GDC2008_poster02.docx
> > http://gamescc.rbkdesign.com/GDC2008_poster02.pdf
> >
> > Thanks everyone,
> >
> > -Reid
> > _______________________________________________
> > games_access mailing list
> > games_access at igda.org
> > http://seven.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/games_access
>
>
> ________________________________
> Share life as it happens with the new Windows Live. Start sharing!
> _______________________________________________
> games_access mailing list
> games_access at igda.org
> http://seven.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/games_access
>
>


From richard at audiogames.net  Fri Jan  4 14:09:20 2008
From: richard at audiogames.net (AudioGames.net)
Date: Fri, 4 Jan 2008 20:09:20 +0100
Subject: [games_access] Feedback needed on poster for GDC 2008
References: <a6673b8d0801032210j3b0fc9bdmcc7a7ef9fb1dea1a@mail.gmail.com><BAY135-W9EB2919D62C7DC4888A79D94C0@phx.gbl>
	<a6673b8d0801041017q34e022c1leab95d4e59173a4b@mail.gmail.com>
Message-ID: <001201c84f05$4fc60f30$6402a8c0@Delletje>

Hi,

*quote*
I'm curious if you or anyone has other opinions? Not many people are using 
captions in this way and no standards have been established.
*quote end*

Concerning alternatives to Closed Captions, I'm really interested in 
Animated Sound Balloons (a personal concept of mine that as far as I know 
has not really been done yet - see 
http://www.accessibility.nl/games/index.php?pagefile=soundalternative ). I 
agree with you (Reid) that "(whether or not) one sound is loud or soft 
doesn't usually communicate important gameplay information". However, even 
though not related to important gameplay information, I guess I would like 
to know whether or not a sound is loud or soft, or how it behaves. For 
example, if a faucet dripping water is going "drip-drip-drip-drip-drip" or 
"drip-pause-drip-pause-drip". This is stuff that is designed by people in my 
field which I think is important to also try and make accessible for those 
players who want it.

But I agree with you that there should always (!) be the option "to fall 
back to plain non-stylized captions", if only for those who want to adapt 
audio to text, for instance for deaf-blind gamers who use a braille display. 
But I also think we should consider more creative alternatives to simply 
text.

Greets,

Richard



----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Reid Kimball" <reid at rbkdesign.com>
To: "IGDA Games Accessibility SIG Mailing List" <games_access at igda.org>
Sent: Friday, January 04, 2008 7:17 PM
Subject: Re: [games_access] Feedback needed on poster for GDC 2008


> Of the games that use closed captioning they usually don't communicate
> gameplay or other info such as distance and loudness. That is more a
> style choice in my opinion, whether to change the alpha of the caption
> based on how loud the sound is. My personal opinion is to err on the
> side of readability and not use alpha to communicate loudness or
> distance, etc. The distance can be represented in the visual sound
> radar if the game/player wants to use that feature. Usually, how loud
> a sound is doesn't matter, because one sound is loud or soft doesn't
> usually communicate important gameplay information.
>
> I can see developers wanting to get creative with the captions, making
> them shake and look distorted to represent an earthquake, that's fine,
> but I think players should have the option to turn these text
> animations off and fall back to plain non-stylized captions. They may
> have poor vision or a low quality TV that makes them prefer the plain
> text.
>
> I'm curious if you or anyone has other opinions? Not many people are
> using captions in this way and no standards have been established.
>
> -Reid
>
> On Jan 4, 2008 9:53 AM, Matthias Troup <foreversublime at hotmail.com> wrote:
>>
>>  Reid,
>>
>>  A little off topic - Does [dcc] have any features relating to gameplay 
>> and
>> difficulty?  Hard-to-hear sounds could be missed by anyone regardless of
>> their hearing ability.  If the text were harder to see that would reflect
>> the chance you might miss what the text identified.  For instance, if the
>> text were displayed with an alpha channel correlating to how far 
>> away/loud
>> the sound was and/or if the text were visible on-screen for a time that
>> correlated to the distance/volume of the sound.
>>
>>  -Matt
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> > Date: Thu, 3 Jan 2008 22:10:25 -0800
>> > From: reid at rbkdesign.com
>> > To: games_access at igda.org
>>
>> > Subject: [games_access] Feedback needed on poster for GDC 2008
>> >
>>
>> > Hi everyone,
>> >
>> > I'm working on a poster for my Dynamic Closed Captioning poster
>> > session at GDC this coming Feb 2008. I'd like feedback on the poster
>> > regarding the actual content I have on it. I wanted to keep the
>> > content minimal, I want people talking with me rather than reading
>> > posters. I also want the poster to prompt them to ask questions, so
>> > not everything is explained clearly on purpose.
>> >
>> > NOTE: I know that one screenshot is labeled as Half-Life 2 but instead
>> > shows Doom3[CC], this is temp and I'll change it to HL2 later.
>> >
>> > Take a look at the word 2007 version or the pdf version linked below:
>> >
>> > http://gamescc.rbkdesign.com/GDC2008_poster02.docx
>> > http://gamescc.rbkdesign.com/GDC2008_poster02.pdf
>> >
>> > Thanks everyone,
>> >
>> > -Reid
>> > _______________________________________________
>> > games_access mailing list
>> > games_access at igda.org
>> > http://seven.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/games_access
>>
>>
>> ________________________________
>> Share life as it happens with the new Windows Live. Start sharing!
>> _______________________________________________
>> 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  Fri Jan  4 14:54:30 2008
From: reid at rbkdesign.com (Reid Kimball)
Date: Fri, 4 Jan 2008 11:54:30 -0800
Subject: [games_access] Feedback needed on poster for GDC 2008
In-Reply-To: <001201c84f05$4fc60f30$6402a8c0@Delletje>
References: <a6673b8d0801032210j3b0fc9bdmcc7a7ef9fb1dea1a@mail.gmail.com>
	<BAY135-W9EB2919D62C7DC4888A79D94C0@phx.gbl>
	<a6673b8d0801041017q34e022c1leab95d4e59173a4b@mail.gmail.com>
	<001201c84f05$4fc60f30$6402a8c0@Delletje>
Message-ID: <a6673b8d0801041154x59b316b1l616796500fd9866b@mail.gmail.com>

You're right, I momentarily forgot one of my tenets, to make the sound
atmosphere accessible to all, so in that sense, conveying loudness is
valuable to express the artistic vision of the sound designers even
though it's less important for gameplay. That is, until a game makes
the loudness of sound important to gameplay of course. It's just not
common practice as far as I know.

-Reid

On Jan 4, 2008 11:09 AM, AudioGames.net <richard at audiogames.net> wrote:
> Hi,
>
> *quote*
> I'm curious if you or anyone has other opinions? Not many people are using
> captions in this way and no standards have been established.
> *quote end*
>
> Concerning alternatives to Closed Captions, I'm really interested in
> Animated Sound Balloons (a personal concept of mine that as far as I know
> has not really been done yet - see
> http://www.accessibility.nl/games/index.php?pagefile=soundalternative ). I
> agree with you (Reid) that "(whether or not) one sound is loud or soft
> doesn't usually communicate important gameplay information". However, even
> though not related to important gameplay information, I guess I would like
> to know whether or not a sound is loud or soft, or how it behaves. For
> example, if a faucet dripping water is going "drip-drip-drip-drip-drip" or
> "drip-pause-drip-pause-drip". This is stuff that is designed by people in my
> field which I think is important to also try and make accessible for those
> players who want it.
>
> But I agree with you that there should always (!) be the option "to fall
> back to plain non-stylized captions", if only for those who want to adapt
> audio to text, for instance for deaf-blind gamers who use a braille display.
> But I also think we should consider more creative alternatives to simply
> text.
>
> Greets,
>
> Richard
>
>
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Reid Kimball" <reid at rbkdesign.com>
> To: "IGDA Games Accessibility SIG Mailing List" <games_access at igda.org>
>
> Sent: Friday, January 04, 2008 7:17 PM
> Subject: Re: [games_access] Feedback needed on poster for GDC 2008
>
>
> > Of the games that use closed captioning they usually don't communicate
> > gameplay or other info such as distance and loudness. That is more a
> > style choice in my opinion, whether to change the alpha of the caption
> > based on how loud the sound is. My personal opinion is to err on the
> > side of readability and not use alpha to communicate loudness or
> > distance, etc. The distance can be represented in the visual sound
> > radar if the game/player wants to use that feature. Usually, how loud
> > a sound is doesn't matter, because one sound is loud or soft doesn't
> > usually communicate important gameplay information.
> >
> > I can see developers wanting to get creative with the captions, making
> > them shake and look distorted to represent an earthquake, that's fine,
> > but I think players should have the option to turn these text
> > animations off and fall back to plain non-stylized captions. They may
> > have poor vision or a low quality TV that makes them prefer the plain
> > text.
> >
> > I'm curious if you or anyone has other opinions? Not many people are
> > using captions in this way and no standards have been established.
> >
> > -Reid
> >
> > On Jan 4, 2008 9:53 AM, Matthias Troup <foreversublime at hotmail.com> wrote:
> >>
> >>  Reid,
> >>
> >>  A little off topic - Does [dcc] have any features relating to gameplay
> >> and
> >> difficulty?  Hard-to-hear sounds could be missed by anyone regardless of
> >> their hearing ability.  If the text were harder to see that would reflect
> >> the chance you might miss what the text identified.  For instance, if the
> >> text were displayed with an alpha channel correlating to how far
> >> away/loud
> >> the sound was and/or if the text were visible on-screen for a time that
> >> correlated to the distance/volume of the sound.
> >>
> >>  -Matt
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >> > Date: Thu, 3 Jan 2008 22:10:25 -0800
> >> > From: reid at rbkdesign.com
> >> > To: games_access at igda.org
> >>
> >> > Subject: [games_access] Feedback needed on poster for GDC 2008
> >> >
> >>
> >> > Hi everyone,
> >> >
> >> > I'm working on a poster for my Dynamic Closed Captioning poster
> >> > session at GDC this coming Feb 2008. I'd like feedback on the poster
> >> > regarding the actual content I have on it. I wanted to keep the
> >> > content minimal, I want people talking with me rather than reading
> >> > posters. I also want the poster to prompt them to ask questions, so
> >> > not everything is explained clearly on purpose.
> >> >
> >> > NOTE: I know that one screenshot is labeled as Half-Life 2 but instead
> >> > shows Doom3[CC], this is temp and I'll change it to HL2 later.
> >> >
> >> > Take a look at the word 2007 version or the pdf version linked below:
> >> >
> >> > http://gamescc.rbkdesign.com/GDC2008_poster02.docx
> >> > http://gamescc.rbkdesign.com/GDC2008_poster02.pdf
> >> >
> >> > Thanks everyone,
> >> >
> >> > -Reid
> >> > _______________________________________________
> >> > games_access mailing list
> >> > games_access at igda.org
> >> > http://seven.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/games_access
> >>
> >>
> >> ________________________________
> >> Share life as it happens with the new Windows Live. Start sharing!
> >> _______________________________________________
> >> 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 Jan  4 15:14:14 2008
From: richard at audiogames.net (AudioGames.net)
Date: Fri, 4 Jan 2008 21:14:14 +0100
Subject: [games_access] Feedback needed on poster for GDC 2008
References: <a6673b8d0801032210j3b0fc9bdmcc7a7ef9fb1dea1a@mail.gmail.com><BAY135-W9EB2919D62C7DC4888A79D94C0@phx.gbl><a6673b8d0801041017q34e022c1leab95d4e59173a4b@mail.gmail.com><001201c84f05$4fc60f30$6402a8c0@Delletje>
	<a6673b8d0801041154x59b316b1l616796500fd9866b@mail.gmail.com>
Message-ID: <005301c84f0e$60bdd850$6402a8c0@Delletje>

Hi,

To make it easier to conversate about the auditory gamespace, I'd like to 
announce that Gamasutra is going to publish an article of Sander and me 
sometime this month. This is the first publication concerning our game audio 
research from the past couple of years. The article aims to provide a very 
easy and handy (for designers) overview of how game audio is structured, and 
also provides a first glance on the different roles of the different parts 
that are distinguished. I'm currently sketching up an article about 
solutions for game audio accessibility based on this structure (or 
"framework"), in which I want to discuss which types of audio alternatives 
are better (in my opinion) for which part of the auditory environment and 
why.

When it's online, I'll forward a link...

Greets,

Richard


----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Reid Kimball" <reid at rbkdesign.com>
To: "IGDA Games Accessibility SIG Mailing List" <games_access at igda.org>
Sent: Friday, January 04, 2008 8:54 PM
Subject: Re: [games_access] Feedback needed on poster for GDC 2008


> You're right, I momentarily forgot one of my tenets, to make the sound
> atmosphere accessible to all, so in that sense, conveying loudness is
> valuable to express the artistic vision of the sound designers even
> though it's less important for gameplay. That is, until a game makes
> the loudness of sound important to gameplay of course. It's just not
> common practice as far as I know.
>
> -Reid
>
> On Jan 4, 2008 11:09 AM, AudioGames.net <richard at audiogames.net> wrote:
>> Hi,
>>
>> *quote*
>> I'm curious if you or anyone has other opinions? Not many people are 
>> using
>> captions in this way and no standards have been established.
>> *quote end*
>>
>> Concerning alternatives to Closed Captions, I'm really interested in
>> Animated Sound Balloons (a personal concept of mine that as far as I know
>> has not really been done yet - see
>> http://www.accessibility.nl/games/index.php?pagefile=soundalternative ). 
>> I
>> agree with you (Reid) that "(whether or not) one sound is loud or soft
>> doesn't usually communicate important gameplay information". However, 
>> even
>> though not related to important gameplay information, I guess I would 
>> like
>> to know whether or not a sound is loud or soft, or how it behaves. For
>> example, if a faucet dripping water is going "drip-drip-drip-drip-drip" 
>> or
>> "drip-pause-drip-pause-drip". This is stuff that is designed by people in 
>> my
>> field which I think is important to also try and make accessible for 
>> those
>> players who want it.
>>
>> But I agree with you that there should always (!) be the option "to fall
>> back to plain non-stylized captions", if only for those who want to adapt
>> audio to text, for instance for deaf-blind gamers who use a braille 
>> display.
>> But I also think we should consider more creative alternatives to simply
>> text.
>>
>> Greets,
>>
>> Richard
>>
>>
>>
>> ----- Original Message -----
>> From: "Reid Kimball" <reid at rbkdesign.com>
>> To: "IGDA Games Accessibility SIG Mailing List" <games_access at igda.org>
>>
>> Sent: Friday, January 04, 2008 7:17 PM
>> Subject: Re: [games_access] Feedback needed on poster for GDC 2008
>>
>>
>> > Of the games that use closed captioning they usually don't communicate
>> > gameplay or other info such as distance and loudness. That is more a
>> > style choice in my opinion, whether to change the alpha of the caption
>> > based on how loud the sound is. My personal opinion is to err on the
>> > side of readability and not use alpha to communicate loudness or
>> > distance, etc. The distance can be represented in the visual sound
>> > radar if the game/player wants to use that feature. Usually, how loud
>> > a sound is doesn't matter, because one sound is loud or soft doesn't
>> > usually communicate important gameplay information.
>> >
>> > I can see developers wanting to get creative with the captions, making
>> > them shake and look distorted to represent an earthquake, that's fine,
>> > but I think players should have the option to turn these text
>> > animations off and fall back to plain non-stylized captions. They may
>> > have poor vision or a low quality TV that makes them prefer the plain
>> > text.
>> >
>> > I'm curious if you or anyone has other opinions? Not many people are
>> > using captions in this way and no standards have been established.
>> >
>> > -Reid
>> >
>> > On Jan 4, 2008 9:53 AM, Matthias Troup <foreversublime at hotmail.com> 
>> > wrote:
>> >>
>> >>  Reid,
>> >>
>> >>  A little off topic - Does [dcc] have any features relating to 
>> >> gameplay
>> >> and
>> >> difficulty?  Hard-to-hear sounds could be missed by anyone regardless 
>> >> of
>> >> their hearing ability.  If the text were harder to see that would 
>> >> reflect
>> >> the chance you might miss what the text identified.  For instance, if 
>> >> the
>> >> text were displayed with an alpha channel correlating to how far
>> >> away/loud
>> >> the sound was and/or if the text were visible on-screen for a time 
>> >> that
>> >> correlated to the distance/volume of the sound.
>> >>
>> >>  -Matt
>> >>
>> >>
>> >>
>> >>
>> >>
>> >>
>> >>
>> >> > Date: Thu, 3 Jan 2008 22:10:25 -0800
>> >> > From: reid at rbkdesign.com
>> >> > To: games_access at igda.org
>> >>
>> >> > Subject: [games_access] Feedback needed on poster for GDC 2008
>> >> >
>> >>
>> >> > Hi everyone,
>> >> >
>> >> > I'm working on a poster for my Dynamic Closed Captioning poster
>> >> > session at GDC this coming Feb 2008. I'd like feedback on the poster
>> >> > regarding the actual content I have on it. I wanted to keep the
>> >> > content minimal, I want people talking with me rather than reading
>> >> > posters. I also want the poster to prompt them to ask questions, so
>> >> > not everything is explained clearly on purpose.
>> >> >
>> >> > NOTE: I know that one screenshot is labeled as Half-Life 2 but 
>> >> > instead
>> >> > shows Doom3[CC], this is temp and I'll change it to HL2 later.
>> >> >
>> >> > Take a look at the word 2007 version or the pdf version linked 
>> >> > below:
>> >> >
>> >> > http://gamescc.rbkdesign.com/GDC2008_poster02.docx
>> >> > http://gamescc.rbkdesign.com/GDC2008_poster02.pdf
>> >> >
>> >> > Thanks everyone,
>> >> >
>> >> > -Reid
>> >> > _______________________________________________
>> >> > games_access mailing list
>> >> > games_access at igda.org
>> >> > http://seven.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/games_access
>> >>
>> >>
>> >> ________________________________
>> >> Share life as it happens with the new Windows Live. Start sharing!
>> >> _______________________________________________
>> >> 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 eelke.folmer at gmail.com  Fri Jan  4 20:37:02 2008
From: eelke.folmer at gmail.com (Eelke Folmer)
Date: Fri, 4 Jan 2008 17:37:02 -0800
Subject: [games_access] Feedback needed on poster for GDC 2008
In-Reply-To: <005301c84f0e$60bdd850$6402a8c0@Delletje>
References: <a6673b8d0801032210j3b0fc9bdmcc7a7ef9fb1dea1a@mail.gmail.com>
	<BAY135-W9EB2919D62C7DC4888A79D94C0@phx.gbl>
	<a6673b8d0801041017q34e022c1leab95d4e59173a4b@mail.gmail.com>
	<001201c84f05$4fc60f30$6402a8c0@Delletje>
	<a6673b8d0801041154x59b316b1l616796500fd9866b@mail.gmail.com>
	<005301c84f0e$60bdd850$6402a8c0@Delletje>
Message-ID: <836db6300801041737n2ebb37deu4b259bb2a48963d1@mail.gmail.com>

Hi Reid,

Happy new year everybody!

Was this poster for the programming track? maybe you could include a
simple class diagram on how to implement it? Feel free to copy my
class diagram from my CC pattern.

For dynamic closed captioning do the priorities for showing a
particular caption depend on the state of the game (prioritize
different sounds at different stages of the game) or just on the
number of captions that can be shown at the same time? (e.g. if you
need to play 5 sounds and you can show only 3 only do the three with
the highest priority)  I was thinking about the priorities we
implemented for the torque CC which has a fixed limit on the number of
sounds that can be multiplexed  ( <5 ) so dynamic captioning
essentially only depends on a constant which invalidates its
definition.

Cheers Eelke


On 04/01/2008, AudioGames.net <richard at audiogames.net> wrote:
> Hi,
>
> To make it easier to conversate about the auditory gamespace, I'd like to
> announce that Gamasutra is going to publish an article of Sander and me
> sometime this month. This is the first publication concerning our game audio
> research from the past couple of years. The article aims to provide a very
> easy and handy (for designers) overview of how game audio is structured, and
> also provides a first glance on the different roles of the different parts
> that are distinguished. I'm currently sketching up an article about
> solutions for game audio accessibility based on this structure (or
> "framework"), in which I want to discuss which types of audio alternatives
> are better (in my opinion) for which part of the auditory environment and
> why.
>
> When it's online, I'll forward a link...
>
> Greets,
>
> Richard
>
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Reid Kimball" <reid at rbkdesign.com>
> To: "IGDA Games Accessibility SIG Mailing List" <games_access at igda.org>
> Sent: Friday, January 04, 2008 8:54 PM
> Subject: Re: [games_access] Feedback needed on poster for GDC 2008
>
>
> > You're right, I momentarily forgot one of my tenets, to make the sound
> > atmosphere accessible to all, so in that sense, conveying loudness is
> > valuable to express the artistic vision of the sound designers even
> > though it's less important for gameplay. That is, until a game makes
> > the loudness of sound important to gameplay of course. It's just not
> > common practice as far as I know.
> >
> > -Reid
> >
> > On Jan 4, 2008 11:09 AM, AudioGames.net <richard at audiogames.net> wrote:
> >> Hi,
> >>
> >> *quote*
> >> I'm curious if you or anyone has other opinions? Not many people are
> >> using
> >> captions in this way and no standards have been established.
> >> *quote end*
> >>
> >> Concerning alternatives to Closed Captions, I'm really interested in
> >> Animated Sound Balloons (a personal concept of mine that as far as I know
> >> has not really been done yet - see
> >> http://www.accessibility.nl/games/index.php?pagefile=soundalternative ).
> >> I
> >> agree with you (Reid) that "(whether or not) one sound is loud or soft
> >> doesn't usually communicate important gameplay information". However,
> >> even
> >> though not related to important gameplay information, I guess I would
> >> like
> >> to know whether or not a sound is loud or soft, or how it behaves. For
> >> example, if a faucet dripping water is going "drip-drip-drip-drip-drip"
> >> or
> >> "drip-pause-drip-pause-drip". This is stuff that is designed by people in
> >> my
> >> field which I think is important to also try and make accessible for
> >> those
> >> players who want it.
> >>
> >> But I agree with you that there should always (!) be the option "to fall
> >> back to plain non-stylized captions", if only for those who want to adapt
> >> audio to text, for instance for deaf-blind gamers who use a braille
> >> display.
> >> But I also think we should consider more creative alternatives to simply
> >> text.
> >>
> >> Greets,
> >>
> >> Richard
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >> ----- Original Message -----
> >> From: "Reid Kimball" <reid at rbkdesign.com>
> >> To: "IGDA Games Accessibility SIG Mailing List" <games_access at igda.org>
> >>
> >> Sent: Friday, January 04, 2008 7:17 PM
> >> Subject: Re: [games_access] Feedback needed on poster for GDC 2008
> >>
> >>
> >> > Of the games that use closed captioning they usually don't communicate
> >> > gameplay or other info such as distance and loudness. That is more a
> >> > style choice in my opinion, whether to change the alpha of the caption
> >> > based on how loud the sound is. My personal opinion is to err on the
> >> > side of readability and not use alpha to communicate loudness or
> >> > distance, etc. The distance can be represented in the visual sound
> >> > radar if the game/player wants to use that feature. Usually, how loud
> >> > a sound is doesn't matter, because one sound is loud or soft doesn't
> >> > usually communicate important gameplay information.
> >> >
> >> > I can see developers wanting to get creative with the captions, making
> >> > them shake and look distorted to represent an earthquake, that's fine,
> >> > but I think players should have the option to turn these text
> >> > animations off and fall back to plain non-stylized captions. They may
> >> > have poor vision or a low quality TV that makes them prefer the plain
> >> > text.
> >> >
> >> > I'm curious if you or anyone has other opinions? Not many people are
> >> > using captions in this way and no standards have been established.
> >> >
> >> > -Reid
> >> >
> >> > On Jan 4, 2008 9:53 AM, Matthias Troup <foreversublime at hotmail.com>
> >> > wrote:
> >> >>
> >> >>  Reid,
> >> >>
> >> >>  A little off topic - Does [dcc] have any features relating to
> >> >> gameplay
> >> >> and
> >> >> difficulty?  Hard-to-hear sounds could be missed by anyone regardless
> >> >> of
> >> >> their hearing ability.  If the text were harder to see that would
> >> >> reflect
> >> >> the chance you might miss what the text identified.  For instance, if
> >> >> the
> >> >> text were displayed with an alpha channel correlating to how far
> >> >> away/loud
> >> >> the sound was and/or if the text were visible on-screen for a time
> >> >> that
> >> >> correlated to the distance/volume of the sound.
> >> >>
> >> >>  -Matt
> >> >>
> >> >>
> >> >>
> >> >>
> >> >>
> >> >>
> >> >>
> >> >> > Date: Thu, 3 Jan 2008 22:10:25 -0800
> >> >> > From: reid at rbkdesign.com
> >> >> > To: games_access at igda.org
> >> >>
> >> >> > Subject: [games_access] Feedback needed on poster for GDC 2008
> >> >> >
> >> >>
> >> >> > Hi everyone,
> >> >> >
> >> >> > I'm working on a poster for my Dynamic Closed Captioning poster
> >> >> > session at GDC this coming Feb 2008. I'd like feedback on the poster
> >> >> > regarding the actual content I have on it. I wanted to keep the
> >> >> > content minimal, I want people talking with me rather than reading
> >> >> > posters. I also want the poster to prompt them to ask questions, so
> >> >> > not everything is explained clearly on purpose.
> >> >> >
> >> >> > NOTE: I know that one screenshot is labeled as Half-Life 2 but
> >> >> > instead
> >> >> > shows Doom3[CC], this is temp and I'll change it to HL2 later.
> >> >> >
> >> >> > Take a look at the word 2007 version or the pdf version linked
> >> >> > below:
> >> >> >
> >> >> > http://gamescc.rbkdesign.com/GDC2008_poster02.docx
> >> >> > http://gamescc.rbkdesign.com/GDC2008_poster02.pdf
> >> >> >
> >> >> > Thanks everyone,
> >> >> >
> >> >> > -Reid
> >> >> > _______________________________________________
> >> >> > games_access mailing list
> >> >> > games_access at igda.org
> >> >> > http://seven.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/games_access
> >> >>
> >> >>
> >> >> ________________________________
> >> >> Share life as it happens with the new Windows Live. Start sharing!
> >> >> _______________________________________________
> >> >> 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
>


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


From foreversublime at hotmail.com  Sat Jan  5 00:29:07 2008
From: foreversublime at hotmail.com (Matthias Troup)
Date: Sat, 5 Jan 2008 00:29:07 -0500
Subject: [games_access] Feedback needed on poster for GDC 2008
In-Reply-To: <a6673b8d0801041017q34e022c1leab95d4e59173a4b@mail.gmail.com>
References: <a6673b8d0801032210j3b0fc9bdmcc7a7ef9fb1dea1a@mail.gmail.com>
	<BAY135-W9EB2919D62C7DC4888A79D94C0@phx.gbl> 
	<a6673b8d0801041017q34e022c1leab95d4e59173a4b@mail.gmail.com>
Message-ID: <BAY135-W12086BAE943A35CF075EA9D94D0@phx.gbl>

Reid,

A quick question before I call it an early night.

Is it typical for [cc]'ers to use a standard set of keywords to identify sounds of like-origin throughout a game?  In an FPS, for instance, if certain sounds are specific to certain weapons does the caption read "gun fire" (for nearly every weapon) or "[x] gun fire" where [x] might be a keyword specific to a small automatic weapon?  That way it's understood what weapons enemies have just by the sound - and puts the disabled player on an even keel with others (in some cases it might be unfairly advantageous).  Also, reloading sounds are unique and knowing when/which weapon is being reloaded is equally important "[x] reloads" - as well as making sure it's noted when that sound is over.  You wouldn't want to charge in on a guy thinking he's reloading if that sound finished a full second ago - changing the text from bright white to off-white could indicate sound completion.

-Matt











> Date: Fri, 4 Jan 2008 10:17:28 -0800
> From: reid at rbkdesign.com
> To: games_access at igda.org
> Subject: Re: [games_access] Feedback needed on poster for GDC 2008
> 
> Of the games that use closed captioning they usually don't communicate
> gameplay or other info such as distance and loudness. That is more a
> style choice in my opinion, whether to change the alpha of the caption
> based on how loud the sound is. My personal opinion is to err on the
> side of readability and not use alpha to communicate loudness or
> distance, etc. The distance can be represented in the visual sound
> radar if the game/player wants to use that feature. Usually, how loud
> a sound is doesn't matter, because one sound is loud or soft doesn't
> usually communicate important gameplay information.
> 
> I can see developers wanting to get creative with the captions, making
> them shake and look distorted to represent an earthquake, that's fine,
> but I think players should have the option to turn these text
> animations off and fall back to plain non-stylized captions. They may
> have poor vision or a low quality TV that makes them prefer the plain
> text.
> 
> I'm curious if you or anyone has other opinions? Not many people are
> using captions in this way and no standards have been established.
> 
> -Reid
> 
> On Jan 4, 2008 9:53 AM, Matthias Troup <foreversublime at hotmail.com> wrote:
> >
> >  Reid,
> >
> >  A little off topic - Does [dcc] have any features relating to gameplay and
> > difficulty?  Hard-to-hear sounds could be missed by anyone regardless of
> > their hearing ability.  If the text were harder to see that would reflect
> > the chance you might miss what the text identified.  For instance, if the
> > text were displayed with an alpha channel correlating to how far away/loud
> > the sound was and/or if the text were visible on-screen for a time that
> > correlated to the distance/volume of the sound.
> >
> >  -Matt
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > > Date: Thu, 3 Jan 2008 22:10:25 -0800
> > > From: reid at rbkdesign.com
> > > To: games_access at igda.org
> >
> > > Subject: [games_access] Feedback needed on poster for GDC 2008
> > >
> >
> > > Hi everyone,
> > >
> > > I'm working on a poster for my Dynamic Closed Captioning poster
> > > session at GDC this coming Feb 2008. I'd like feedback on the poster
> > > regarding the actual content I have on it. I wanted to keep the
> > > content minimal, I want people talking with me rather than reading
> > > posters. I also want the poster to prompt them to ask questions, so
> > > not everything is explained clearly on purpose.
> > >
> > > NOTE: I know that one screenshot is labeled as Half-Life 2 but instead
> > > shows Doom3[CC], this is temp and I'll change it to HL2 later.
> > >
> > > Take a look at the word 2007 version or the pdf version linked below:
> > >
> > > http://gamescc.rbkdesign.com/GDC2008_poster02.docx
> > > http://gamescc.rbkdesign.com/GDC2008_poster02.pdf
> > >
> > > Thanks everyone,
> > >
> > > -Reid
> > > _______________________________________________
> > > games_access mailing list
> > > games_access at igda.org
> > > http://seven.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/games_access
> >
> >
> > ________________________________
> > Share life as it happens with the new Windows Live. Start sharing!
> > _______________________________________________
> > 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

_________________________________________________________________
Watch ?Cause Effect,? a show about real people making a real difference.
http://im.live.com/Messenger/IM/MTV/?source=text_watchcause
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From jbannick at 7128.com  Sun Jan  6 12:57:30 2008
From: jbannick at 7128.com (John Bannick)
Date: Sun, 06 Jan 2008 12:57:30 -0500
Subject: [games_access] GA-SIG CD 2008
In-Reply-To: <8D1E5CAE-E9A9-47F6-8662-44624B0E0ADE@pininteractive.com>
References: <8D1E5CAE-E9A9-47F6-8662-44624B0E0ADE@pininteractive.com>
Message-ID: <6.1.0.6.2.20080106123825.01d5a788@enigami.com>

Thomas,

Would it be possible to include our "Developer Reference Example" Game Book 
on your GDC DVD?

This Game Book contains a set of accessible games.

Each game is prefaced with a description of how each accessibility modality 
is addressed in that game.
When you start each game, its Accessibilty Preface is displayed.

For example, a BL rated game such as Inspector Cyndi in Newport includes 
self-voicing and JAWS compatibility.
That same game is VI rated and includes Big Type Windows High Contrast 
compatibility, and ZoomText magnification compatibility.
That same game is MI rated and includes single-keystroke controls, 
mouseless control, Dragon compatibility, and big buttons.
That same game is DF rated and includes subtitles for the videos (sorry, no 
CC yet)

Similarly, a game like Tyler Raindrops (like Tetris) is rated MI because it 
has a Game Throttle that can slow it down.

This demonstrates to a developer how a game can be made accessible.
Our message is "Hey, if a tiny company can do this profitably, why can't 
you big guys do the same?"

The Game Book file is 50 Mb and runs on Windows 98 / XP / and Vista.
It contains its own Java runtime, which does not interfere with any JRE the 
user may have.

Please let me know if this might be acceptable on your DVD.
I could get it to you by Mon, 14 January.

Thanks,

John




At 04:42 PM 12/25/2007, you wrote:
>Hello
>
>I'm setting up a FTP account on our blade server with 80 GB storage
>space available
>
>Those of you who want to contribute content to this year's GA-SIG DVD
>at Game Developers Conference 2008, please drop me an e-mail off list
>with "GA-SIG CD" as subject so I easily spot it.
>
>If you know people off list that would like to contribute too, please
>forward this e-mail.
>
>It can be games, videos, papers, code, tools or something else
>relevant for game accessibility.
>
>Please note the time frame; the GDC 08 takes place Feb 18, and before
>that I need to arrange the production of DVDs. I've not decided a
>deadline yet but somewhere by the end of January / early February is a
>realistic guess.
>
>Thanks,
>
>/Thomas
>
>Pin Interactive AB
>:: Digital Culture Analysis :: Tools :: Worlds
>
>+46 (0)706 400 402
>
>Time zone: GMT+1 , PST+9
>
>_______________________________________________
>games_access mailing list
>games_access at igda.org
>http://seven.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/games_access
>
>
>--
>No virus found in this incoming message.
>Checked by AVG Free Edition. Version: 7.5.516 / Virus Database: 
>269.17.9/1197 - Release Date: 12/25/2007 8:04 PM



From hinn at uiuc.edu  Sun Jan  6 14:49:46 2008
From: hinn at uiuc.edu (hinn at uiuc.edu)
Date: Sun,  6 Jan 2008 13:49:46 -0600 (CST)
Subject: [games_access] GA-SIG CD 2008
Message-ID: <20080106134946.AZX56252@expms2.cites.uiuc.edu>

Hi John --

I think that it would be great to have your game book on the DVD. I think Thomas would agree that there are no issues against it -- we open up the CD/DVD each year to everyone who has examples they would like to include.

Wow. GDC is just a little over one month away!?! It's crazy early this year!

Michelle

---- Original message ----
>Date: Sun, 06 Jan 2008 12:57:30 -0500
>From: John Bannick <jbannick at 7128.com>  
>Subject: Re: [games_access] GA-SIG CD 2008  
>To: IGDA Games Accessibility SIG Mailing List <games_access at igda.org>
>
>Thomas,
>
>Would it be possible to include our "Developer Reference Example" Game Book 
>on your GDC DVD?
>
>This Game Book contains a set of accessible games.
>
>Each game is prefaced with a description of how each accessibility modality 
>is addressed in that game.
>When you start each game, its Accessibilty Preface is displayed.
>
>For example, a BL rated game such as Inspector Cyndi in Newport includes 
>self-voicing and JAWS compatibility.
>That same game is VI rated and includes Big Type Windows High Contrast 
>compatibility, and ZoomText magnification compatibility.
>That same game is MI rated and includes single-keystroke controls, 
>mouseless control, Dragon compatibility, and big buttons.
>That same game is DF rated and includes subtitles for the videos (sorry, no 
>CC yet)
>
>Similarly, a game like Tyler Raindrops (like Tetris) is rated MI because it 
>has a Game Throttle that can slow it down.
>
>This demonstrates to a developer how a game can be made accessible.
>Our message is "Hey, if a tiny company can do this profitably, why can't 
>you big guys do the same?"
>
>The Game Book file is 50 Mb and runs on Windows 98 / XP / and Vista.
>It contains its own Java runtime, which does not interfere with any JRE the 
>user may have.
>
>Please let me know if this might be acceptable on your DVD.
>I could get it to you by Mon, 14 January.
>
>Thanks,
>
>John
>
>
>
>
>At 04:42 PM 12/25/2007, you wrote:
>>Hello
>>
>>I'm setting up a FTP account on our blade server with 80 GB storage
>>space available
>>
>>Those of you who want to contribute content to this year's GA-SIG DVD
>>at Game Developers Conference 2008, please drop me an e-mail off list
>>with "GA-SIG CD" as subject so I easily spot it.
>>
>>If you know people off list that would like to contribute too, please
>>forward this e-mail.
>>
>>It can be games, videos, papers, code, tools or something else
>>relevant for game accessibility.
>>
>>Please note the time frame; the GDC 08 takes place Feb 18, and before
>>that I need to arrange the production of DVDs. I've not decided a
>>deadline yet but somewhere by the end of January / early February is a
>>realistic guess.
>>
>>Thanks,
>>
>>/Thomas
>>
>>Pin Interactive AB
>>:: Digital Culture Analysis :: Tools :: Worlds
>>
>>+46 (0)706 400 402
>>
>>Time zone: GMT+1 , PST+9
>>
>>_______________________________________________
>>games_access mailing list
>>games_access at igda.org
>>http://seven.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/games_access
>>
>>
>>--
>>No virus found in this incoming message.
>>Checked by AVG Free Edition. Version: 7.5.516 / Virus Database: 
>>269.17.9/1197 - Release Date: 12/25/2007 8:04 PM
>
>_______________________________________________
>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 reid at rbkdesign.com  Sun Jan  6 15:05:02 2008
From: reid at rbkdesign.com (Reid Kimball)
Date: Sun, 6 Jan 2008 12:05:02 -0800
Subject: [games_access] Feedback needed on poster for GDC 2008
In-Reply-To: <836db6300801041737n2ebb37deu4b259bb2a48963d1@mail.gmail.com>
References: <a6673b8d0801032210j3b0fc9bdmcc7a7ef9fb1dea1a@mail.gmail.com>
	<BAY135-W9EB2919D62C7DC4888A79D94C0@phx.gbl>
	<a6673b8d0801041017q34e022c1leab95d4e59173a4b@mail.gmail.com>
	<001201c84f05$4fc60f30$6402a8c0@Delletje>
	<a6673b8d0801041154x59b316b1l616796500fd9866b@mail.gmail.com>
	<005301c84f0e$60bdd850$6402a8c0@Delletje>
	<836db6300801041737n2ebb37deu4b259bb2a48963d1@mail.gmail.com>
Message-ID: <a6673b8d0801061205w2cc06eb1me9e512c129171828@mail.gmail.com>

Eelke,

Interesting thoughts on what makes captioning dynamic or not. From my
perspective, it's dynamic because the captions for TV are time coded
and appear in a linear time line. For games, they can't be hard coded
to appear sequentially because the sound events are dynamic, changing
when they occur based on user and game system input.

I suppose a game could have different situations that change the
priority ordering of sounds. As a general rule, I suggest not doing
this to keep complexity low. If there's a sound that absolutely needs
to be captioned, change the priority of that one sound instead. It's
likely to be unique for that particular moment in the game anyway.

As an example, the sound of crowd noise cheering during a gun fight
normally would not be important to caption. However, if you play as a
Track star and are being chased by thugs shooting at you, crowd noise
can represent your character remembering his greatest Track race and
trying to motivate himself to out run the thugs chasing him. Then
you'd make that specific sound have a high priority.

-Reid

On Jan 4, 2008 5:37 PM, Eelke Folmer <eelke.folmer at gmail.com> wrote:
> Hi Reid,
>
> Happy new year everybody!
>
> Was this poster for the programming track? maybe you could include a
> simple class diagram on how to implement it? Feel free to copy my
> class diagram from my CC pattern.
>
> For dynamic closed captioning do the priorities for showing a
> particular caption depend on the state of the game (prioritize
> different sounds at different stages of the game) or just on the
> number of captions that can be shown at the same time? (e.g. if you
> need to play 5 sounds and you can show only 3 only do the three with
> the highest priority)  I was thinking about the priorities we
> implemented for the torque CC which has a fixed limit on the number of
> sounds that can be multiplexed  ( <5 ) so dynamic captioning
> essentially only depends on a constant which invalidates its
> definition.
>
> Cheers Eelke
>
>
>
> On 04/01/2008, AudioGames.net <richard at audiogames.net> wrote:
> > Hi,
> >
> > To make it easier to conversate about the auditory gamespace, I'd like to
> > announce that Gamasutra is going to publish an article of Sander and me
> > sometime this month. This is the first publication concerning our game audio
> > research from the past couple of years. The article aims to provide a very
> > easy and handy (for designers) overview of how game audio is structured, and
> > also provides a first glance on the different roles of the different parts
> > that are distinguished. I'm currently sketching up an article about
> > solutions for game audio accessibility based on this structure (or
> > "framework"), in which I want to discuss which types of audio alternatives
> > are better (in my opinion) for which part of the auditory environment and
> > why.
> >
> > When it's online, I'll forward a link...
> >
> > Greets,
> >
> > Richard
> >
> >
> > ----- Original Message -----
> > From: "Reid Kimball" <reid at rbkdesign.com>
> > To: "IGDA Games Accessibility SIG Mailing List" <games_access at igda.org>
> > Sent: Friday, January 04, 2008 8:54 PM
> > Subject: Re: [games_access] Feedback needed on poster for GDC 2008
> >
> >
> > > You're right, I momentarily forgot one of my tenets, to make the sound
> > > atmosphere accessible to all, so in that sense, conveying loudness is
> > > valuable to express the artistic vision of the sound designers even
> > > though it's less important for gameplay. That is, until a game makes
> > > the loudness of sound important to gameplay of course. It's just not
> > > common practice as far as I know.
> > >
> > > -Reid
> > >
> > > On Jan 4, 2008 11:09 AM, AudioGames.net <richard at audiogames.net> wrote:
> > >> Hi,
> > >>
> > >> *quote*
> > >> I'm curious if you or anyone has other opinions? Not many people are
> > >> using
> > >> captions in this way and no standards have been established.
> > >> *quote end*
> > >>
> > >> Concerning alternatives to Closed Captions, I'm really interested in
> > >> Animated Sound Balloons (a personal concept of mine that as far as I know
> > >> has not really been done yet - see
> > >> http://www.accessibility.nl/games/index.php?pagefile=soundalternative ).
> > >> I
> > >> agree with you (Reid) that "(whether or not) one sound is loud or soft
> > >> doesn't usually communicate important gameplay information". However,
> > >> even
> > >> though not related to important gameplay information, I guess I would
> > >> like
> > >> to know whether or not a sound is loud or soft, or how it behaves. For
> > >> example, if a faucet dripping water is going "drip-drip-drip-drip-drip"
> > >> or
> > >> "drip-pause-drip-pause-drip". This is stuff that is designed by people in
> > >> my
> > >> field which I think is important to also try and make accessible for
> > >> those
> > >> players who want it.
> > >>
> > >> But I agree with you that there should always (!) be the option "to fall
> > >> back to plain non-stylized captions", if only for those who want to adapt
> > >> audio to text, for instance for deaf-blind gamers who use a braille
> > >> display.
> > >> But I also think we should consider more creative alternatives to simply
> > >> text.
> > >>
> > >> Greets,
> > >>
> > >> Richard
> > >>
> > >>
> > >>
> > >> ----- Original Message -----
> > >> From: "Reid Kimball" <reid at rbkdesign.com>
> > >> To: "IGDA Games Accessibility SIG Mailing List" <games_access at igda.org>
> > >>
> > >> Sent: Friday, January 04, 2008 7:17 PM
> > >> Subject: Re: [games_access] Feedback needed on poster for GDC 2008
> > >>
> > >>
> > >> > Of the games that use closed captioning they usually don't communicate
> > >> > gameplay or other info such as distance and loudness. That is more a
> > >> > style choice in my opinion, whether to change the alpha of the caption
> > >> > based on how loud the sound is. My personal opinion is to err on the
> > >> > side of readability and not use alpha to communicate loudness or
> > >> > distance, etc. The distance can be represented in the visual sound
> > >> > radar if the game/player wants to use that feature. Usually, how loud
> > >> > a sound is doesn't matter, because one sound is loud or soft doesn't
> > >> > usually communicate important gameplay information.
> > >> >
> > >> > I can see developers wanting to get creative with the captions, making
> > >> > them shake and look distorted to represent an earthquake, that's fine,
> > >> > but I think players should have the option to turn these text
> > >> > animations off and fall back to plain non-stylized captions. They may
> > >> > have poor vision or a low quality TV that makes them prefer the plain
> > >> > text.
> > >> >
> > >> > I'm curious if you or anyone has other opinions? Not many people are
> > >> > using captions in this way and no standards have been established.
> > >> >
> > >> > -Reid
> > >> >
> > >> > On Jan 4, 2008 9:53 AM, Matthias Troup <foreversublime at hotmail.com>
> > >> > wrote:
> > >> >>
> > >> >>  Reid,
> > >> >>
> > >> >>  A little off topic - Does [dcc] have any features relating to
> > >> >> gameplay
> > >> >> and
> > >> >> difficulty?  Hard-to-hear sounds could be missed by anyone regardless
> > >> >> of
> > >> >> their hearing ability.  If the text were harder to see that would
> > >> >> reflect
> > >> >> the chance you might miss what the text identified.  For instance, if
> > >> >> the
> > >> >> text were displayed with an alpha channel correlating to how far
> > >> >> away/loud
> > >> >> the sound was and/or if the text were visible on-screen for a time
> > >> >> that
> > >> >> correlated to the distance/volume of the sound.
> > >> >>
> > >> >>  -Matt
> > >> >>
> > >> >>
> > >> >>
> > >> >>
> > >> >>
> > >> >>
> > >> >>
> > >> >> > Date: Thu, 3 Jan 2008 22:10:25 -0800
> > >> >> > From: reid at rbkdesign.com
> > >> >> > To: games_access at igda.org
> > >> >>
> > >> >> > Subject: [games_access] Feedback needed on poster for GDC 2008
> > >> >> >
> > >> >>
> > >> >> > Hi everyone,
> > >> >> >
> > >> >> > I'm working on a poster for my Dynamic Closed Captioning poster
> > >> >> > session at GDC this coming Feb 2008. I'd like feedback on the poster
> > >> >> > regarding the actual content I have on it. I wanted to keep the
> > >> >> > content minimal, I want people talking with me rather than reading
> > >> >> > posters. I also want the poster to prompt them to ask questions, so
> > >> >> > not everything is explained clearly on purpose.
> > >> >> >
> > >> >> > NOTE: I know that one screenshot is labeled as Half-Life 2 but
> > >> >> > instead
> > >> >> > shows Doom3[CC], this is temp and I'll change it to HL2 later.
> > >> >> >
> > >> >> > Take a look at the word 2007 version or the pdf version linked
> > >> >> > below:
> > >> >> >
> > >> >> > http://gamescc.rbkdesign.com/GDC2008_poster02.docx
> > >> >> > http://gamescc.rbkdesign.com/GDC2008_poster02.pdf
> > >> >> >
> > >> >> > Thanks everyone,
> > >> >> >
> > >> >> > -Reid
> > >> >> > _______________________________________________
> > >> >> > games_access mailing list
> > >> >> > games_access at igda.org
> > >> >> > http://seven.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/games_access
> > >> >>
> > >> >>
> > >> >> ________________________________
> > >> >> Share life as it happens with the new Windows Live. Start sharing!
> > >> >> _______________________________________________
> > >> >> 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
> >
>
>
> --
> ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
> Eelke Folmer                           Assistant Professor
> Department of CS&E/171
> University of Nevada              Reno, Nevada 89557
> Game interaction design        www.helpyouplay.com
> ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> _______________________________________________
> games_access mailing list
> games_access at igda.org
> http://seven.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/games_access
>


From reid at rbkdesign.com  Sun Jan  6 15:25:44 2008
From: reid at rbkdesign.com (Reid Kimball)
Date: Sun, 6 Jan 2008 12:25:44 -0800
Subject: [games_access] DCC questions from Matt
Message-ID: <a6673b8d0801061225y34ae80b4l3fa56754ea2313b@mail.gmail.com>

Hi Matt,

Where possible in time, budget and creativity I like captioning sounds
in the form of onomatopoeia
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Onomatopoeia), the words read aloud
resemble how they sound (BANG, QUACK, MEOW). It's very expensive to do
this and takes a lot of creativity to figure how how an arrangement of
letters captures the sound.

The other way is simply to describe the sound as you suggested. With
that, you could use suffix captions for weapons to say shotgun gun
fire, assault rifle gun fire, etc. Or you can differentiate them as
shotgun blast, assault rifle burst, rocket grenade launch.

There's the possibility of captions being unfair, but only if the
sounds themselves are hard to discern which is which. If it's easy for
a hearing person to discern between a pistol firing and a
semi-automatic uzi, then using captions that make clear the difference
shouldn't be a problem in my opinion.

To denote when the sound is over, consider timing the visibility of
the caption with the length of the sound. When the sound starts, the
caption appears, when it stops, the caption disappears. Sometimes the
sound is so short the caption doesn't stay on screen long enough to be
read, then you'll have to keep it on screen longer and communicate in
some other way the sound has finished playing. This is unexplored and
has not been done in captioning for games yet.

-Reid

On Jan 4, 2008 9:29 PM, Matthias Troup <foreversublime at hotmail.com> wrote:
>
> Reid,
>
> A quick question before I call it an early night.
>
> Is it typical for [cc]'ers to use a standard set of keywords to identify
> sounds of like-origin throughout a game?  In an FPS, for instance, if
> certain sounds are specific to certain weapons does the caption read "gun
> fire" (for nearly every weapon) or "[x] gun fire" where [x] might be a
> keyword specific to a small automatic weapon?  That way it's understood what
> weapons enemies have just by the sound - and puts the disabled player on an
> even keel with others (in some cases it might be unfairly advantageous).
> Also, reloading sounds are unique and knowing when/which weapon is being
> reloaded is equally important "[x] reloads" - as well as making sure it's
> noted when that sound is over.  You wouldn't want to charge in on a guy
> thinking he's reloading if that sound finished a full second ago - changing
> the text from bright white to off-white could indicate sound completion.
>
> -Matt


From reid at rbkdesign.com  Sun Jan  6 15:28:09 2008
From: reid at rbkdesign.com (Reid Kimball)
Date: Sun, 6 Jan 2008 12:28:09 -0800
Subject: [games_access] GA-SIG CD 2008
In-Reply-To: <20080106134946.AZX56252@expms2.cites.uiuc.edu>
References: <20080106134946.AZX56252@expms2.cites.uiuc.edu>
Message-ID: <a6673b8d0801061228t7c3e6d5fyecd583a2ba307d7b@mail.gmail.com>

I agree, I think it'd be a great addition. Can you upload it to
Thomas' FTP? If not, I'll give you my mailing address in another
email. I've agreed to help print the DVDs since I'm in the same city
as the conference.

-Reid

On Jan 6, 2008 11:49 AM,  <hinn at uiuc.edu> wrote:
> Hi John --
>
> I think that it would be great to have your game book on the DVD. I think Thomas would agree that there are no issues against it -- we open up the CD/DVD each year to everyone who has examples they would like to include.
>
> Wow. GDC is just a little over one month away!?! It's crazy early this year!
>
> Michelle
>
>
> ---- Original message ----
> >Date: Sun, 06 Jan 2008 12:57:30 -0500
> >From: John Bannick <jbannick at 7128.com>
> >Subject: Re: [games_access] GA-SIG CD 2008
> >To: IGDA Games Accessibility SIG Mailing List <games_access at igda.org>
> >
> >Thomas,
> >
> >Would it be possible to include our "Developer Reference Example" Game Book
> >on your GDC DVD?
> >
> >This Game Book contains a set of accessible games.
> >
> >Each game is prefaced with a description of how each accessibility modality
> >is addressed in that game.
> >When you start each game, its Accessibilty Preface is displayed.
> >
> >For example, a BL rated game such as Inspector Cyndi in Newport includes
> >self-voicing and JAWS compatibility.
> >That same game is VI rated and includes Big Type Windows High Contrast
> >compatibility, and ZoomText magnification compatibility.
> >That same game is MI rated and includes single-keystroke controls,
> >mouseless control, Dragon compatibility, and big buttons.
> >That same game is DF rated and includes subtitles for the videos (sorry, no
> >CC yet)
> >
> >Similarly, a game like Tyler Raindrops (like Tetris) is rated MI because it
> >has a Game Throttle that can slow it down.
> >
> >This demonstrates to a developer how a game can be made accessible.
> >Our message is "Hey, if a tiny company can do this profitably, why can't
> >you big guys do the same?"
> >
> >The Game Book file is 50 Mb and runs on Windows 98 / XP / and Vista.
> >It contains its own Java runtime, which does not interfere with any JRE the
> >user may have.
> >
> >Please let me know if this might be acceptable on your DVD.
> >I could get it to you by Mon, 14 January.
> >
> >Thanks,
> >
> >John
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >At 04:42 PM 12/25/2007, you wrote:
> >>Hello
> >>
> >>I'm setting up a FTP account on our blade server with 80 GB storage
> >>space available
> >>
> >>Those of you who want to contribute content to this year's GA-SIG DVD
> >>at Game Developers Conference 2008, please drop me an e-mail off list
> >>with "GA-SIG CD" as subject so I easily spot it.
> >>
> >>If you know people off list that would like to contribute too, please
> >>forward this e-mail.
> >>
> >>It can be games, videos, papers, code, tools or something else
> >>relevant for game accessibility.
> >>
> >>Please note the time frame; the GDC 08 takes place Feb 18, and before
> >>that I need to arrange the production of DVDs. I've not decided a
> >>deadline yet but somewhere by the end of January / early February is a
> >>realistic guess.
> >>
> >>Thanks,
> >>
> >>/Thomas
> >>
> >>Pin Interactive AB
> >>:: Digital Culture Analysis :: Tools :: Worlds
> >>
> >>+46 (0)706 400 402
> >>
> >>Time zone: GMT+1 , PST+9
> >>
> >>_______________________________________________
> >>games_access mailing list
> >>games_access at igda.org
> >>http://seven.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/games_access
> >>
> >>
> >>--
> >>No virus found in this incoming message.
> >>Checked by AVG Free Edition. Version: 7.5.516 / Virus Database:
> >>269.17.9/1197 - Release Date: 12/25/2007 8:04 PM
> >
> >_______________________________________________
> >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"
> .......................................
>
> _______________________________________________
> games_access mailing list
> games_access at igda.org
> http://seven.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/games_access
>


From jbannick at 7128.com  Sun Jan  6 15:47:00 2008
From: jbannick at 7128.com (John Bannick)
Date: Sun, 06 Jan 2008 15:47:00 -0500
Subject: [games_access] GA-SIG CD 2008
In-Reply-To: <a6673b8d0801061228t7c3e6d5fyecd583a2ba307d7b@mail.gmail.co
 m>
References: <20080106134946.AZX56252@expms2.cites.uiuc.edu>
	<a6673b8d0801061228t7c3e6d5fyecd583a2ba307d7b@mail.gmail.com>
Message-ID: <6.1.0.6.2.20080106154303.01df1a98@enigami.com>

Folks,

Great!

We just verified that the new code works and are madly working on the content.

I'll try to upload it to Thomas' FTP no later than Mon 14 Jan.
If that fails, then I'll ask Reid for his mailing address.

Thanks all,

John

At 03:28 PM 1/6/2008, you wrote:
>I agree, I think it'd be a great addition. Can you upload it to
>Thomas' FTP? If not, I'll give you my mailing address in another
>email. I've agreed to help print the DVDs since I'm in the same city
>as the conference.
>
>-Reid
>
>On Jan 6, 2008 11:49 AM,  <hinn at uiuc.edu> wrote:
> > Hi John --
> >
> > I think that it would be great to have your game book on the DVD. I 
> think Thomas would agree that there are no issues against it -- we open 
> up the CD/DVD each year to everyone who has examples they would like to 
> include.
> >
> > Wow. GDC is just a little over one month away!?! It's crazy early this 
> year!
> >
> > Michelle
> >
> >
> > ---- Original message ----
> > >Date: Sun, 06 Jan 2008 12:57:30 -0500
> > >From: John Bannick <jbannick at 7128.com>
> > >Subject: Re: [games_access] GA-SIG CD 2008
> > >To: IGDA Games Accessibility SIG Mailing List <games_access at igda.org>
> > >
> > >Thomas,
> > >
> > >Would it be possible to include our "Developer Reference Example" Game 
> Book
> > >on your GDC DVD?
> > >
> > >This Game Book contains a set of accessible games.
> > >
> > >Each game is prefaced with a description of how each accessibility 
> modality
> > >is addressed in that game.
> > >When you start each game, its Accessibilty Preface is displayed.
> > >
> > >For example, a BL rated game such as Inspector Cyndi in Newport includes
> > >self-voicing and JAWS compatibility.
> > >That same game is VI rated and includes Big Type Windows High Contrast
> > >compatibility, and ZoomText magnification compatibility.
> > >That same game is MI rated and includes single-keystroke controls,
> > >mouseless control, Dragon compatibility, and big buttons.
> > >That same game is DF rated and includes subtitles for the videos 
> (sorry, no
> > >CC yet)
> > >
> > >Similarly, a game like Tyler Raindrops (like Tetris) is rated MI 
> because it
> > >has a Game Throttle that can slow it down.
> > >
> > >This demonstrates to a developer how a game can be made accessible.
> > >Our message is "Hey, if a tiny company can do this profitably, why can't
> > >you big guys do the same?"
> > >
> > >The Game Book file is 50 Mb and runs on Windows 98 / XP / and Vista.
> > >It contains its own Java runtime, which does not interfere with any 
> JRE the
> > >user may have.
> > >
> > >Please let me know if this might be acceptable on your DVD.
> > >I could get it to you by Mon, 14 January.
> > >
> > >Thanks,
> > >
> > >John
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > >At 04:42 PM 12/25/2007, you wrote:
> > >>Hello
> > >>
> > >>I'm setting up a FTP account on our blade server with 80 GB storage
> > >>space available
> > >>
> > >>Those of you who want to contribute content to this year's GA-SIG DVD
> > >>at Game Developers Conference 2008, please drop me an e-mail off list
> > >>with "GA-SIG CD" as subject so I easily spot it.
> > >>
> > >>If you know people off list that would like to contribute too, please
> > >>forward this e-mail.
> > >>
> > >>It can be games, videos, papers, code, tools or something else
> > >>relevant for game accessibility.
> > >>
> > >>Please note the time frame; the GDC 08 takes place Feb 18, and before
> > >>that I need to arrange the production of DVDs. I've not decided a
> > >>deadline yet but somewhere by the end of January / early February is a
> > >>realistic guess.
> > >>
> > >>Thanks,
> > >>
> > >>/Thomas
> > >>
> > >>Pin Interactive AB
> > >>:: Digital Culture Analysis :: Tools :: Worlds
> > >>
> > >>+46 (0)706 400 402
> > >>
> > >>Time zone: GMT+1 , PST+9
> > >>
> > >>_______________________________________________
> > >>games_access mailing list
> > >>games_access at igda.org
> > >>http://seven.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/games_access
> > >>
> > >>
> > >>--
> > >>No virus found in this incoming message.
> > >>Checked by AVG Free Edition. Version: 7.5.516 / Virus Database:
> > >>269.17.9/1197 - Release Date: 12/25/2007 8:04 PM
> > >
> > >_______________________________________________
> > >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"
> > .......................................
> >
> > _______________________________________________
> > 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
>
>
>--
>No virus found in this incoming message.
>Checked by AVG Free Edition.
>Version: 7.5.516 / Virus Database: 269.17.13/1211 - Release Date: 1/6/2008 
>11:57 AM



From richard at audiogames.net  Sun Jan  6 16:53:57 2008
From: richard at audiogames.net (AudioGames.net)
Date: Sun, 6 Jan 2008 22:53:57 +0100
Subject: [games_access] DCC questions from Matt
References: <a6673b8d0801061225y34ae80b4l3fa56754ea2313b@mail.gmail.com>
Message-ID: <002101c850ae$a3a12e00$6402a8c0@Delletje>

Hi,

*quote*
The other way is simply to describe the sound as you suggested. With that, you could use suffix captions for weapons to say shotgun gun fire, assault rifle gun fire, etc. Or you can differentiate them as shotgun blast, assault rifle burst, rocket grenade launch.
*quote end*

Yes, this is a point I'd like to stress. Many "sounds" are often actually a collection of sounds. For instance, when looking in detail at a sound like "gunshot", you'll see it could easily consists of something like "mechanical triggerclick"+"gun explosion" + "wheezing bullet" + "bullet impact" + "automatic gunreload" + "shell falling on ground". People in my field often go to great lengths at getting such details right :) With CC it would be way too over the top to get into detail like this, you'd be better of reading a novel in that case. But I do think it is important to get some level of detail in there, either when it provides important information about the game or it is important for the player experience of the game. I guess the word here* is relevance. If it is important that enemy gunfire sounds differently than friendly gunfire, for instance for strategic reasons, communicate such relevant details (in which case I'd go for more detailed descriptions like "enemy gunfire" or "bazooka missile launch"). If you, as a designer, want to give the player the experience of a hectic war game, in which the experience of wheezing bullets and bug guns is important, include alternatives that are more suited for that experience (in which case I'd more easily go for onomatopoeia, maybe even with some graphic design or animations). Of course such decisions depend heavily on the aesthetics of the game. 
If something is not really relevant, and it does not enhance/improve player experience, I'd just not include such details. For instance, if there's a big soundloop in the background that contains all sorts of sounds you'd find in a swamp (insects buzzing, snakes hissing, frogs jumping in the water, some birds making noise in the background), I'd not describe all of these sounds with a caption for each event. I also would not simply say "swamp sounds", because that is very vague and one swamp is not the other. Instead I'd go somewhere in the middle, using something like "Constant buzzing of insects with the occasional hiss of a snake or plunge of a frog in the swamp's water". Although such background layers are mostly used for the setting of the game(world), they can communicate very valuable information, often by the event of state change. When all the sounds of a busy city suddenly die out and only the sound of pigeons remains, that can make a very powerful dramatic statement. In such a case the state change is relevant (why do it otherwise?), so communicate that. 
Film sound theory, by the way, divides the whole sound scene (called 'Scenic') in films into three main parts: background, midground and foreground (these also exist in other disciplines btw). These are the 'Immediate' (or foreground), the 'Support' (or midground) and the 'Background'. 'Immediate' is to be listened to, while the 'Support' and the 'Background' are merely to be heard. The 'Support' effect refers to sounds taking place in the immediate vicinity which have a direct bearing on the subject in hand (provide context to the actions), leaving the 'Background' effect to its normal job of setting the scene. So I think captions mostly sync to Immediate sounds, and only when there are relevant information in sound events in the Support or Background categories, these should be captioned.

Greets,

Richard


* this may go for the other conversation concerning caption prioritization - see other thread: "Feedback needed on poster for GDC 2008" - as well.




----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Reid Kimball" <reid at rbkdesign.com>
To: "IGDA Games Accessibility SIG Mailing List" <games_access at igda.org>
Sent: Sunday, January 06, 2008 9:25 PM
Subject: [games_access] DCC questions from Matt


> Hi Matt,
> 
> Where possible in time, budget and creativity I like captioning sounds
> in the form of onomatopoeia
> (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Onomatopoeia), the words read aloud
> resemble how they sound (BANG, QUACK, MEOW). It's very expensive to do
> this and takes a lot of creativity to figure how how an arrangement of
> letters captures the sound.
> 
> The other way is simply to describe the sound as you suggested. With
> that, you could use suffix captions for weapons to say shotgun gun
> fire, assault rifle gun fire, etc. Or you can differentiate them as
> shotgun blast, assault rifle burst, rocket grenade launch.
> 
> There's the possibility of captions being unfair, but only if the
> sounds themselves are hard to discern which is which. If it's easy for
> a hearing person to discern between a pistol firing and a
> semi-automatic uzi, then using captions that make clear the difference
> shouldn't be a problem in my opinion.
> 
> To denote when the sound is over, consider timing the visibility of
> the caption with the length of the sound. When the sound starts, the
> caption appears, when it stops, the caption disappears. Sometimes the
> sound is so short the caption doesn't stay on screen long enough to be
> read, then you'll have to keep it on screen longer and communicate in
> some other way the sound has finished playing. This is unexplored and
> has not been done in captioning for games yet.
> 
> -Reid
> 
> On Jan 4, 2008 9:29 PM, Matthias Troup <foreversublime at hotmail.com> wrote:
>>
>> Reid,
>>
>> A quick question before I call it an early night.
>>
>> Is it typical for [cc]'ers to use a standard set of keywords to identify
>> sounds of like-origin throughout a game?  In an FPS, for instance, if
>> certain sounds are specific to certain weapons does the caption read "gun
>> fire" (for nearly every weapon) or "[x] gun fire" where [x] might be a
>> keyword specific to a small automatic weapon?  That way it's understood what
>> weapons enemies have just by the sound - and puts the disabled player on an
>> even keel with others (in some cases it might be unfairly advantageous).
>> Also, reloading sounds are unique and knowing when/which weapon is being
>> reloaded is equally important "[x] reloads" - as well as making sure it's
>> noted when that sound is over.  You wouldn't want to charge in on a guy
>> thinking he's reloading if that sound finished a full second ago - changing
>> the text from bright white to off-white could indicate sound completion.
>>
>> -Matt
> _______________________________________________
> 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  Sun Jan  6 18:23:23 2008
From: thomas at pininteractive.com (Thomas Westin)
Date: Mon, 7 Jan 2008 00:23:23 +0100
Subject: [games_access] GA-SIG DVD 2008 (was ...CD)
In-Reply-To: <6.1.0.6.2.20080106154303.01df1a98@enigami.com>
References: <20080106134946.AZX56252@expms2.cites.uiuc.edu><a6673b8d0801061228t7c3e6d5fyecd583a2ba307d7b@mail.gmail.com>
	<6.1.0.6.2.20080106154303.01df1a98@enigami.com>
Message-ID: <2534D3BB-6D3F-49BE-BBB5-14E7B7261305@pininteractive.com>

Hello

Yes that's great;

another thing:

the headline for this -email was GA-SIG CD 2008, but I mentioned  a  
DVD in the mail text
-previously we have made CDs but last years version was really packed  
and to get more content in, we need a DVD

So Michelle when you talk to the IGDA folks about getting some  
sponsoring for this thing, please ask for DVDs!

/Thomas

On 6 jan 2008, at 21.47, John Bannick wrote:

> Folks,
>
> Great!
>
> We just verified that the new code works and are madly working on  
> the content.
>
> I'll try to upload it to Thomas' FTP no later than Mon 14 Jan.
> If that fails, then I'll ask Reid for his mailing address.
>
> Thanks all,
>
> John
>
> At 03:28 PM 1/6/2008, you wrote:
>> I agree, I think it'd be a great addition. Can you upload it to
>> Thomas' FTP? If not, I'll give you my mailing address in another
>> email. I've agreed to help print the DVDs since I'm in the same city
>> as the conference.
>>
>> -Reid
>>
>> On Jan 6, 2008 11:49 AM,  <hinn at uiuc.edu> wrote:
>> > Hi John --
>> >
>> > I think that it would be great to have your game book on the DVD.  
>> I think Thomas would agree that there are no issues against it --  
>> we open up the CD/DVD each year to everyone who has examples they  
>> would like to include.
>> >
>> > Wow. GDC is just a little over one month away!?! It's crazy early  
>> this year!
>> >
>> > Michelle
>> >
>> >
>> > ---- Original message ----
>> > >Date: Sun, 06 Jan 2008 12:57:30 -0500
>> > >From: John Bannick <jbannick at 7128.com>
>> > >Subject: Re: [games_access] GA-SIG CD 2008
>> > >To: IGDA Games Accessibility SIG Mailing List <games_access at igda.org 
>> >
>> > >
>> > >Thomas,
>> > >
>> > >Would it be possible to include our "Developer Reference  
>> Example" Game Book
>> > >on your GDC DVD?
>> > >
>> > >This Game Book contains a set of accessible games.
>> > >
>> > >Each game is prefaced with a description of how each  
>> accessibility modality
>> > >is addressed in that game.
>> > >When you start each game, its Accessibilty Preface is displayed.
>> > >
>> > >For example, a BL rated game such as Inspector Cyndi in Newport  
>> includes
>> > >self-voicing and JAWS compatibility.
>> > >That same game is VI rated and includes Big Type Windows High  
>> Contrast
>> > >compatibility, and ZoomText magnification compatibility.
>> > >That same game is MI rated and includes single-keystroke controls,
>> > >mouseless control, Dragon compatibility, and big buttons.
>> > >That same game is DF rated and includes subtitles for the videos  
>> (sorry, no
>> > >CC yet)
>> > >
>> > >Similarly, a game like Tyler Raindrops (like Tetris) is rated MI  
>> because it
>> > >has a Game Throttle that can slow it down.
>> > >
>> > >This demonstrates to a developer how a game can be made  
>> accessible.
>> > >Our message is "Hey, if a tiny company can do this profitably,  
>> why can't
>> > >you big guys do the same?"
>> > >
>> > >The Game Book file is 50 Mb and runs on Windows 98 / XP / and  
>> Vista.
>> > >It contains its own Java runtime, which does not interfere with  
>> any JRE the
>> > >user may have.
>> > >
>> > >Please let me know if this might be acceptable on your DVD.
>> > >I could get it to you by Mon, 14 January.
>> > >
>> > >Thanks,
>> > >
>> > >John
>> > >
>> > >
>> > >
>> > >
>> > >At 04:42 PM 12/25/2007, you wrote:
>> > >>Hello
>> > >>
>> > >>I'm setting up a FTP account on our blade server with 80 GB  
>> storage
>> > >>space available
>> > >>
>> > >>Those of you who want to contribute content to this year's GA- 
>> SIG DVD
>> > >>at Game Developers Conference 2008, please drop me an e-mail  
>> off list
>> > >>with "GA-SIG CD" as subject so I easily spot it.
>> > >>
>> > >>If you know people off list that would like to contribute too,  
>> please
>> > >>forward this e-mail.
>> > >>
>> > >>It can be games, videos, papers, code, tools or something else
>> > >>relevant for game accessibility.
>> > >>
>> > >>Please note the time frame; the GDC 08 takes place Feb 18, and  
>> before
>> > >>that I need to arrange the production of DVDs. I've not decided a
>> > >>deadline yet but somewhere by the end of January / early  
>> February is a
>> > >>realistic guess.
>> > >>
>> > >>Thanks,
>> > >>
>> > >>/Thomas
>> > >>
>> > >>Pin Interactive AB
>> > >>:: Digital Culture Analysis :: Tools :: Worlds
>> > >>
>> > >>+46 (0)706 400 402
>> > >>
>> > >>Time zone: GMT+1 , PST+9
>> > >>
>> > >>_______________________________________________
>> > >>games_access mailing list
>> > >>games_access at igda.org
>> > >>http://seven.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/games_access
>> > >>
>> > >>
>> > >>--
>> > >>No virus found in this incoming message.
>> > >>Checked by AVG Free Edition. Version: 7.5.516 / Virus Database:
>> > >>269.17.9/1197 - Release Date: 12/25/2007 8:04 PM
>> > >
>> > >_______________________________________________
>> > >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"
>> > .......................................
>> >
>> > _______________________________________________
>> > 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
>>
>>
>> --
>> No virus found in this incoming message.
>> Checked by AVG Free Edition.
>> Version: 7.5.516 / Virus Database: 269.17.13/1211 - Release Date:  
>> 1/6/2008 11:57 AM
>
> _______________________________________________
> 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 Jan  6 18:27:58 2008
From: barrie.ellis at oneswitch.org.uk (Barrie Ellis)
Date: Sun, 6 Jan 2008 23:27:58 -0000
Subject: [games_access] Atari Accessibility Features
Message-ID: <000c01c850bb$c5ce7ed0$0202a8c0@oneswitch>

Little historical blog entry here on Atari's "Special Feature" in games in the early 80's:

http://gameaccessibility.blogspot.com/2008/01/no-school-like-old-school.html

Trying to track down some more stuff on pioneers in accessible gaming in 1981 that I've a lead for - might get somewhere might not... Not that important in the great scheme of things perhaps - but I'm curious.

Barrie
www.OneSwitch.org.uk
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From barrie.ellis at oneswitch.org.uk  Sun Jan  6 18:44:39 2008
From: barrie.ellis at oneswitch.org.uk (Barrie Ellis)
Date: Sun, 6 Jan 2008 23:44:39 -0000
Subject: [games_access] Origins of Accessible Gaming Historical search...
Message-ID: <002601c850be$1aea2520$0202a8c0@oneswitch>

What I'm searching for:

A paper entitled "Adapting Audio/Video Games for Handicapped Learners" written by Karen Hughes in 1981 (the more than controversial "Year of the Disabled") and published in a journal called "Teaching Exceptional Children". All I have presently is:


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


Teaching Exceptional Children, v14 n2 p80-83 Nov 1981

Adapting Audio/Video Games for Handicapped Learners: Part 1 (by Karen Hughes)
"Guidelines for selecting electronic audio/video toys and games for children with handicaps are discussed, and information on 13 games (such as "Simon" and "Merlin") is provided. (CL)"


Teaching Exceptional Children, v14 n3 p127-29 Dec 1981

Adapting Audio/Video Games for Handicapped Learners: Part 2 (by Karen Hughes)
"Suggestions are made for using special adaptive equipment to modify audiovisual toys and games for the severely handicapped or to create games to achieve specific purposes. Three board and electronic games and three television games are described in terms of selection factors. (CL)"


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


If anyone can help with tracking down more on these two papers, I'd be very thankful. Seems like a local US based library may have the answers on microfiche. I've tried e-mailing the author but no luck as yet.

Can I get any geekier? Probably!

Barrie
www.OneSwitch.org.uk
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From barrie.ellis at oneswitch.org.uk  Sun Jan  6 18:58:42 2008
From: barrie.ellis at oneswitch.org.uk (Barrie Ellis)
Date: Sun, 6 Jan 2008 23:58:42 -0000
Subject: [games_access] Origins of Accessible Gaming Historical search...
References: <002601c850be$1aea2520$0202a8c0@oneswitch>
Message-ID: <003c01c850c0$118f0e30$0202a8c0@oneswitch>

Going further back to 1980:

Google Books turned up reference to accessible gaming:

"First published in 1980, "Disabled" examines the practical difficulties faced by people with a range of disabilities, and offers a range of practical solutions. From the psychological challenges faced by those with disabilities, to special needs for housing, communications, travel, to diet and nutrition, health care, sport, legal aid and educational opportunities, Lewis Forbes' offers an invaluable primer of disabled experience. "Disabled" remains a useful practical guide and reference to a host of long-term and everyday challenges."

Passage:

"3. Recreational Aids: A. Indoor.

Indoor recreational facilities are the newest area in which the physically disabled can participate. There are many environmental and communicative television games on the market, today, that can be easily adapted to the individual needs of a handicapped person through the use of specially designed conductors. It is even possible for disabled children to operate the new electronic toys that are available today. Such development should be encouraged in children, as it will help to prepare them for equipment use in adult life if they are or should become physically disabled and require an aide to function properly."

How language changes through the decades!


  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: Barrie Ellis 
  To: IGDA Games Accessibility SIG Mailing List 
  Sent: Sunday, January 06, 2008 11:44 PM
  Subject: [games_access] Origins of Accessible Gaming Historical search...


  What I'm searching for:

  A paper entitled "Adapting Audio/Video Games for Handicapped Learners" written by Karen Hughes in 1981 (the more than controversial "Year of the Disabled") and published in a journal called "Teaching Exceptional Children". All I have presently is:


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


  Teaching Exceptional Children, v14 n2 p80-83 Nov 1981

  Adapting Audio/Video Games for Handicapped Learners: Part 1 (by Karen Hughes)
  "Guidelines for selecting electronic audio/video toys and games for children with handicaps are discussed, and information on 13 games (such as "Simon" and "Merlin") is provided. (CL)"


  Teaching Exceptional Children, v14 n3 p127-29 Dec 1981

  Adapting Audio/Video Games for Handicapped Learners: Part 2 (by Karen Hughes)
  "Suggestions are made for using special adaptive equipment to modify audiovisual toys and games for the severely handicapped or to create games to achieve specific purposes. Three board and electronic games and three television games are described in terms of selection factors. (CL)"


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


  If anyone can help with tracking down more on these two papers, I'd be very thankful. Seems like a local US based library may have the answers on microfiche. I've tried e-mailing the author but no luck as yet.

  Can I get any geekier? Probably!

  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  Sun Jan  6 19:32:28 2008
From: hinn at uiuc.edu (d. michelle hinn)
Date: Sun, 6 Jan 2008 18:32:28 -0600
Subject: [games_access] GA-SIG DVD 2008 (was ...CD)
In-Reply-To: <2534D3BB-6D3F-49BE-BBB5-14E7B7261305@pininteractive.com>
References: <20080106134946.AZX56252@expms2.cites.uiuc.edu><a6673b8d0801061228t7c3e6d5
	fyecd583a2ba307d7b@mail.gmail.com>
	<6.1.0.6.2.20080106154303.01df1a98@enigami.com>
	<2534D3BB-6D3F-49BE-BBB5-14E7B7261305@pininteractive.com>
Message-ID: <p06230903c3a71e4209ec@[130.126.29.55]>

So basically here's how things will work with the DVD 
purchasing/burning -- we present a receipt to the IGDA for 
reimbursement. They don't usually pay ahead of time, as it's easier 
for them just to know the exact final amount of money and write a 
reimbursement check for that.

Reid -- any ideas of price breaks for burning the DVDs? I guess we 
need to make this decision now: How many should we burn? There will 
be an estimated 18,000 people at this year's GDC but there are only 
about six of us attending this year, including those who paid for 
their own passes. Numbers of GA session attendees have historically 
been low -- as we well know -- but I suspect that most of the DVDs we 
pass out will be distributed throughout the GDC week by SIG members 
outside of the sessions we are doing.

Also, we need to make some decisions about fliers ASAP. We can pass 
out SIG business cards but a half page flier would be nice to attach 
to the business cards and the DVDs. On the flier we can have our 
session times and locations (which are still TBA when I last checked) 
or it can be just something that introduced GA and the SIG (that kind 
of sounds like a band name...). My hesitation about putting session 
times and locations are that it makes the fliers non-reusable and 
things change (such as our booth number at E for All that we didn't 
learn about until the day it started and it was too late to change -- 
luckily our old booth number didn't even exist so we didn't have 
people going to the anti-game accessibility booth instead ;) )

We need something eye-catching and we cannot use the Pac Man 
ghosts...we had a nice (really) guy from Namco who told me that he 
thought the flier was awesome but if their legal department saw it, 
we'd get a nasty "cease and desist" order unless they approved it 
(and he said that their lawyers are like sharks when it comes to 
Namco's IP). Fair enough. So I took that as a friendly warning from 
an insider that we need to run that by their lawyers before we use it 
again. They may not have a big issue with it but we can't afford to 
get entangled in any legal mess -- I'm trying to get in contact with 
them to get their OK but we might not (read: probably will not) get a 
thumb's up to use it in time for GDC. I'm trying to see if we can get 
their permission to use it in the book, though -- would be very cool 
to have on the cover!

Michelle

>Hello
>
>Yes that's great;
>
>another thing:
>
>the headline for this -email was GA-SIG CD 2008, but I mentioned  a 
>DVD in the mail text
>-previously we have made CDs but last years version was really 
>packed and to get more content in, we need a DVD
>
>So Michelle when you talk to the IGDA folks about getting some 
>sponsoring for this thing, please ask for DVDs!
>
>/Thomas
>
>On 6 jan 2008, at 21.47, John Bannick wrote:
>
>>Folks,
>>
>>Great!
>>
>>We just verified that the new code works and are madly working on 
>>the content.
>>
>>I'll try to upload it to Thomas' FTP no later than Mon 14 Jan.
>>If that fails, then I'll ask Reid for his mailing address.
>>
>>Thanks all,
>>
>>John
>>
>>At 03:28 PM 1/6/2008, you wrote:
>>>I agree, I think it'd be a great addition. Can you upload it to
>>>Thomas' FTP? If not, I'll give you my mailing address in another
>>>email. I've agreed to help print the DVDs since I'm in the same city
>>>as the conference.
>>>
>>>-Reid
>>>
>>>On Jan 6, 2008 11:49 AM,  <hinn at uiuc.edu> wrote:
>>>>  Hi John --
>>>>
>>>>  I think that it would be great to have your game book on the 
>>>>DVD. I think Thomas would agree that there are no issues against 
>>>>it -- we open up the CD/DVD each year to everyone who has 
>>>>examples they would like to include.
>>>>
>>>>  Wow. GDC is just a little over one month away!?! It's crazy 
>>>>early this year!
>>>>
>>>>  Michelle
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>  ---- Original message ----
>>>>  >Date: Sun, 06 Jan 2008 12:57:30 -0500
>>>>  >From: John Bannick <jbannick at 7128.com>
>>>>  >Subject: Re: [games_access] GA-SIG CD 2008
>>>>  >To: IGDA Games Accessibility SIG Mailing List <games_access at igda.org>
>>>>  >
>>>  > >Thomas,
>>>>  >
>>>>  >Would it be possible to include our "Developer Reference 
>>>>Example" Game Book
>>>>  >on your GDC DVD?
>>>>  >
>>>>  >This Game Book contains a set of accessible games.
>>>>  >
>>>>  >Each game is prefaced with a description of how each 
>>>>accessibility modality
>>>>  >is addressed in that game.
>>>>  >When you start each game, its Accessibilty Preface is displayed.
>>>>  >
>>>>  >For example, a BL rated game such as Inspector Cyndi in Newport includes
>>>>  >self-voicing and JAWS compatibility.
>>>>  >That same game is VI rated and includes Big Type Windows High Contrast
>>>>  >compatibility, and ZoomText magnification compatibility.
>>>>  >That same game is MI rated and includes single-keystroke controls,
>>>>  >mouseless control, Dragon compatibility, and big buttons.
>>>>  >That same game is DF rated and includes subtitles for the 
>>>>videos (sorry, no
>>>>  >CC yet)
>>>>  >
>>>>  >Similarly, a game like Tyler Raindrops (like Tetris) is rated 
>>>>MI because it
>>>>  >has a Game Throttle that can slow it down.
>>>>  >
>>>>  >This demonstrates to a developer how a game can be made accessible.
>>>>  >Our message is "Hey, if a tiny company can do this profitably, why can't
>>>>  >you big guys do the same?"
>>>>  >
>>>>  >The Game Book file is 50 Mb and runs on Windows 98 / XP / and Vista.
>>>>  >It contains its own Java runtime, which does not interfere with 
>>>>any JRE the
>>>>  >user may have.
>>>>  >
>>>>  >Please let me know if this might be acceptable on your DVD.
>>>>  >I could get it to you by Mon, 14 January.
>>>>  >
>>>>  >Thanks,
>>>>  >
>>>>  >John
>>>>  >
>>>>  >
>>>>  >
>>>>  >
>>>>  >At 04:42 PM 12/25/2007, you wrote:
>>>>  >>Hello
>>>>  >>
>>>>  >>I'm setting up a FTP account on our blade server with 80 GB storage
>>>>  >>space available
>>>>  >>
>>>>  >>Those of you who want to contribute content to this year's GA-SIG DVD
>>>>  >>at Game Developers Conference 2008, please drop me an e-mail off list
>>>>  >>with "GA-SIG CD" as subject so I easily spot it.
>>>>  >>
>>>>  >>If you know people off list that would like to contribute too, please
>>>>  >>forward this e-mail.
>>>>  >>
>>>>  >>It can be games, videos, papers, code, tools or something else
>>>>  >>relevant for game accessibility.
>>>>  >>
>>>>  >>Please note the time frame; the GDC 08 takes place Feb 18, and before
>>>>  >>that I need to arrange the production of DVDs. I've not decided a
>>>>  >>deadline yet but somewhere by the end of January / early February is a
>>>>  >>realistic guess.
>>>>  >>
>>>>  >>Thanks,
>>>>  >>
>>>>  >>/Thomas
>>>>  >>
>>>>  >>Pin Interactive AB
>>>>  >>:: Digital Culture Analysis :: Tools :: Worlds
>>>>  >>
>>>>  >>+46 (0)706 400 402
>>>>  >>
>>>>  >>Time zone: GMT+1 , PST+9
>>>>  >>
>>>>  >>_______________________________________________
>>>>  >>games_access mailing list
>>>>  >>games_access at igda.org
>>>>  >>http://seven.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/games_access
>>>>  >>
>>>>  >>
>>>>  >>--
>>>>  >>No virus found in this incoming message.
>>>>  >>Checked by AVG Free Edition. Version: 7.5.516 / Virus Database:
>>>>  >>269.17.9/1197 - Release Date: 12/25/2007 8:04 PM
>>>>  >
>>>>  >_______________________________________________
>>>>  >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"
>>>>  .......................................
>>>>
>>>>  _______________________________________________
>>>>  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
>>>
>>>
>>>--
>>>No virus found in this incoming message.
>>>Checked by AVG Free Edition.
>>>Version: 7.5.516 / Virus Database: 269.17.13/1211 - Release Date: 
>>>1/6/2008 11:57 AM
>>
>>_______________________________________________
>>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  Sun Jan  6 19:40:20 2008
From: hinn at uiuc.edu (d. michelle hinn)
Date: Sun, 6 Jan 2008 18:40:20 -0600
Subject: [games_access] Origins of Accessible Gaming Historical search...
In-Reply-To: <002601c850be$1aea2520$0202a8c0@oneswitch>
References: <002601c850be$1aea2520$0202a8c0@oneswitch>
Message-ID: <p06230905c3a7245d7872@[130.126.29.55]>

Hey Barrie -- I'm actually in the middle of doing a giant lit search 
so let me see if we have it at our library here and then I can scan 
it in and send it to you. Fun Facts about the University of Illinois: 
The term "learning disabilities" was first coined by a researcher 
here and our library is the third largest university library (behind 
Harvard and Yale) in the country so finger's crossed that it's in our 
database but I'm hoping it is just because we seem to have just about 
everything ever published on the shelves. I'm going to the library 
tomorrow actually so if it is I can get it pretty quickly. More after 
I look at the university database!

Michelle

>What I'm searching for:
>
>A paper entitled "Adapting Audio/Video Games for Handicapped 
>Learners" written by Karen Hughes in 1981 (the more than 
>controversial "Year of the Disabled") and published in a journal 
>called "Teaching Exceptional Children". All I have presently is:
>
>
>
><http://www.eric.ed.gov/ERICWebPortal/custom/portlets/recordDetails/detailmini.jsp?_nfpb=true&_&ERICExtSearch_SearchValue_0=EJ252314&ERICExtSearch_SearchType_0=no&accno=EJ252314>Teaching 
>Exceptional Children, v14 n2 p80-83 Nov 1981
>
>Adapting Audio/Video Games for Handicapped Learners: Part 1 (by Karen Hughes)
>"Guidelines for selecting electronic audio/video toys and games for 
>children with handicaps are discussed, and information on 13 games 
>(such as "Simon" and "Merlin") is provided. (CL)"
>
>
><http://www.eric.ed.gov/ERICWebPortal/custom/portlets/recordDetails/detailmini.jsp?_nfpb=true&_&ERICExtSearch_SearchValue_0=EJ256552&ERICExtSearch_SearchType_0=no&accno=EJ256552>Teaching 
>Exceptional Children, v14 n3 p127-29 Dec 1981
>
>Adapting Audio/Video Games for Handicapped Learners: Part 2 (by Karen Hughes)
>"Suggestions are made for using special adaptive equipment to modify 
>audiovisual toys and games for the severely handicapped or to create 
>games to achieve specific purposes. Three board and electronic games 
>and three television games are described in terms of selection 
>factors. (CL)"
>
>
>
>If anyone can help with tracking down more on these two papers, I'd 
>be very thankful. Seems like a local US based library may have the 
>answers on microfiche. I've tried e-mailing the author but no luck 
>as yet.
>
>Can I get any geekier? Probably!
>
>Barrie
><http://www.OneSwitch.org.uk>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  Sun Jan  6 19:58:18 2008
From: hinn at uiuc.edu (d. michelle hinn)
Date: Sun, 6 Jan 2008 18:58:18 -0600
Subject: [games_access] Origins of Accessible Gaming Historical search...
In-Reply-To: <p06230905c3a7245d7872@[130.126.29.55]>
References: <002601c850be$1aea2520$0202a8c0@oneswitch>
	<p06230905c3a7245d7872@[130.126.29.55]>
Message-ID: <p06230907c3a729259735@[130.126.29.55]>

Hey again Barrie --

Yes, we do have the original print journal in the library stacks so I 
can grab part 1 and 2 tomorrow. No dealing with microfiche (always a 
plus!). :)

Michelle

>Hey Barrie -- I'm actually in the middle of doing a giant lit search 
>so let me see if we have it at our library here and then I can scan 
>it in and send it to you. Fun Facts about the University of 
>Illinois: The term "learning disabilities" was first coined by a 
>researcher here and our library is the third largest university 
>library (behind Harvard and Yale) in the country so finger's crossed 
>that it's in our database but I'm hoping it is just because we seem 
>to have just about everything ever published on the shelves. I'm 
>going to the library tomorrow actually so if it is I can get it 
>pretty quickly. More after I look at the university database!
>
>Michelle
>
>>What I'm searching for:
>>
>>A paper entitled "Adapting Audio/Video Games for Handicapped 
>>Learners" written by Karen Hughes in 1981 (the more than 
>>controversial "Year of the Disabled") and published in a journal 
>>called "Teaching Exceptional Children". All I have presently is:
>>
>>
>>
>><http://www.eric.ed.gov/ERICWebPortal/custom/portlets/recordDetails/detailmini.jsp?_nfpb=true&_&ERICExtSearch_SearchValue_0=EJ252314&ERICExtSearch_SearchType_0=no&accno=EJ252314>Teaching 
>>Exceptional Children, v14 n2 p80-83 Nov 1981
>>
>>Adapting Audio/Video Games for Handicapped Learners: Part 1 (by Karen Hughes)
>>"Guidelines for selecting electronic audio/video toys and games for 
>>children with handicaps are discussed, and information on 13 games 
>>(such as "Simon" and "Merlin") is provided. (CL)"
>>
>>
>><http://www.eric.ed.gov/ERICWebPortal/custom/portlets/recordDetails/detailmini.jsp?_nfpb=true&_&ERICExtSearch_SearchValue_0=EJ256552&ERICExtSearch_SearchType_0=no&accno=EJ256552>Teaching 
>>Exceptional Children, v14 n3 p127-29 Dec 1981
>>
>>Adapting Audio/Video Games for Handicapped Learners: Part 2 (by Karen Hughes)
>>"Suggestions are made for using special adaptive equipment to 
>>modify audiovisual toys and games for the severely handicapped or 
>>to create games to achieve specific purposes. Three board and 
>>electronic games and three television games are described in terms 
>>of selection factors. (CL)"
>>
>>
>>
>>If anyone can help with tracking down more on these two papers, I'd 
>>be very thankful. Seems like a local US based library may have the 
>>answers on microfiche. I've tried e-mailing the author but no luck 
>>as yet.
>>
>>Can I get any geekier? Probably!
>>
>>Barrie
>><http://www.OneSwitch.org.uk>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 reid at rbkdesign.com  Mon Jan  7 22:02:28 2008
From: reid at rbkdesign.com (Reid Kimball)
Date: Mon, 7 Jan 2008 19:02:28 -0800
Subject: [games_access] Feedback needed on poster for GDC 2008
In-Reply-To: <a6673b8d0801061205w2cc06eb1me9e512c129171828@mail.gmail.com>
References: <a6673b8d0801032210j3b0fc9bdmcc7a7ef9fb1dea1a@mail.gmail.com>
	<BAY135-W9EB2919D62C7DC4888A79D94C0@phx.gbl>
	<a6673b8d0801041017q34e022c1leab95d4e59173a4b@mail.gmail.com>
	<001201c84f05$4fc60f30$6402a8c0@Delletje>
	<a6673b8d0801041154x59b316b1l616796500fd9866b@mail.gmail.com>
	<005301c84f0e$60bdd850$6402a8c0@Delletje>
	<836db6300801041737n2ebb37deu4b259bb2a48963d1@mail.gmail.com>
	<a6673b8d0801061205w2cc06eb1me9e512c129171828@mail.gmail.com>
Message-ID: <a6673b8d0801071902tf8756a6y28183c12b3b03bf2@mail.gmail.com>

Hi everyone,

I've updated my poster, I'm really happy with this one, thanks to all
the feedback I got.

http://gamescc.rbkdesign.com/GDC2008_poster05.pdf

-Reid


From ioo at ablegamers.com  Mon Jan  7 22:23:32 2008
From: ioo at ablegamers.com (Ioo)
Date: Mon, 07 Jan 2008 22:23:32 -0500
Subject: [games_access] Feedback needed on poster for GDC 2008
In-Reply-To: <a6673b8d0801071902tf8756a6y28183c12b3b03bf2@mail.gmail.com>
References: <a6673b8d0801032210j3b0fc9bdmcc7a7ef9fb1dea1a@mail.gmail.com>	<BAY135-W9EB2919D62C7DC4888A79D94C0@phx.gbl>	<a6673b8d0801041017q34e022c1leab95d4e59173a4b@mail.gmail.com>	<001201c84f05$4fc60f30$6402a8c0@Delletje>	<a6673b8d0801041154x59b316b1l616796500fd9866b@mail.gmail.com>	<005301c84f0e$60bdd850$6402a8c0@Delletje>	<836db6300801041737n2ebb37deu4b259bb2a48963d1@mail.gmail.com>	<a6673b8d0801061205w2cc06eb1me9e512c129171828@mail.gmail.com>
	<a6673b8d0801071902tf8756a6y28183c12b3b03bf2@mail.gmail.com>
Message-ID: <4782ECB4.4060003@ablegamers.com>

Reid,

 That looks much better, I like the bullets... the only thing I would 
say is you have some white space at the bottom, so maybe you should make 
the screenies a little larger... I would also drop the gray box...

An option you have to make it pop a little more is to do something like 
the image I put at the link. If you want to go this way, I would be more 
than happy to make the images for you (there are just concepts) I would 
need better images.

http://ablegamers.com/images/ried.jpg

If you send me larger quality images, to me ioo at ablegamers.com and I can 
get them back to you... just a thought.

Mark

Reid Kimball wrote:
> Hi everyone,
>
> I've updated my poster, I'm really happy with this one, thanks to all
> the feedback I got.
>
> http://gamescc.rbkdesign.com/GDC2008_poster05.pdf
>
> -Reid
> _______________________________________________
> games_access mailing list
> games_access at igda.org
> http://seven.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/games_access
>
>   


From j.chetwynd at btinternet.com  Tue Jan  8 05:31:16 2008
From: j.chetwynd at btinternet.com (=?UTF-8?B?In46Jycg44GC44KK44GM44Go44GG44GU44GW44GE44G+44GX44Gf?= =?UTF-8?B?44CCIg==?=)
Date: Tue, 8 Jan 2008 10:31:16 +0000
Subject: [games_access] Origins of Accessible Gaming Historical search...
In-Reply-To: <002601c850be$1aea2520$0202a8c0@oneswitch>
References: <002601c850be$1aea2520$0202a8c0@oneswitch>
Message-ID: <D456B435-3670-4EDA-9619-7A1BD42EEC33@btinternet.com>

Barrie,

why not ask Karen?
http://louisville.edu/education/departments/elfh/faculty/h-miller/
CV:
http://louisville.edu/education/departments/elfh/faculty/h-miller/kh- 
miller-cv07.pdf

regards

Jonathan Chetwynd
Accessibility Consultant on Media Literacy and the Internet



On 6 Jan 2008, at 23:44, Barrie Ellis wrote:

Karen Hughes in 1981



From hinn at uiuc.edu  Tue Jan  8 11:48:29 2008
From: hinn at uiuc.edu (hinn at uiuc.edu)
Date: Tue,  8 Jan 2008 10:48:29 -0600 (CST)
Subject: [games_access] Origins of Accessible Gaming Historical search...
Message-ID: <20080108104829.AZZ12891@expms2.cites.uiuc.edu>

As he mentioned, he did -- no answer. I've got the articles from our library so I will be sending it on to him.

---- Original message ----
>Date: Tue, 8 Jan 2008 10:31:16 +0000
>From: "~:'' ????????????" <j.chetwynd at btinternet.com>  
>Subject: Re: [games_access] Origins of Accessible Gaming Historical search...  
>To: IGDA Games Accessibility SIG Mailing List <games_access at igda.org>
>
>Barrie,
>
>why not ask Karen?
>http://louisville.edu/education/departments/elfh/faculty/h-miller/
>CV:
>http://louisville.edu/education/departments/elfh/faculty/h-miller/kh- 
>miller-cv07.pdf
>
>regards
>
>Jonathan Chetwynd
>Accessibility Consultant on Media Literacy and the Internet
>
>
>
>On 6 Jan 2008, at 23:44, Barrie Ellis wrote:
>
>Karen Hughes in 1981
>
>_______________________________________________
>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 richard at audiogames.net  Tue Jan  8 16:03:16 2008
From: richard at audiogames.net (AudioGames.net)
Date: Tue, 8 Jan 2008 22:03:16 +0100
Subject: [games_access] Origins of Accessible Gaming Historical search...
References: <002601c850be$1aea2520$0202a8c0@oneswitch>
Message-ID: <002801c85239$e40bc810$6402a8c0@Delletje>

Hi,

*quote*
Can I get any geekier? Probably!
*quote end*

Welcome to the Academia Club! *

:)

Richard


*and bring the booze ;)


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From eelke.folmer at gmail.com  Tue Jan  8 20:20:52 2008
From: eelke.folmer at gmail.com (Eelke Folmer)
Date: Tue, 8 Jan 2008 17:20:52 -0800
Subject: [games_access] game development essentials: an introduction
Message-ID: <836db6300801081720t68d19d6bgb2e1f52caa2bf4ff@mail.gmail.com>

Hi Folks,

Great job - the accessibility section in the book mentioned in the
subject. I decided to use this book in my cs281 class, since covers
lots of game development issues without going into to much detail on
game programming. The CD even has terraformers and lots of accessible
games on it! great work.

Cheers Eelke

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


From hinn at uiuc.edu  Tue Jan  8 20:29:02 2008
From: hinn at uiuc.edu (d. michelle hinn)
Date: Tue, 8 Jan 2008 19:29:02 -0600
Subject: [games_access] game development essentials: an introduction
In-Reply-To: <836db6300801081720t68d19d6bgb2e1f52caa2bf4ff@mail.gmail.com>
References: <836db6300801081720t68d19d6bgb2e1f52caa2bf4ff@mail.gmail.com>
Message-ID: <p06230900c3a9d31dc38a@[130.126.29.20]>

Yeah, it is a good book -- she also covers it in a few other titles 
in her series. She contracted me to get the accessibility stuff on 
the CD and worked with Robert as well as he was a student in her 
class.

So this is one of the models that I want to keep in mind as we design 
the SIG book -- same publisher, btw.

Michelle

>Hi Folks,
>
>Great job - the accessibility section in the book mentioned in the
>subject. I decided to use this book in my cs281 class, since covers
>lots of game development issues without going into to much detail on
>game programming. The CD even has terraformers and lots of accessible
>games on it! great work.
>
>Cheers Eelke
>
>--
>----------------------------------------------------------------------------
>Eelke Folmer                           Assistant Professor
>Department of CS&E/171
>University of Nevada              Reno, Nevada 89557
>Game interaction design        www.helpyouplay.com
>----------------------------------------------------------------------------
>_______________________________________________
>games_access mailing list
>games_access at igda.org
>http://seven.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/games_access



From barrie.ellis at oneswitch.org.uk  Wed Jan  9 06:47:38 2008
From: barrie.ellis at oneswitch.org.uk (Barrie Ellis)
Date: Wed, 9 Jan 2008 11:47:38 -0000
Subject: [games_access] Origins of Accessible Gaming Historical search...
References: <002601c850be$1aea2520$0202a8c0@oneswitch>
	<002801c85239$e40bc810$6402a8c0@Delletje>
Message-ID: <004f01c852b5$7123a9e0$0202a8c0@oneswitch>

I thank you!
  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: AudioGames.net 
  To: IGDA Games Accessibility SIG Mailing List 
  Sent: Tuesday, January 08, 2008 9:03 PM
  Subject: Re: [games_access] Origins of Accessible Gaming Historical search...


  Hi,

  *quote*
  Can I get any geekier? Probably!
  *quote end*

  Welcome to the Academia Club! *

  :)

  Richard


  *and bring the booze ;)





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


  _______________________________________________
  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  Sat Jan 12 07:30:32 2008
From: barrie.ellis at oneswitch.org.uk (Barrie Ellis)
Date: Sat, 12 Jan 2008 12:30:32 -0000
Subject: [games_access] Wii-mote projects
Message-ID: <03ed01c85516$ed7728b0$0202a8c0@oneswitch>

These are pretty fantastic:

http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~johnny/projects/wii/

Especially the head-tracking VR video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jd3-eiid-Uw&eurl=http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~johnny/projects/wii/
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From j.chetwynd at btinternet.com  Sat Jan 12 10:49:28 2008
From: j.chetwynd at btinternet.com (=?UTF-8?B?In46Jycg44GC44KK44GM44Go44GG44GU44GW44GE44G+44GX44Gf?= =?UTF-8?B?44CCIg==?=)
Date: Sat, 12 Jan 2008 15:49:28 +0000
Subject: [games_access] Wii-mote projects
In-Reply-To: <03ed01c85516$ed7728b0$0202a8c0@oneswitch>
References: <03ed01c85516$ed7728b0$0202a8c0@oneswitch>
Message-ID: <DFE6144B-AA58-4D4C-92FE-559F66B44137@btinternet.com>

Barrie et al..

yes, I've been querying why macs, which come with a camera dont have  
something similar.
though obviously there is even more possible....

regards

Jonathan Chetwynd
Accessibility Consultant on Media Literacy and the Internet



On 12 Jan 2008, at 12:30, Barrie Ellis wrote:

These are pretty fantastic:

http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~johnny/projects/wii/

Especially the head-tracking VR video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jd3-eiid-Uw&eurl=http://www.cs.cmu.edu/ 
~johnny/projects/wii/
_______________________________________________
games_access mailing list
games_access at igda.org
http://seven.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/games_access



From lynnvm at carolina.rr.com  Sat Jan 12 11:38:38 2008
From: lynnvm at carolina.rr.com (Lynn Marentette)
Date: Sat, 12 Jan 2008 11:38:38 -0500
Subject: [games_access] games_access Digest, Vol 44, Issue 13
In-Reply-To: <mailman.15.1200150007.27202.games_access@igda.org>
References: <mailman.15.1200150007.27202.games_access@igda.org>
Message-ID: <001901c85539$954f5400$c601000a@HOME>

Barrie,

Thanks for the link about Johnny Lee's Wii projects.  I posted it on my
blog, and also put a post about it on Classroom 2.0.

Lynn

TechPsych 
Interactive Multimedia Technology

Today's Topics:

   1. Wii-mote projects (Barrie Ellis)


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

Message: 1
Date: Sat, 12 Jan 2008 12:30:32 -0000
From: "Barrie Ellis" <barrie.ellis at oneswitch.org.uk>
Subject: [games_access] Wii-mote projects
To: "IGDA Games Accessibility SIG Mailing List"
	<games_access at igda.org>
Message-ID: <03ed01c85516$ed7728b0$0202a8c0 at oneswitch>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"

These are pretty fantastic:

http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~johnny/projects/wii/

Especially the head-tracking VR video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jd3-eiid-Uw&eurl=http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~johnn
y/projects/wii/
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------------------------------

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


End of games_access Digest, Vol 44, Issue 13
********************************************




From devellison at gmail.com  Mon Jan 14 05:29:50 2008
From: devellison at gmail.com (Michael Ellison)
Date: Mon, 14 Jan 2008 04:29:50 -0600
Subject: [games_access] Game Accessibility Suite, and first prototype...
Message-ID: <f2235baa0801140229q599e2a78xbe2bf3cecbe70ce1@mail.gmail.com>

Greetings,
    Just wanted to post a note if any of ya'll are interested... I've
started an open source project on SourceForge.net to create a suite of
utilities to make modern Win32 games more accessible.  Currently
trying to figure out a good way to do external captioning with Reid,
and I have a few other utility projects going at the moment.

I've finished my first prototype utility using the common libraries
I'm building up.  It is called GASThrottle, and should allow you to
slow down many modern games on Windows to 10%-90% speed.  I've tested
it with Doom 3 and Far Cry with great success, and others with mixed
results - e.g. it crashes BioShock ;( .  When I looked, I didn't find
much out there that did this for modern games that worked, although I
found a few that didn't and some that work *great* for old DOS games.

If there is already a free utility out there that does this well,
please tell me :)
Right now it's just a command line app, but if it looks useful to
people I'll eventually make it all nice and pretty.

Anyway, if anyone has ideas/suggestions on this or other utilities to
add to the suite, please email me or post in the project's
forums/tracker.

Download page: http://sourceforge.net/project/showfiles.php?group_id=212119&package_id=258851
Code Docs: http://gameaccess.sourceforge.net
Project URL: http://sourceforge.net/projects/gameaccess
Source Repository:
https://gameaccess.svn.sourceforge.net/svnroot/gameaccess/trunk/

Cheers,
Mike


From barrie.ellis at oneswitch.org.uk  Mon Jan 14 08:48:40 2008
From: barrie.ellis at oneswitch.org.uk (Barrie Ellis)
Date: Mon, 14 Jan 2008 13:48:40 -0000
Subject: [games_access] Game Accessibility Suite, and first prototype...
References: <f2235baa0801140229q599e2a78xbe2bf3cecbe70ce1@mail.gmail.com>
Message-ID: <00ed01c856b4$2c3daa80$0202a8c0@oneswitch>

Hi Michael,

Public domain speed control sounds like a dream come true to me...

I'm only aware of  CPU Killer which I use and Mo'Slo for the PC both of
which you have to pay for:

http://www.cpukiller.com/
http://www.hpaa.com/moslo/

I'd recommend trying your speed control utility on some pinball games - as
CPU Killer doesn't work with these due to frame skipping.

http://switchgaming.blogspot.com/2007/06/pinball-soccer.html

If you can crack that, I'd be really impressed.

Good luck!

Barrie
www.OneSwitch.org.uk



----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Michael Ellison" <devellison at gmail.com>
To: <games_access at igda.org>
Sent: Monday, January 14, 2008 10:29 AM
Subject: [games_access] Game Accessibility Suite, and first prototype...


> Greetings,
>    Just wanted to post a note if any of ya'll are interested... I've
> started an open source project on SourceForge.net to create a suite of
> utilities to make modern Win32 games more accessible.  Currently
> trying to figure out a good way to do external captioning with Reid,
> and I have a few other utility projects going at the moment.
>
> I've finished my first prototype utility using the common libraries
> I'm building up.  It is called GASThrottle, and should allow you to
> slow down many modern games on Windows to 10%-90% speed.  I've tested
> it with Doom 3 and Far Cry with great success, and others with mixed
> results - e.g. it crashes BioShock ;( .  When I looked, I didn't find
> much out there that did this for modern games that worked, although I
> found a few that didn't and some that work *great* for old DOS games.
>
> If there is already a free utility out there that does this well,
> please tell me :)
> Right now it's just a command line app, but if it looks useful to
> people I'll eventually make it all nice and pretty.
>
> Anyway, if anyone has ideas/suggestions on this or other utilities to
> add to the suite, please email me or post in the project's
> forums/tracker.
>
> Download page:
> http://sourceforge.net/project/showfiles.php?group_id=212119&package_id=258851
> Code Docs: http://gameaccess.sourceforge.net
> Project URL: http://sourceforge.net/projects/gameaccess
> Source Repository:
> https://gameaccess.svn.sourceforge.net/svnroot/gameaccess/trunk/
>
> Cheers,
> Mike
> _______________________________________________
> games_access mailing list
> games_access at igda.org
> http://seven.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/games_access





From barrie.ellis at oneswitch.org.uk  Mon Jan 14 08:49:15 2008
From: barrie.ellis at oneswitch.org.uk (Barrie Ellis)
Date: Mon, 14 Jan 2008 13:49:15 -0000
Subject: [games_access] Videojeugos Accesibles
Message-ID: <00fa01c856b4$409be640$0202a8c0@oneswitch>

Just been sent a great Spanish game accessibility article - blogged with links here:

http://gameaccessibility.blogspot.com/2008/01/videojuegos-accesibles.html

Barrie
www.OneSwitch.org.uk
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From devellison at gmail.com  Mon Jan 14 09:03:55 2008
From: devellison at gmail.com (Michael Ellison)
Date: Mon, 14 Jan 2008 08:03:55 -0600
Subject: [games_access] Game Accessibility Suite, and first prototype...
In-Reply-To: <00ed01c856b4$2c3daa80$0202a8c0@oneswitch>
References: <f2235baa0801140229q599e2a78xbe2bf3cecbe70ce1@mail.gmail.com>
	<00ed01c856b4$2c3daa80$0202a8c0@oneswitch>
Message-ID: <f2235baa0801140603r31035f43v108faff9f39d694@mail.gmail.com>

Greetings Barrie,

On Jan 14, 2008 7:48 AM, Barrie Ellis <barrie.ellis at oneswitch.org.uk> wrote:
> I'd recommend trying your speed control utility on some pinball games - as
> CPU Killer doesn't work with these due to frame skipping.
> http://switchgaming.blogspot.com/2007/06/pinball-soccer.html

Glad to hear it might be useful!

Tested with the demo, seems to work fine.  Also works fine with the
built-in Windows pinball game.  The audio on both of them also seems
to work perfectly well.

The starting countdown timer takes *forever* at 10% speed though :)

Command line parameters I used:

gasthrottle 1 -s "C:\Program Files\WildSnake Software\Soccer Stars
Pinball\Soccers.exe"


Cheers,
Mike


From reid at rbkdesign.com  Mon Jan 14 11:09:58 2008
From: reid at rbkdesign.com (Reid Kimball)
Date: Mon, 14 Jan 2008 08:09:58 -0800
Subject: [games_access] Game Accessibility Suite, and first prototype...
In-Reply-To: <f2235baa0801140603r31035f43v108faff9f39d694@mail.gmail.com>
References: <f2235baa0801140229q599e2a78xbe2bf3cecbe70ce1@mail.gmail.com>
	<00ed01c856b4$2c3daa80$0202a8c0@oneswitch>
	<f2235baa0801140603r31035f43v108faff9f39d694@mail.gmail.com>
Message-ID: <a6673b8d0801140809t36338f9byc89cf0243d0ca615@mail.gmail.com>

Hey Mike, this is really cool. I'll try it with some other games
today. For old DOS games, one can use DosBox which you can control the
speed of how fast it runs.

-Reid

On Jan 14, 2008 6:03 AM, Michael Ellison <devellison at gmail.com> wrote:
> Greetings Barrie,
>
> On Jan 14, 2008 7:48 AM, Barrie Ellis <barrie.ellis at oneswitch.org.uk> wrote:
> > I'd recommend trying your speed control utility on some pinball games - as
> > CPU Killer doesn't work with these due to frame skipping.
> > http://switchgaming.blogspot.com/2007/06/pinball-soccer.html
>
> Glad to hear it might be useful!
>
> Tested with the demo, seems to work fine.  Also works fine with the
> built-in Windows pinball game.  The audio on both of them also seems
> to work perfectly well.
>
> The starting countdown timer takes *forever* at 10% speed though :)
>
> Command line parameters I used:
>
> gasthrottle 1 -s "C:\Program Files\WildSnake Software\Soccer Stars
> Pinball\Soccers.exe"
>
>
>
> Cheers,
> Mike
> _______________________________________________
> games_access mailing list
> games_access at igda.org
> http://seven.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/games_access
>


From hinn at uiuc.edu  Mon Jan 14 12:51:46 2008
From: hinn at uiuc.edu (d. michelle hinn)
Date: Mon, 14 Jan 2008 11:51:46 -0600
Subject: [games_access] Game Accessibility Suite, and first prototype...
In-Reply-To: <f2235baa0801140229q599e2a78xbe2bf3cecbe70ce1@mail.gmail.com>
References: <f2235baa0801140229q599e2a78xbe2bf3cecbe70ce1@mail.gmail.com>
Message-ID: <p06230915c3b150b7958b@[130.126.29.92]>

Hey Mike,

If you feel like there's an example that is ready to go and show at 
GDC next month, we'd be more than glad to show it at our 
accessibility arcade and/or pass out some promo materials (doesn't 
have to be fancy) about the project to see if we can get others 
involved. There are a lot of students aspiring to game dev careers 
and working on projects like this might resonate well with them and 
we might get some of them to help out. Just let me know! Also, if you 
want to include info about it on the SIG DVD that we'll be passing 
out, that's cool too! :)

Michelle

>Greetings,
>     Just wanted to post a note if any of ya'll are interested... I've
>started an open source project on SourceForge.net to create a suite of
>utilities to make modern Win32 games more accessible.  Currently
>trying to figure out a good way to do external captioning with Reid,
>and I have a few other utility projects going at the moment.
>
>I've finished my first prototype utility using the common libraries
>I'm building up.  It is called GASThrottle, and should allow you to
>slow down many modern games on Windows to 10%-90% speed.  I've tested
>it with Doom 3 and Far Cry with great success, and others with mixed
>results - e.g. it crashes BioShock ;( .  When I looked, I didn't find
>much out there that did this for modern games that worked, although I
>found a few that didn't and some that work *great* for old DOS games.
>
>If there is already a free utility out there that does this well,
>please tell me :)
>Right now it's just a command line app, but if it looks useful to
>people I'll eventually make it all nice and pretty.
>
>Anyway, if anyone has ideas/suggestions on this or other utilities to
>add to the suite, please email me or post in the project's
>forums/tracker.
>
>Download page: 
>http://sourceforge.net/project/showfiles.php?group_id=212119&package_id=258851
>Code Docs: http://gameaccess.sourceforge.net
>Project URL: http://sourceforge.net/projects/gameaccess
>Source Repository:
>https://gameaccess.svn.sourceforge.net/svnroot/gameaccess/trunk/
>
>Cheers,
>Mike
>_______________________________________________
>games_access mailing list
>games_access at igda.org
>http://seven.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/games_access



From hinn at uiuc.edu  Mon Jan 14 13:03:22 2008
From: hinn at uiuc.edu (d. michelle hinn)
Date: Mon, 14 Jan 2008 12:03:22 -0600
Subject: [games_access] Game Accessibility Suite, and first prototype...
Message-ID: <p06230916c3b1543a6855@[130.126.29.92]>

 From Barrie -- [caught it in the spam bin]

>Hi Michael,
>
>Public domain speed control sounds like a dream come true to me...
>
>I'm only aware of  CPU Killer which I use and Mo'Slo for the PC both 
>of which you have to pay for:
>
>http://www.cpukiller.com/
>http://www.hpaa.com/moslo/
>
>I'd recommend trying your speed control utility on some pinball 
>games - as CPU Killer doesn't work with these due to frame skipping.
>
>http://switchgaming.blogspot.com/2007/06/pinball-soccer.html
>
>If you can crack that, I'd be really impressed.
>
>Good luck!
>
>Barrie
>www.OneSwitch.org.uk
>
>
>
>----- Original Message ----- From: "Michael Ellison" <devellison at gmail.com>
>To: <games_access at igda.org>
>Sent: Monday, January 14, 2008 10:29 AM
>Subject: [games_access] Game Accessibility Suite, and first prototype...
>
>>Greetings,
>>    Just wanted to post a note if any of ya'll are interested... I've
>>started an open source project on SourceForge.net to create a suite of
>>utilities to make modern Win32 games more accessible.  Currently
>>trying to figure out a good way to do external captioning with Reid,
>>and I have a few other utility projects going at the moment.
>>
>>I've finished my first prototype utility using the common libraries
>>I'm building up.  It is called GASThrottle, and should allow you to
>>slow down many modern games on Windows to 10%-90% speed.  I've tested
>>it with Doom 3 and Far Cry with great success, and others with mixed
>>results - e.g. it crashes BioShock ;( .  When I looked, I didn't find
>>much out there that did this for modern games that worked, although I
>>found a few that didn't and some that work *great* for old DOS games.
>>
>>If there is already a free utility out there that does this well,
>>please tell me :)
>>Right now it's just a command line app, but if it looks useful to
>>people I'll eventually make it all nice and pretty.
>>
>>Anyway, if anyone has ideas/suggestions on this or other utilities to
>>add to the suite, please email me or post in the project's
>>forums/tracker.
>>
>>Download page: 
>>http://sourceforge.net/project/showfiles.php?group_id=212119&package_id=258851
>>Code Docs: http://gameaccess.sourceforge.net
>>Project URL: http://sourceforge.net/projects/gameaccess
>>Source Repository:
>>https://gameaccess.svn.sourceforge.net/svnroot/gameaccess/trunk/
>>
>>Cheers,
>>Mike
>>_______________________________________________
>>games_access mailing list
>>games_access at igda.org
>>http://seven.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/games_access



From barrie.ellis at oneswitch.org.uk  Mon Jan 14 13:16:06 2008
From: barrie.ellis at oneswitch.org.uk (Barrie Ellis)
Date: Mon, 14 Jan 2008 18:16:06 -0000
Subject: [games_access] Game Accessibility Suite, and first prototype...
References: <f2235baa0801140229q599e2a78xbe2bf3cecbe70ce1@mail.gmail.com><00ed01c856b4$2c3daa80$0202a8c0@oneswitch><f2235baa0801140603r31035f43v108faff9f39d694@mail.gmail.com>
	<a6673b8d0801140809t36338f9byc89cf0243d0ca615@mail.gmail.com>
Message-ID: <021a01c856d9$885653b0$0202a8c0@oneswitch>

Can't get this running:

Download page: 
http://sourceforge.net/project/showfiles.php?group_id=212119&package_id=258851
Code Docs: http://gameaccess.sourceforge.net
Project URL: http://sourceforge.net/projects/gameaccess
Source Repository: 
https://gameaccess.svn.sourceforge.net/svnroot/gameaccess/trunk/

I've downloaded GASThrottle - but am not sure how to get it working.

Using WildSnake's free demo of Soccer Stars Pinball 
http://www.wildsnake.com/demo/ss/ - I tried this:

gasthrottle 1 -s "C:\Program Files\WildSnake Software\Soccer Stars 
Pinball\Soccers.exe"

But it just doesn't work.

Any help greatfully received..

Barrie


----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Reid Kimball" <reid at rbkdesign.com>
To: "IGDA Games Accessibility SIG Mailing List" <games_access at igda.org>
Sent: Monday, January 14, 2008 4:09 PM
Subject: Re: [games_access] Game Accessibility Suite, and first prototype...


> Hey Mike, this is really cool. I'll try it with some other games
> today. For old DOS games, one can use DosBox which you can control the
> speed of how fast it runs.
>
> -Reid
>
> On Jan 14, 2008 6:03 AM, Michael Ellison <devellison at gmail.com> wrote:
>> Greetings Barrie,
>>
>> On Jan 14, 2008 7:48 AM, Barrie Ellis <barrie.ellis at oneswitch.org.uk> 
>> wrote:
>> > I'd recommend trying your speed control utility on some pinball games - 
>> > as
>> > CPU Killer doesn't work with these due to frame skipping.
>> > http://switchgaming.blogspot.com/2007/06/pinball-soccer.html
>>
>> Glad to hear it might be useful!
>>
>> Tested with the demo, seems to work fine.  Also works fine with the
>> built-in Windows pinball game.  The audio on both of them also seems
>> to work perfectly well.
>>
>> The starting countdown timer takes *forever* at 10% speed though :)
>>
>> Command line parameters I used:
>>
>> gasthrottle 1 -s "C:\Program Files\WildSnake Software\Soccer Stars
>> Pinball\Soccers.exe"
>>
>>
>>
>> Cheers,
>> Mike
>> _______________________________________________
>> 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  Mon Jan 14 13:32:27 2008
From: richard at audiogames.net (AudioGames.net)
Date: Mon, 14 Jan 2008 19:32:27 +0100
Subject: [games_access] Game Accessibility Suite, and first prototype...
References: <f2235baa0801140229q599e2a78xbe2bf3cecbe70ce1@mail.gmail.com>
Message-ID: <001f01c856db$d113c720$6402a8c0@Delletje>

Hi,

Might also be interesting to have a look at Open Source SimCity then:

http://www.ioltechnology.co.za/article_page.php?iArticleId=4205542&iSectionId=2888

Greets,

Richard



----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Michael Ellison" <devellison at gmail.com>
To: <games_access at igda.org>
Sent: Monday, January 14, 2008 11:29 AM
Subject: [games_access] Game Accessibility Suite, and first prototype...


> Greetings,
>    Just wanted to post a note if any of ya'll are interested... I've
> started an open source project on SourceForge.net to create a suite of
> utilities to make modern Win32 games more accessible.  Currently
> trying to figure out a good way to do external captioning with Reid,
> and I have a few other utility projects going at the moment.
>
> I've finished my first prototype utility using the common libraries
> I'm building up.  It is called GASThrottle, and should allow you to
> slow down many modern games on Windows to 10%-90% speed.  I've tested
> it with Doom 3 and Far Cry with great success, and others with mixed
> results - e.g. it crashes BioShock ;( .  When I looked, I didn't find
> much out there that did this for modern games that worked, although I
> found a few that didn't and some that work *great* for old DOS games.
>
> If there is already a free utility out there that does this well,
> please tell me :)
> Right now it's just a command line app, but if it looks useful to
> people I'll eventually make it all nice and pretty.
>
> Anyway, if anyone has ideas/suggestions on this or other utilities to
> add to the suite, please email me or post in the project's
> forums/tracker.
>
> Download page: 
> http://sourceforge.net/project/showfiles.php?group_id=212119&package_id=258851
> Code Docs: http://gameaccess.sourceforge.net
> Project URL: http://sourceforge.net/projects/gameaccess
> Source Repository:
> https://gameaccess.svn.sourceforge.net/svnroot/gameaccess/trunk/
>
> Cheers,
> Mike
> _______________________________________________
> games_access mailing list
> games_access at igda.org
> http://seven.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/games_access 



From thomas at pininteractive.com  Mon Jan 14 18:47:26 2008
From: thomas at pininteractive.com (Thomas Westin)
Date: Tue, 15 Jan 2008 00:47:26 +0100
Subject: [games_access] GDC GA-SIG DVD submission deadline
Message-ID: <0A7A9C04-EC5A-4FB8-B22E-3715A7DA23E2@pininteractive.com>

Hello

The deadline for uploading stuff to this year's edition of the GA-SIG  
DVD for GDC08 is now set to
February 1

If you want to contribute / update stuff, please let me know off-list  
and I'll give you login information to our server

Thanks
Thomas

Pin Interactive AB
:: Digital Culture Analysis :: Tools :: Worlds

+46 (0)706 400 402

Time zone: GMT+1 , PST+9



From barrie.ellis at oneswitch.org.uk  Wed Jan 16 04:32:49 2008
From: barrie.ellis at oneswitch.org.uk (Barrie Ellis)
Date: Wed, 16 Jan 2008 09:32:49 -0000
Subject: [games_access] Ace Attorney: Apollo Justice - Nintendo DS game
	on-line for head-tracker, eye-tracker and switch access
Message-ID: <011b01c85822$c31a1d20$0202a8c0@oneswitch>

http://switchgaming.blogspot.com/2008/01/ace-attorney-appolo-justice.html

Be great if more companies did this with their DS games.
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From reid at rbkdesign.com  Wed Jan 16 11:32:17 2008
From: reid at rbkdesign.com (Reid Kimball)
Date: Wed, 16 Jan 2008 08:32:17 -0800
Subject: [games_access] Ace Attorney: Apollo Justice - Nintendo DS game
	on-line for head-tracker, eye-tracker and switch access
In-Reply-To: <011b01c85822$c31a1d20$0202a8c0@oneswitch>
References: <011b01c85822$c31a1d20$0202a8c0@oneswitch>
Message-ID: <a6673b8d0801160832g6cdf0f4dq95995bf8de7d7523@mail.gmail.com>

Is this more accessible because it's a flash game or did Nintendo do
anything special in the design? I'm playing it now and can't see
anything different from other flash games.

On Jan 16, 2008 1:32 AM, Barrie Ellis <barrie.ellis at oneswitch.org.uk> wrote:
>
>
> http://switchgaming.blogspot.com/2008/01/ace-attorney-appolo-justice.html
>
> Be great if more companies did this with their DS games.
> _______________________________________________
> games_access mailing list
> games_access at igda.org
> http://seven.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/games_access
>
>


From barrie.ellis at oneswitch.org.uk  Wed Jan 16 11:52:08 2008
From: barrie.ellis at oneswitch.org.uk (Barrie Ellis)
Date: Wed, 16 Jan 2008 16:52:08 -0000
Subject: [games_access] Ace Attorney: Apollo Justice - Nintendo DS
	gameon-line for head-tracker, eye-tracker and switch access
References: <011b01c85822$c31a1d20$0202a8c0@oneswitch>
	<a6673b8d0801160832g6cdf0f4dq95995bf8de7d7523@mail.gmail.com>
Message-ID: <00fc01c85860$228ab700$0202a8c0@oneswitch>

Nothing special about it at all compared to other flash games. Thought it 
was note worthy for being a DS game which would be impossible to access at 
all for some gamers (due to small screen or the interface). Be good if there 
was an alternative way to play DS games for those unable to do so otherwise. 
A little USB head-tracker with dwell-clicking would be quite sweet for the 
DS...

Barrie

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Reid Kimball" <reid at rbkdesign.com>
To: "IGDA Games Accessibility SIG Mailing List" <games_access at igda.org>
Sent: Wednesday, January 16, 2008 4:32 PM
Subject: Re: [games_access] Ace Attorney: Apollo Justice - Nintendo DS 
gameon-line for head-tracker, eye-tracker and switch access


> Is this more accessible because it's a flash game or did Nintendo do
> anything special in the design? I'm playing it now and can't see
> anything different from other flash games.
>
> On Jan 16, 2008 1:32 AM, Barrie Ellis <barrie.ellis at oneswitch.org.uk> 
> wrote:
>>
>>
>> http://switchgaming.blogspot.com/2008/01/ace-attorney-appolo-justice.html
>>
>> Be great if more companies did this with their DS games.
>> _______________________________________________
>> 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  Wed Jan 16 13:28:54 2008
From: hinn at uiuc.edu (d. michelle hinn)
Date: Wed, 16 Jan 2008 12:28:54 -0600
Subject: [games_access] Ace Attorney: Apollo Justice - Nintendo DS game
 on-line for head-tracker, eye-tracker and switch access
In-Reply-To: <011b01c85822$c31a1d20$0202a8c0@oneswitch>
References: <011b01c85822$c31a1d20$0202a8c0@oneswitch>
Message-ID: <p06230963c3b3fcbde6ff@[130.126.29.92]>

Thanks for the link Barrie -- this is something we should definitely 
demo at GDC -- and then drag capcom and nintendo in to see it and/or 
bring it directly to their booths! :)

Michelle

><http://switchgaming.blogspot.com/2008/01/ace-attorney-appolo-justice.html>http://switchgaming.blogspot.com/2008/01/ace-attorney-appolo-justice.html
>
>Be great if more companies did this with their DS games.
>
>_______________________________________________
>games_access mailing list
>games_access at igda.org
>http://seven.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/games_access
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From devellison at gmail.com  Fri Jan 18 01:52:52 2008
From: devellison at gmail.com (Michael Ellison)
Date: Fri, 18 Jan 2008 00:52:52 -0600
Subject: [games_access] Game control question...
Message-ID: <f2235baa0801172252m5d4e7b8ay677e70b7aae71fae@mail.gmail.com>

Just received my KYE Quadcontroller and have been going through the
games I've got around....

Suggestion - a good way to get a game company to develop games that
are accessible to physically disabled gamers that use stuff like this
might be to just buy their lead architect/programmer one of these
things.  Developers love technical toys, Ken's controller is a
wonderful piece of engineering that any good developer is going to
hook up immediately and start playing with, and it's a real
eye-opener!

Single-switch control is so reduced that I'd expect it to be difficult
beyond belief to control most games - but this thing has enough crazy
buttons, levers, and blow holes that I *should* be able to play just
about anything, but I can't because the games don't let me configure
them well enough.  Granted, I'm playing all Windows games so game
controllers are kinda second to keyboard/mouse for inputs, but....
wow.

Question - What software is popular with these for Windows control and
gaming?  Anything that doesn't suck?

Thanks,
Mike


From barrie.ellis at oneswitch.org.uk  Fri Jan 18 03:22:11 2008
From: barrie.ellis at oneswitch.org.uk (Barrie Ellis)
Date: Fri, 18 Jan 2008 08:22:11 -0000
Subject: [games_access] Game control question...
References: <f2235baa0801172252m5d4e7b8ay677e70b7aae71fae@mail.gmail.com>
Message-ID: <002401c859ab$39be6d80$0202a8c0@oneswitch>

It is a good thought - but in the Quadcontroller instance - would obviously 
take some cash to do.

Not sure I agree on your single-switch thought, especially looking at some 
of Eelke Folmer's students work on the likes of Second Life - although 
granted - some games need a lot more adjustment that others.

PC gaming - anything emulated would work on this - so MAME and so on should 
be great - especially as you can redefine the keys - although set-up and 
redefining keys may be quite tricky at the out-set.

Software like JoyToKey 
(http://www.oneswitch.org.uk/2/I/JoyToKey/JoyToKey.htm) allows you to set 
the Quadcontroller as a mouse (for any web based games for instance) - and 
also any key on the keyboard to any control.

Barrie
www.OneSwitch.org.uk


----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Michael Ellison" <devellison at gmail.com>
To: "IGDA Games Accessibility SIG Mailing List" <games_access at igda.org>
Sent: Friday, January 18, 2008 6:52 AM
Subject: [games_access] Game control question...


> Just received my KYE Quadcontroller and have been going through the
> games I've got around....
>
> Suggestion - a good way to get a game company to develop games that
> are accessible to physically disabled gamers that use stuff like this
> might be to just buy their lead architect/programmer one of these
> things.  Developers love technical toys, Ken's controller is a
> wonderful piece of engineering that any good developer is going to
> hook up immediately and start playing with, and it's a real
> eye-opener!
>
> Single-switch control is so reduced that I'd expect it to be difficult
> beyond belief to control most games - but this thing has enough crazy
> buttons, levers, and blow holes that I *should* be able to play just
> about anything, but I can't because the games don't let me configure
> them well enough.  Granted, I'm playing all Windows games so game
> controllers are kinda second to keyboard/mouse for inputs, but....
> wow.
>
> Question - What software is popular with these for Windows control and
> gaming?  Anything that doesn't suck?
>
> Thanks,
> Mike
> _______________________________________________
> games_access mailing list
> games_access at igda.org
> http://seven.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/games_access 





From devellison at gmail.com  Fri Jan 18 03:52:01 2008
From: devellison at gmail.com (Michael Ellison)
Date: Fri, 18 Jan 2008 02:52:01 -0600
Subject: [games_access] Game control question...
In-Reply-To: <002401c859ab$39be6d80$0202a8c0@oneswitch>
References: <f2235baa0801172252m5d4e7b8ay677e70b7aae71fae@mail.gmail.com>
	<002401c859ab$39be6d80$0202a8c0@oneswitch>
Message-ID: <f2235baa0801180052r6c4ccb99ne0fc96b764ec51b4@mail.gmail.com>

On Jan 18, 2008 2:22 AM, Barrie Ellis <barrie.ellis at oneswitch.org.uk> wrote:
> It is a good thought - but in the Quadcontroller instance - would obviously
> take some cash to do.

It's going to take cash for any major awareness program to work.  I'd
be more concerned about placing too many orders for Ken to serve his
real clients - are there other controllers out there that might
provide a similar experience and gadget factor?  I'm serious though -
I'll toss in some cash if anyone wants to start a pool to send them to
the big game companies.

> Not sure I agree on your single-switch thought, especially looking at some
> of Eelke Folmer's students work on the likes of Second Life - although
> granted - some games need a lot more adjustment that others.

Their work is terrific, but for a single switch only certain types of
games will be adaptable beyond a certain point without major changes
to the gamer's role in the game.  Many adaptations will also be pretty
custom for the specific game and relatively difficult to implement.
I'm not discounting the need, possibility, or the amazing work people
are doing in the field - I'm just saying that without such adaptations
on the development side I *expect* it to be difficult to play.

> PC gaming - anything emulated would work on this - so MAME and so on should
> be great - especially as you can redefine the keys - although set-up and
> redefining keys may be quite tricky at the out-set.

And I'm having a hell of a time doing the special moves on Street
Fighter 2 Alpha, although that probably has a lot to do with me being
a noob :)  I did do a lot of emulated playing on GameTap with the
controller.  Problem though - I couldn't exit games without the
keyboard to play a different one, and default mappings were illogical
for many of them (functional, kinda, but far from ideal).

> Software like JoyToKey
> (http://www.oneswitch.org.uk/2/I/JoyToKey/JoyToKey.htm) allows you to set
> the Quadcontroller as a mouse (for any web based games for instance) - and
> also any key on the keyboard to any control.

Tested it earlier and a handful of others.  That one's one of the
better ones, but it didn't seem targeted to this audience at all.  For
starters, I couldn't configure it with a joystick.


>
> Barrie
> www.OneSwitch.org.uk

Cheers,
Mike


From barrie.ellis at oneswitch.org.uk  Fri Jan 18 04:17:09 2008
From: barrie.ellis at oneswitch.org.uk (Barrie Ellis)
Date: Fri, 18 Jan 2008 09:17:09 -0000
Subject: [games_access] Game control question...
References: <f2235baa0801172252m5d4e7b8ay677e70b7aae71fae@mail.gmail.com><002401c859ab$39be6d80$0202a8c0@oneswitch>
	<f2235baa0801180052r6c4ccb99ne0fc96b764ec51b4@mail.gmail.com>
Message-ID: <007b01c859b2$e7187690$0202a8c0@oneswitch>

Re. JoyToKey - I agree - it's not ideal for a lot of gamers such as yourself
who could be completely independent if only the interfaces were right. I'd
love it if someone could take JoyToKey and build upon it's menu
accessibility. It has some great features of it's own like auto-fire - but
if it could be integrated with easier configuration menus and the likes of
4Noah and even speed control software - that would be very sweet indeed. If
it wasn't so reliant upon English - this would be a boon too.

I've not tried this with anything other that the standard on-screen keyboard
(which won't work properly for me) - but if you run JoyToKey or MAME in a
window - might you be able to use a decent on-screen keyboard to enter the
keys you need? You may need to assign one of your buttons to a SHIFT-type
function....

Just a thought...

Barrie
www.OneSwitch.org.uk




----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Michael Ellison" <devellison at gmail.com>
To: "IGDA Games Accessibility SIG Mailing List" <games_access at igda.org>
Sent: Friday, January 18, 2008 8:52 AM
Subject: Re: [games_access] Game control question...


> On Jan 18, 2008 2:22 AM, Barrie Ellis <barrie.ellis at oneswitch.org.uk>
> wrote:
>> It is a good thought - but in the Quadcontroller instance - would
>> obviously
>> take some cash to do.
>
> It's going to take cash for any major awareness program to work.  I'd
> be more concerned about placing too many orders for Ken to serve his
> real clients - are there other controllers out there that might
> provide a similar experience and gadget factor?  I'm serious though -
> I'll toss in some cash if anyone wants to start a pool to send them to
> the big game companies.
>
>> Not sure I agree on your single-switch thought, especially looking at
>> some
>> of Eelke Folmer's students work on the likes of Second Life - although
>> granted - some games need a lot more adjustment that others.
>
> Their work is terrific, but for a single switch only certain types of
> games will be adaptable beyond a certain point without major changes
> to the gamer's role in the game.  Many adaptations will also be pretty
> custom for the specific game and relatively difficult to implement.
> I'm not discounting the need, possibility, or the amazing work people
> are doing in the field - I'm just saying that without such adaptations
> on the development side I *expect* it to be difficult to play.
>
>> PC gaming - anything emulated would work on this - so MAME and so on
>> should
>> be great - especially as you can redefine the keys - although set-up and
>> redefining keys may be quite tricky at the out-set.
>
> And I'm having a hell of a time doing the special moves on Street
> Fighter 2 Alpha, although that probably has a lot to do with me being
> a noob :)  I did do a lot of emulated playing on GameTap with the
> controller.  Problem though - I couldn't exit games without the
> keyboard to play a different one, and default mappings were illogical
> for many of them (functional, kinda, but far from ideal).
>
>> Software like JoyToKey
>> (http://www.oneswitch.org.uk/2/I/JoyToKey/JoyToKey.htm) allows you to set
>> the Quadcontroller as a mouse (for any web based games for instance) -
>> and
>> also any key on the keyboard to any control.
>
> Tested it earlier and a handful of others.  That one's one of the
> better ones, but it didn't seem targeted to this audience at all.  For
> starters, I couldn't configure it with a joystick.
>
>
>>
>> Barrie
>> www.OneSwitch.org.uk
>
> Cheers,
> Mike
> _______________________________________________
> games_access mailing list
> games_access at igda.org
> http://seven.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/games_access





From devellison at gmail.com  Fri Jan 18 04:59:38 2008
From: devellison at gmail.com (Michael Ellison)
Date: Fri, 18 Jan 2008 03:59:38 -0600
Subject: [games_access] Game control question...
In-Reply-To: <007b01c859b2$e7187690$0202a8c0@oneswitch>
References: <f2235baa0801172252m5d4e7b8ay677e70b7aae71fae@mail.gmail.com>
	<002401c859ab$39be6d80$0202a8c0@oneswitch>
	<f2235baa0801180052r6c4ccb99ne0fc96b764ec51b4@mail.gmail.com>
	<007b01c859b2$e7187690$0202a8c0@oneswitch>
Message-ID: <f2235baa0801180159g494dc592i79a7e02d7411a84b@mail.gmail.com>

On Jan 18, 2008 3:17 AM, Barrie Ellis <barrie.ellis at oneswitch.org.uk> wrote:
> Re. JoyToKey - I agree - it's not ideal for a lot of gamers such as yourself
> who could be completely independent if only the interfaces were right.

Just in case I've accidentally misrepresented myself, I'm not
seriously disabled.  I've got minor RSI's in both hands that put me
out of commission for a few months over a decade ago, but nothing that
keeps me from doing what I do as long as I take breaks and am more
careful than I was back then.  I'm just an old hacker with chronic
insomnia that's taken an interest in accessibility :)

> I'd love it if someone could take JoyToKey and build upon it's menu
> accessibility. It has some great features of it's own like auto-fire - but
> if it could be integrated with easier configuration menus and the likes of
> 4Noah and even speed control software - that would be very sweet indeed. If
> it wasn't so reliant upon English - this would be a boon too.

And that's exactly the type of information I'm looking for, thanks!


From thomas at pininteractive.com  Fri Jan 18 05:02:29 2008
From: thomas at pininteractive.com (Thomas Westin)
Date: Fri, 18 Jan 2008 11:02:29 +0100
Subject: [games_access] Game Accessibility Suite, and first prototype...
In-Reply-To: <f2235baa0801140229q599e2a78xbe2bf3cecbe70ce1@mail.gmail.com>
References: <f2235baa0801140229q599e2a78xbe2bf3cecbe70ce1@mail.gmail.com>
Message-ID: <5FB38AEE-35D3-45A6-9D48-B7ED37EDABB2@pininteractive.com>

Great Michael,
I'll definitely include that into the GAIM if that's OK with you
/Thomas

On 14 jan 2008, at 11.29, Michael Ellison wrote:

> Greetings,
>    Just wanted to post a note if any of ya'll are interested... I've
> started an open source project on SourceForge.net to create a suite of
> utilities to make modern Win32 games more accessible.  Currently
> trying to figure out a good way to do external captioning with Reid,
> and I have a few other utility projects going at the moment.
>
> I've finished my first prototype utility using the common libraries
> I'm building up.  It is called GASThrottle, and should allow you to
> slow down many modern games on Windows to 10%-90% speed.  I've tested
> it with Doom 3 and Far Cry with great success, and others with mixed
> results - e.g. it crashes BioShock ;( .  When I looked, I didn't find
> much out there that did this for modern games that worked, although I
> found a few that didn't and some that work *great* for old DOS games.
>
> If there is already a free utility out there that does this well,
> please tell me :)
> Right now it's just a command line app, but if it looks useful to
> people I'll eventually make it all nice and pretty.
>
> Anyway, if anyone has ideas/suggestions on this or other utilities to
> add to the suite, please email me or post in the project's
> forums/tracker.
>
> Download page: http://sourceforge.net/project/showfiles.php?group_id=212119&package_id=258851
> Code Docs: http://gameaccess.sourceforge.net
> Project URL: http://sourceforge.net/projects/gameaccess
> Source Repository:
> https://gameaccess.svn.sourceforge.net/svnroot/gameaccess/trunk/
>
> Cheers,
> Mike
> _______________________________________________
> games_access mailing list
> games_access at igda.org
> http://seven.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/games_access



From devellison at gmail.com  Fri Jan 18 05:25:55 2008
From: devellison at gmail.com (Michael Ellison)
Date: Fri, 18 Jan 2008 04:25:55 -0600
Subject: [games_access] Game Accessibility Suite, and first prototype...
In-Reply-To: <5FB38AEE-35D3-45A6-9D48-B7ED37EDABB2@pininteractive.com>
References: <f2235baa0801140229q599e2a78xbe2bf3cecbe70ce1@mail.gmail.com>
	<5FB38AEE-35D3-45A6-9D48-B7ED37EDABB2@pininteractive.com>
Message-ID: <f2235baa0801180225h529da2a7v526db338e2a77c42@mail.gmail.com>

Absolutely!

Check the "COPYING.txt" file in the source or prototype .zip for
licensing information. I'm starting to include external libraries for
various functionality I'd rather not rewrite from scratch, so it's
becoming a lot of reading.  All of the licenses allow for pretty much
any use (commercial, open source, etc.). Only the license for Expat
even requires acknowledgment in anything aside from a source
redistribution.   For source redistributions, just copy the licenses
out of the COPYING.txt file and toss them at the end of whatever
licensing file you have.  The main restriction on everything is that
it's all "as-is" in the "please don't sue us for stuff we do for free,
but definitely let us know if there's a bug and we'll probably fix it
ASAP" manner.


On Jan 18, 2008 4:02 AM, Thomas Westin <thomas at pininteractive.com> wrote:
> Great Michael,
> I'll definitely include that into the GAIM if that's OK with you
> /Thomas


From arthit73 at cablespeed.com  Fri Jan 18 11:57:32 2008
From: arthit73 at cablespeed.com (Robert Florio)
Date: Fri, 18 Jan 2008 11:57:32 -0500
Subject: [games_access] Game control question...
In-Reply-To: AAAAADBf8GSYa4xDlD4sBa5lcIykei0A
References: AAAAADBf8GSYa4xDlD4sBa5lcIykei0A
Message-ID: <019401c859f3$3d5ba3c0$6501a8c0@Inspiron>

You could possibly use Joy to Key I believe it's a software that whatever
input for a game you have it programs it to that button just by pushing it.
But it's really confusing.  The thing is with the quad controller
quadriplegics don't have the ability to write on the controller which button
correlates with life and it's really hard to memorize it for every game.

The quad controller from my experience that is I have used it a lot, is
excellent but not great.  Still way too many buttons that you need to be
able to interact with in games these days that I think is ridiculous.

Robert

-----Original Message-----
From: games_access-bounces at igda.org [mailto:games_access-bounces at igda.org]
On Behalf Of Michael Ellison
Sent: Friday, January 18, 2008 1:53 AM
To: IGDA Games Accessibility SIG Mailing List
Subject: [games_access] Game control question...

Just received my KYE Quadcontroller and have been going through the
games I've got around....

Suggestion - a good way to get a game company to develop games that
are accessible to physically disabled gamers that use stuff like this
might be to just buy their lead architect/programmer one of these
things.  Developers love technical toys, Ken's controller is a
wonderful piece of engineering that any good developer is going to
hook up immediately and start playing with, and it's a real
eye-opener!

Single-switch control is so reduced that I'd expect it to be difficult
beyond belief to control most games - but this thing has enough crazy
buttons, levers, and blow holes that I *should* be able to play just
about anything, but I can't because the games don't let me configure
them well enough.  Granted, I'm playing all Windows games so game
controllers are kinda second to keyboard/mouse for inputs, but....
wow.

Question - What software is popular with these for Windows control and
gaming?  Anything that doesn't suck?

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



From arthit73 at cablespeed.com  Fri Jan 18 11:59:02 2008
From: arthit73 at cablespeed.com (Robert Florio)
Date: Fri, 18 Jan 2008 11:59:02 -0500
Subject: [games_access] Game control question...
In-Reply-To: AAAAADBf8GSYa4xDlD4sBa5lcIwEey0A
References: <f2235baa0801172252m5d4e7b8ay677e70b7aae71fae@mail.gmail.com><002401c859ab$39be6d80$0202a8c0@oneswitch>
	AAAAADBf8GSYa4xDlD4sBa5lcIwEey0A
Message-ID: <019501c859f3$6d29a570$6501a8c0@Inspiron>

Yes the potential for the eye Toy and most in tracking for Xbox and
PlayStation would really be the best option for gamers with physical
impairments.

I don't see why they could not come up with some simple little strap that
goes around like an eye patch and picks up on a movement or slight movement
of the face.

Just great ideas who knows how to get them implemented.

Robert

-----Original Message-----
From: games_access-bounces at igda.org [mailto:games_access-bounces at igda.org]
On Behalf Of Michael Ellison
Sent: Friday, January 18, 2008 3:52 AM
To: IGDA Games Accessibility SIG Mailing List
Subject: Re: [games_access] Game control question...

On Jan 18, 2008 2:22 AM, Barrie Ellis <barrie.ellis at oneswitch.org.uk> wrote:
> It is a good thought - but in the Quadcontroller instance - would
obviously
> take some cash to do.

It's going to take cash for any major awareness program to work.  I'd
be more concerned about placing too many orders for Ken to serve his
real clients - are there other controllers out there that might
provide a similar experience and gadget factor?  I'm serious though -
I'll toss in some cash if anyone wants to start a pool to send them to
the big game companies.

> Not sure I agree on your single-switch thought, especially looking at some
> of Eelke Folmer's students work on the likes of Second Life - although
> granted - some games need a lot more adjustment that others.

Their work is terrific, but for a single switch only certain types of
games will be adaptable beyond a certain point without major changes
to the gamer's role in the game.  Many adaptations will also be pretty
custom for the specific game and relatively difficult to implement.
I'm not discounting the need, possibility, or the amazing work people
are doing in the field - I'm just saying that without such adaptations
on the development side I *expect* it to be difficult to play.

> PC gaming - anything emulated would work on this - so MAME and so on
should
> be great - especially as you can redefine the keys - although set-up and
> redefining keys may be quite tricky at the out-set.

And I'm having a hell of a time doing the special moves on Street
Fighter 2 Alpha, although that probably has a lot to do with me being
a noob :)  I did do a lot of emulated playing on GameTap with the
controller.  Problem though - I couldn't exit games without the
keyboard to play a different one, and default mappings were illogical
for many of them (functional, kinda, but far from ideal).

> Software like JoyToKey
> (http://www.oneswitch.org.uk/2/I/JoyToKey/JoyToKey.htm) allows you to set
> the Quadcontroller as a mouse (for any web based games for instance) - and
> also any key on the keyboard to any control.

Tested it earlier and a handful of others.  That one's one of the
better ones, but it didn't seem targeted to this audience at all.  For
starters, I couldn't configure it with a joystick.


>
> Barrie
> www.OneSwitch.org.uk

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



From hinn at uiuc.edu  Fri Jan 18 14:37:38 2008
From: hinn at uiuc.edu (d. michelle hinn)
Date: Fri, 18 Jan 2008 13:37:38 -0600
Subject: [games_access] Game control question...
In-Reply-To: <f2235baa0801172252m5d4e7b8ay677e70b7aae71fae@mail.gmail.com>
References: <f2235baa0801172252m5d4e7b8ay677e70b7aae71fae@mail.gmail.com>
Message-ID: <p06230901c3b6aeac79e2@[130.126.29.51]>

Hey Mke,

Well the main problem with buying a controller for companies is that 
the controller is a couple hundred dollars, there's no way (although 
I'm trying to find a way) for it to be shared with others due to 
hygienic reasons (especially with things like the MRSA virus going 
around...)...and we don't have the money to do that! The guy that 
makes them does this by hand so he wouldn't be in a position to give 
away his product either.

But -- we bring this to every conference we go to and this year I'm 
going to walk it through the expo at GDC. :)

I don't use mine to demo windows games -- just 360 and PS2 games (I 
have those two versions).

And, yeah, you can pretty much hyperventilate playing a lot of games. 
Without games allowing full remapping of every control...you might 
find that you need to suck in air and blow it out all while hitting 
two switches...at the same time.

Michelle

>Just received my KYE Quadcontroller and have been going through the
>games I've got around....
>
>Suggestion - a good way to get a game company to develop games that
>are accessible to physically disabled gamers that use stuff like this
>might be to just buy their lead architect/programmer one of these
>things.  Developers love technical toys, Ken's controller is a
>wonderful piece of engineering that any good developer is going to
>hook up immediately and start playing with, and it's a real
>eye-opener!
>
>Single-switch control is so reduced that I'd expect it to be difficult
>beyond belief to control most games - but this thing has enough crazy
>buttons, levers, and blow holes that I *should* be able to play just
>about anything, but I can't because the games don't let me configure
>them well enough.  Granted, I'm playing all Windows games so game
>controllers are kinda second to keyboard/mouse for inputs, but....
>wow.
>
>Question - What software is popular with these for Windows control and
>gaming?  Anything that doesn't suck?
>
>Thanks,
>Mike
>_______________________________________________
>games_access mailing list
>games_access at igda.org
>http://seven.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/games_access



From eelke.folmer at gmail.com  Fri Jan 18 15:01:20 2008
From: eelke.folmer at gmail.com (Eelke Folmer)
Date: Fri, 18 Jan 2008 12:01:20 -0800
Subject: [games_access] Game Accessibility Suite, and first prototype...
In-Reply-To: <f2235baa0801140229q599e2a78xbe2bf3cecbe70ce1@mail.gmail.com>
References: <f2235baa0801140229q599e2a78xbe2bf3cecbe70ce1@mail.gmail.com>
Message-ID: <836db6300801181201v47140d58p3d438ce386024ba9@mail.gmail.com>

Hi Michael,

I haven't had the time to test it yet but can you slow it down the
game while you play the game or is everything slowed down before you
run it? will this affect the animation of cutscenes etc? I can imagine
players sometimes just want to slow things down while they play and
not while they're like walking around. (Kind of like bullettime in max
payne or slow in prince of persia). It would be cool if your tool
could support that.

Cheers eelke



On 14/01/2008, Michael Ellison <devellison at gmail.com> wrote:
> Greetings,
>     Just wanted to post a note if any of ya'll are interested... I've
> started an open source project on SourceForge.net to create a suite of
> utilities to make modern Win32 games more accessible.  Currently
> trying to figure out a good way to do external captioning with Reid,
> and I have a few other utility projects going at the moment.
>
> I've finished my first prototype utility using the common libraries
> I'm building up.  It is called GASThrottle, and should allow you to
> slow down many modern games on Windows to 10%-90% speed.  I've tested
> it with Doom 3 and Far Cry with great success, and others with mixed
> results - e.g. it crashes BioShock ;( .  When I looked, I didn't find
> much out there that did this for modern games that worked, although I
> found a few that didn't and some that work *great* for old DOS games.
>
> If there is already a free utility out there that does this well,
> please tell me :)
> Right now it's just a command line app, but if it looks useful to
> people I'll eventually make it all nice and pretty.
>
> Anyway, if anyone has ideas/suggestions on this or other utilities to
> add to the suite, please email me or post in the project's
> forums/tracker.
>
> Download page: http://sourceforge.net/project/showfiles.php?group_id=212119&package_id=258851
> Code Docs: http://gameaccess.sourceforge.net
> Project URL: http://sourceforge.net/projects/gameaccess
> Source Repository:
> https://gameaccess.svn.sourceforge.net/svnroot/gameaccess/trunk/
>
> Cheers,
> Mike
> _______________________________________________
> 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 hinn at uiuc.edu  Fri Jan 18 15:04:34 2008
From: hinn at uiuc.edu (d. michelle hinn)
Date: Fri, 18 Jan 2008 14:04:34 -0600
Subject: [games_access] Game control question...
In-Reply-To: <f2235baa0801180052r6c4ccb99ne0fc96b764ec51b4@mail.gmail.com>
References: <f2235baa0801172252m5d4e7b8ay677e70b7aae71fae@mail.gmail.com>
	<002401c859ab$39be6d80$0202a8c0@oneswitch>
	<f2235baa0801180052r6c4ccb99ne0fc96b764ec51b4@mail.gmail.com>
Message-ID: <p06230902c3b6b0d4fb47@[130.126.29.51]>

>On Jan 18, 2008 2:22 AM, Barrie Ellis <barrie.ellis at oneswitch.org.uk> wrote:
>>  It is a good thought - but in the Quadcontroller instance - would obviously
>>  take some cash to do.
>
>It's going to take cash for any major awareness program to work.  I'd
>be more concerned about placing too many orders for Ken to serve his
>real clients - are there other controllers out there that might
>provide a similar experience and gadget factor?  I'm serious though -
>I'll toss in some cash if anyone wants to start a pool to send them to
>the big game companies.

We are working on getting cash to build awareness but we're at the 
point where we need even the most basic things. As of right now, I'm 
personally $5000 in the red because we showed this (and other 
controllers and games) at E4All back in October (who knew a "free 
booth" meant $5k in contracters, voltage for the booth, carpet, 
chairs -- alll required by the show). I'm having trouble paying bills 
now and have had to take out an emergency loan. And we'd probably 
need to call the person we'll be sending it to and convince them not 
to just toss it aside because they have other things on their plate.

I like the idea -- but it's a WAY down the line idea. We could 
perhaps purchase one for a few CEO and lead devs that "get it" with 
regard to accessibility (or better yet...get them to donate to the 
SIG and we'll buy it for them...). That is the work we do at GDC 
(yikes...just a few more weeks) where we make personal contact with 
these people. Things are slowly starting to change -- we have the 
attention of a few CEO and devs now. But wholesale sending out of 
these controllers to companies wouldn't do without us having that 
personal connection. Devs love toys but without understanding why 
this is even in existance is hard. Sadly, I've had devs who have 
actually laughed at it (ok, it *is* a garage hack basically) -- 
that's when I move in for the kill...and tell them WHY it exists and 
what if that was the only way THEY could game. Then it's not really 
funny...and then we get their cards. Some may not want a 
quadcontroller because they don't want to be unfair if they know that 
what they can afford to put in their dev cycle is something that 
helps out another disability group.

Anyway...I'm not AT ALL saying this is a bad idea...it's just that 
fund raising right now is for us to keep surviving as a group. None 
of us get paid and at the moment I don't even have a job while I 
finish my dissertation. So that's our reality. We've been around for 
most of this decade and it's just now that we are finally starting to 
see a little bit of money trickle in.

BTW, the IGDA just started a spin off called the IGDA foundation. 
Thanks to their help, we are now an official non-profit. So donations 
are now tax deductible (at least US donations). So now we ARE in a 
place where we can start to afford things like information packages, 
DVDs with our examples on them, etc. No, I'll never get that $5k back 
(some other members tried to raise some funds but the return on that 
was around $50) and I'm accepting some really paid speaking 
invitations (Saskatoon, Saskatchewan Canada in late February anyone?) 
in the hopes that it will help me pay the bills. But hopefully the 
SIG will begin to get in a position to help defray future costs of 
things like this. Maybe not $5k but at least in the future we can 
begin to buy a booth at, say, Penny Arcade or GDC 2009/2010, etc. 
After the $5 disaster we were unable to buy a booth at GDC 2008 -- it 
would have cost $10k.

BTW, part two -- did you know that we have a grant that we are trying 
to get matching funds for? If not and you want to donate (you can 
even earmark money for a controller for company X and then we'll 
start calling them up), let me know. Not sure what your 
personal/company situation is but we will take anything we can get!)

Ok, I've talked enough. :) I really do understand and get your 
suggestion and I think it's something we should start thinking about 
every time we get a company's attention (especially the biggies!). 
But at this moment we can't afford it. But we should keep it in mind 
as a great goal to move toward!

Michelle


From devellison at gmail.com  Fri Jan 18 15:30:52 2008
From: devellison at gmail.com (Michael Ellison)
Date: Fri, 18 Jan 2008 14:30:52 -0600
Subject: [games_access] Game Accessibility Suite, and first prototype...
In-Reply-To: <836db6300801181201v47140d58p3d438ce386024ba9@mail.gmail.com>
References: <f2235baa0801140229q599e2a78xbe2bf3cecbe70ce1@mail.gmail.com>
	<836db6300801181201v47140d58p3d438ce386024ba9@mail.gmail.com>
Message-ID: <f2235baa0801181230s6c1a6b69l94dcd7b021049ef2@mail.gmail.com>

The prototype/proof of concept is just a command-line interface, and
slows it down when it is injected  - either at startup of the game, or
injected while the game is running depending on command line
parameters.

When I've got the user interface code done, it will be a runtime
control - all that needs to happen there is for a multiplier to be
changed and a base time offset reset.

It's actually interesting the effects it has on cutscenes - it varies
between games.

On Doom 3, the cutscenes have their audio triggered by events in the
cutscene but don't have feedback from the audio engine.  The audio
plays at normal speed so the lips become totally unsynchronized from
the audio. The start of each speaker's dialogue, however, lines up
with what's being displayed on screen.  It's like watching a really
horribly dubbed movie in slow motion.

On Half-Life 2 Episode 1 (and probably any other Source game), the lip
synchronization appears to have feedback from the audio engine.  As a
result, the time between sentences is long, but the lips synch up
perfectly at the full speed of the audio while all other animation is
slowed down.  I was pretty amazed when I saw that - neat technology on
Valve's part.  (BTW - to get GASThrottle into HL2, you currently have
to inject it while the game is running using the -p or -n switches).

For pure video cutscenes, it depends on how they render it.
DirectShow so far has seemed to be actively hostile to the technique.
Windows media player pretty much just stops and repeats a single
buffer of audio/video - probably due to the fact that the system
timers and audio card timers are irreconcilable.  I'll need to find a
way around that one eventually... Some other video libraries seem to
be just fine, although audio becomes unsynched.

Cheers,
Mike

On Jan 18, 2008 2:01 PM, Eelke Folmer <eelke.folmer at gmail.com> wrote:
> Hi Michael,
>
> I haven't had the time to test it yet but can you slow it down the
> game while you play the game or is everything slowed down before you
> run it? will this affect the animation of cutscenes etc? I can imagine
> players sometimes just want to slow things down while they play and
> not while they're like walking around. (Kind of like bullettime in max
> payne or slow in prince of persia). It would be cool if your tool
> could support that.
>
> Cheers eelke
>
>
>
>
> On 14/01/2008, Michael Ellison <devellison at gmail.com> wrote:
> > Greetings,
> >     Just wanted to post a note if any of ya'll are interested... I've
> > started an open source project on SourceForge.net to create a suite of
> > utilities to make modern Win32 games more accessible.  Currently
> > trying to figure out a good way to do external captioning with Reid,
> > and I have a few other utility projects going at the moment.
> >
> > I've finished my first prototype utility using the common libraries
> > I'm building up.  It is called GASThrottle, and should allow you to
> > slow down many modern games on Windows to 10%-90% speed.  I've tested
> > it with Doom 3 and Far Cry with great success, and others with mixed
> > results - e.g. it crashes BioShock ;( .  When I looked, I didn't find
> > much out there that did this for modern games that worked, although I
> > found a few that didn't and some that work *great* for old DOS games.
> >
> > If there is already a free utility out there that does this well,
> > please tell me :)
> > Right now it's just a command line app, but if it looks useful to
> > people I'll eventually make it all nice and pretty.
> >
> > Anyway, if anyone has ideas/suggestions on this or other utilities to
> > add to the suite, please email me or post in the project's
> > forums/tracker.
> >
> > Download page: http://sourceforge.net/project/showfiles.php?group_id=212119&package_id=258851
> > Code Docs: http://gameaccess.sourceforge.net
> > Project URL: http://sourceforge.net/projects/gameaccess
> > Source Repository:
> > https://gameaccess.svn.sourceforge.net/svnroot/gameaccess/trunk/
> >
> > Cheers,
> > Mike
> > _______________________________________________
> > 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
> ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> _______________________________________________
> games_access mailing list
> games_access at igda.org
> http://seven.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/games_access
>


From barrie.ellis at oneswitch.org.uk  Sat Jan 19 04:50:37 2008
From: barrie.ellis at oneswitch.org.uk (Barrie Ellis)
Date: Sat, 19 Jan 2008 09:50:37 -0000
Subject: [games_access] Game control question...
References: <f2235baa0801172252m5d4e7b8ay677e70b7aae71fae@mail.gmail.com><002401c859ab$39be6d80$0202a8c0@oneswitch>AAAAADBf8GSYa4xDlD4sBa5lcIwEey0A
	<019501c859f3$6d29a570$6501a8c0@Inspiron>
Message-ID: <001a01c85a80$be826730$0202a8c0@oneswitch>

Just a quick thing...

> Yes the potential for the eye Toy and most in tracking for Xbox and
> PlayStation would really be the best option for gamers with physical
> impairments.

Not necessarily so - not all gamers have deliberate enough control over 
their body nor head, so this kind of interface is not always the best way. 
Just think how more accessible the Wii would be if you could also use a PC 
standard USB mouse to play (with decent reconguration options).

Barrie
www.OneSwitch.org.uk 





From j.chetwynd at btinternet.com  Sat Jan 19 07:34:38 2008
From: j.chetwynd at btinternet.com (=?UTF-8?B?In46Jycg44GC44KK44GM44Go44GG44GU44GW44GE44G+44GX44Gf?= =?UTF-8?B?44CCIg==?=)
Date: Sat, 19 Jan 2008 12:34:38 +0000
Subject: [games_access] Game control question...
In-Reply-To: <001a01c85a80$be826730$0202a8c0@oneswitch>
References: <f2235baa0801172252m5d4e7b8ay677e70b7aae71fae@mail.gmail.com><002401c859ab$39be6d80$0202a8c0@oneswitch>AAAAADBf8GSYa4xDlD4sBa5lcIwEey0A
	<019501c859f3$6d29a570$6501a8c0@Inspiron>
	<001a01c85a80$be826730$0202a8c0@oneswitch>
Message-ID: <7D14ED7C-E760-4A1B-923B-F7CB40C1D635@btinternet.com>

and there's a bug filed with Apple OS X, as their accessibility  
strand could implement something along these lines.

regards

Jonathan Chetwynd
Accessibility Consultant on Media Literacy and the Internet



On 19 Jan 2008, at 09:50, Barrie Ellis wrote:

Just a quick thing...

> Yes the potential for the eye Toy and most in tracking for Xbox and
> PlayStation would really be the best option for gamers with physical
> impairments.

Not necessarily so - not all gamers have deliberate enough control  
over their body nor head, so this kind of interface is not always the  
best way. Just think how more accessible the Wii would be if you  
could also use a PC standard USB mouse to play (with decent  
reconguration options).

Barrie
www.OneSwitch.org.uk


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



From hinn at uiuc.edu  Sat Jan 19 18:54:47 2008
From: hinn at uiuc.edu (d. michelle hinn)
Date: Sat, 19 Jan 2008 17:54:47 -0600
Subject: [games_access] Amount of Spam on the List
In-Reply-To: <001a01c85a80$be826730$0202a8c0@oneswitch>
References: <f2235baa0801172252m5d4e7b8ay677e70b7aae71fae@mail.gmail.com><002401c859ab
	$39be6d80$0202a8c0@oneswitch>AAAAADBf8GSYa4xDlD4sBa5lcIwEey0A
	<019501c859f3$6d29a570$6501a8c0@Inspiron>
	<001a01c85a80$be826730$0202a8c0@oneswitch>
Message-ID: <p0623090dc3b83b366a21@[130.126.29.51]>

Hi all,

I'm not sure what is happening but our "usual" amount of spam that I 
get as list owner as bounced/rejected messages notices has increase 
from about 10 a week (through November) to (really) over 100 a day. I 
can filter it out so it's not a big deal but occasionally one of a 
list member's email gets rejected or put on hold (ie, if you send an 
attachment). So if there's ever any concern, please always feel free 
to email me and I can check your account.

I usually give the spam a look through once a day to make sure none 
of them are legit emails (rather than *information* about 
prescription drugs online, male enhancements, home mortgages, and 
lotteries we've apparently won -- although...I'd be glad if one of 
those lotteries were for real -- then we could afford to buy 
quadcontrollers for every game company in the world -- seriously, I 
wish we could! -- and start some major media campaigns/commercials). 
:D But...I go through the folder super fast so I'm sure I've missed a 
few. To help me out, if you have anything strange about how you are 
sending email (ie, you have a different sending address than 
receiving address you subscribed with or your name uses non-Roman 
characters in your email program (the biggest problems are with 
Cyrillic/Russian characters and Asian characters versus accent 
marks), please let me know and I can try and correct it on the 
listserv admin page or help me out and be sure and temporarily change 
these things if possible in your email program. As long as the 
listserv software knows of your address info, usually problems are 
solved...not always...but usually.

Thanks everyone! The IGDA even changed their email address a year ago 
due to spam but we can't afford to do that and lose any members! And 
if it only gets sent to me, I can handle it! :)

Michelle


From jbannick at 7128.com  Sat Jan 19 20:03:21 2008
From: jbannick at 7128.com (John Bannick)
Date: Sat, 19 Jan 2008 20:03:21 -0500
Subject: [games_access] Amount of Spam on the List
In-Reply-To: <p0623090dc3b83b366a21@[130.126.29.51]>
References: <f2235baa0801172252m5d4e7b8ay677e70b7aae71fae@mail.gmail.com>
	<002401c859ab $39be6d80$0202a8c0@oneswitch>
	<019501c859f3$6d29a570$6501a8c0@Inspiron>
	<001a01c85a80$be826730$0202a8c0@oneswitch>
	<p0623090dc3b83b366a21@[130.126.29.51]>
Message-ID: <6.1.0.6.2.20080119195914.01db8868@enigami.com>

Michelle,

Oh yes!
At 7-128 Software, we've seen a massive increase in spam, on the order that 
you describe.
And this with pretty good filters at our ISP.
We're looking into changing email addresses annually, and some sort of 
whitelist management.
One of my private consulting clients uses Baracuda to filter spam. Even 
then, some still gets through.

I feel your pain.

John Bannick

At 06:54 PM 1/19/2008, you wrote:
>Hi all,
>
>I'm not sure what is happening but our "usual" amount of spam that I get 
>as list owner as bounced/rejected messages notices has increase from about 
>10 a week (through November) to (really) over 100 a day. I can filter it 
>out so it's not a big deal but occasionally one of a list member's email 
>gets rejected or put on hold (ie, if you send an attachment). So if 
>there's ever any concern, please always feel free to email me and I can 
>check your account.
>
>I usually give the spam a look through once a day to make sure none of 
>them are legit emails (rather than *information* about prescription drugs 
>online, male enhancements, home mortgages, and lotteries we've apparently 
>won -- although...I'd be glad if one of those lotteries were for real -- 
>then we could afford to buy quadcontrollers for every game company in the 
>world -- seriously, I wish we could! -- and start some major media 
>campaigns/commercials). :D But...I go through the folder super fast so I'm 
>sure I've missed a few. To help me out, if you have anything strange about 
>how you are sending email (ie, you have a different sending address than 
>receiving address you subscribed with or your name uses non-Roman 
>characters in your email program (the biggest problems are with 
>Cyrillic/Russian characters and Asian characters versus accent marks), 
>please let me know and I can try and correct it on the listserv admin page 
>or help me out and be sure and temporarily change these things if possible 
>in your email program. As long as the listserv software knows of your 
>address info, usually problems are solved...not always...but usually.
>
>Thanks everyone! The IGDA even changed their email address a year ago due 
>to spam but we can't afford to do that and lose any members! And if it 
>only gets sent to me, I can handle it! :)
>
>Michelle
>_______________________________________________
>games_access mailing list
>games_access at igda.org
>http://seven.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/games_access
>
>
>--
>No virus found in this incoming message.
>Checked by AVG Free Edition. Version: 7.5.516 / Virus Database: 
>269.19.7/1232 - Release Date: 1/18/2008 7:32 PM



From devellison at gmail.com  Sun Jan 20 15:54:06 2008
From: devellison at gmail.com (Michael Ellison)
Date: Sun, 20 Jan 2008 14:54:06 -0600
Subject: [games_access] Game control question...
In-Reply-To: <p06230902c3b6b0d4fb47@130.126.29.51>
References: <f2235baa0801172252m5d4e7b8ay677e70b7aae71fae@mail.gmail.com>
	<002401c859ab$39be6d80$0202a8c0@oneswitch>
	<f2235baa0801180052r6c4ccb99ne0fc96b764ec51b4@mail.gmail.com>
	<p06230902c3b6b0d4fb47@130.126.29.51>
Message-ID: <f2235baa0801201254q588c2f73q6a8f2a813e05b599@mail.gmail.com>

On Jan 18, 2008 2:04 PM, d. michelle hinn <hinn at uiuc.edu> wrote:
> >On Jan 18, 2008 2:22 AM, Barrie Ellis <barrie.ellis at oneswitch.org.uk> wrote:
> Anyway...I'm not AT ALL saying this is a bad idea...it's just that
> fund raising right now is for us to keep surviving as a group.

Do we have a brochure/grant proposal/business plan type thing that
could be used to shop for investors?  What I need is mission, goals,
and a plan to spend a bunch of money to achieve those goals.

> BTW, part two -- did you know that we have a grant that we are trying
> to get matching funds for? If not and you want to donate (you can
> even earmark money for a controller for company X and then we'll
> start calling them up), let me know. Not sure what your
> personal/company situation is but we will take anything we can get!)

That's really cool..  I'm certainly not wealthy myself, but I think
it's a good plan that would show results and I'll put my money where
my mouth is - next month. This month I already blew my toy budget on
my own controller :)

-Mike


From hinn at uiuc.edu  Sun Jan 20 17:33:30 2008
From: hinn at uiuc.edu (d. michelle hinn)
Date: Sun, 20 Jan 2008 16:33:30 -0600
Subject: [games_access] Game control question...
In-Reply-To: <f2235baa0801201254q588c2f73q6a8f2a813e05b599@mail.gmail.com>
References: <f2235baa0801172252m5d4e7b8ay677e70b7aae71fae@mail.gmail.com>
	<002401c859ab$39be6d80$0202a8c0@oneswitch>
	<f2235baa0801180052r6c4ccb99ne0fc96b764ec51b4@mail.gmail.com>
	<p06230902c3b6b0d4fb47@130.126.29.51>
	<f2235baa0801201254q588c2f73q6a8f2a813e05b599@mail.gmail.com>
Message-ID: <p06230902c3b975d3d9d7@[130.126.29.51]>

>On Jan 18, 2008 2:04 PM, d. michelle hinn <hinn at uiuc.edu> wrote:
>  > >On Jan 18, 2008 2:22 AM, Barrie Ellis 
><barrie.ellis at oneswitch.org.uk> wrote:
>>  Anyway...I'm not AT ALL saying this is a bad idea...it's just that
>>  fund raising right now is for us to keep surviving as a group.
>
>Do we have a brochure/grant proposal/business plan type thing that
>could be used to shop for investors?  What I need is mission, goals,
>and a plan to spend a bunch of money to achieve those goals.

That's what we now have some funding to do -- at last! It takes 
money/time-time/money as you know to come up with these plans, get a 
flashy brouchure/investers package printed out, etc in order to get 
more money to do things like contacting companies and arranging for 
them to have a controller and/or purchase one themselves. I must 
admit that I'm kinda torn between buying controllers for the 
companies that could easily afford to buy one themselves and buying 
them to give away to gamers that would actually use them day-to-day. 
It kind of reminds me of those swag bags that they give away to 
actors that contain merchandise that is so pricey that, if sold, 
could help a family eat for a few years. But I hear that they are 
starting to tax actors on those things now so things are changing in 
that arena too.

We've always been short on both time and money. But now we have some 
funding but I don't know how to budget it out/write it up in a way 
that will be successful. The grant is to help us grow and raise more 
funds. So the grant is to help us afford to ask people for more money 
basically. This is perhaps where you could really help us out on -- I 
have no business background other than having worked for businesses. 
I've just never been in the "business plan" side of things. So I'd 
gladly accept some help with coming up with a template for what would 
be something that didn't look amateurish. I have music, psychology, 
and CS degrees...none of those required any business/legal course 
work (although, I'm wondering why at least one of them didn't require 
at least one course). Not that course work is necessarily all that 
great -- it's experience that really counts when push comes to shove. 
I need to come up with this for the SIG grant and it's a steep 
learning curve for me. It's something I need to learn how to do now 
that we're playing in the big(ger?) leagues now!

>  > BTW, part two -- did you know that we have a grant that we are trying
>>  to get matching funds for? If not and you want to donate (you can
>>  even earmark money for a controller for company X and then we'll
>>  start calling them up), let me know. Not sure what your
>>  personal/company situation is but we will take anything we can get!)
>
>That's really cool..  I'm certainly not wealthy myself, but I think
>it's a good plan that would show results and I'll put my money where
>my mouth is - next month. This month I already blew my toy budget on
>my own controller :)

Yeah...those controllers aren't cheap -- and I have a completely 
broken one thanks to airport security (I've taken it through carry on 
and through checked luggage -- doesn't matter, they break it anyway). 
But, as you know...it *does* look a little suspicious. However, I 
think that they might be better off worrying about the things that 
don't look suspicious. I guess!

Anyway, I'm asking him if he can fix it for me -- I think he'd be 
willing to do so if he and I could come up with a repair fee that was 
fair value. I'm sure we can!

Michelle


From devellison at gmail.com  Sun Jan 20 18:26:30 2008
From: devellison at gmail.com (Michael Ellison)
Date: Sun, 20 Jan 2008 17:26:30 -0600
Subject: [games_access] Game control question...
In-Reply-To: <p06230902c3b975d3d9d7@130.126.29.51>
References: <f2235baa0801172252m5d4e7b8ay677e70b7aae71fae@mail.gmail.com>
	<002401c859ab$39be6d80$0202a8c0@oneswitch>
	<f2235baa0801180052r6c4ccb99ne0fc96b764ec51b4@mail.gmail.com>
	<p06230902c3b6b0d4fb47@130.126.29.51>
	<f2235baa0801201254q588c2f73q6a8f2a813e05b599@mail.gmail.com>
	<p06230902c3b975d3d9d7@130.126.29.51>
Message-ID: <f2235baa0801201526y4fd2913cuf8247116bb94713e@mail.gmail.com>

On Jan 20, 2008 4:33 PM, d. michelle hinn <hinn at uiuc.edu> wrote:
> >On Jan 18, 2008 2:04 PM, d. michelle hinn <hinn at uiuc.edu> wrote:
> That's what we now have some funding to do -- at last! It takes
> money/time-time/money as you know to come up with these plans, get a
> flashy brouchure/investers package printed out, etc in order to get
> more money to do things like contacting companies and arranging for
> them to have a controller and/or purchase one themselves.

Yep - it's very hard work.  One thought, I shopped my ideas a little
looking to get help on my hardware and software costs for my current
projects in the area (estimating ~$5k/year) and was told that was
*way* below most investors' interest level - even for philanthropic
grants - and I'd have an easier time raising $1 million for it if I
could figure out how to spend it.

> I must admit that I'm kinda torn between buying controllers for the
> companies that could easily afford to buy one themselves and buying
> them to give away to gamers that would actually use them day-to-day.

Totally understand, but I think the numbers work out better if we
target the industry for awareness first.  Then we just have to
convince resource centers / insurance companies / disability
associations that gaming is important enough to help fund for
individuals :)  Might be worth talking to the people at Child's Play
for ideas on raising cash to get controllers into the hands of people
that need them.

> We've always been short on both time and money. But now we have some
> funding but I don't know how to budget it out/write it up in a way
> that will be successful. The grant is to help us grow and raise more
> funds. So the grant is to help us afford to ask people for more money
> basically. This is perhaps where you could really help us out on -- I
> have no business background other than having worked for businesses.

I'll try to help, but I'm really just a software guy.  I've worked
almost exclusively for small and startup companies though for the last
decade (or more? ouch... my joints are creaking...), so I do have a
general sense of that side and a few contacts.

> I have music, psychology,
> and CS degrees...none of those required any business/legal course
> work (although, I'm wondering why at least one of them didn't require
> at least one course). Not that course work is necessarily all that
> great -- it's experience that really counts when push comes to shove.

I could rant for quite a while on the current university curriculum -
I'm the first high-school dropout in a long line of professors in my
family because I didn't see much practical value in the university
programs I looked at that were offered in my field that I couldn't get
faster studying on my own, talking to others, and just doing.  On the
other hand, my apartment's walls are lined with shelves of heavily
worn academic and technical books.

> I need to come up with this for the SIG grant and it's a steep
> learning curve for me. It's something I need to learn how to do now
> that we're playing in the big(ger?) leagues now!

Yep. I'll try to help with what I can.  First off - what are our
goals?  My guesses would be something along the lines of:

1.) To promote awareness of the needs of disabled gamers.
2.) To research and develop technologies to bridge the gap between
disabled gamers and the games themselves.
3.) To promote the results of research and development efforts and try
to get enabling technologies incorporated within mainstream games.

> Yeah...those controllers aren't cheap -- and I have a completely
> broken one thanks to airport security (I've taken it through carry on
> and through checked luggage -- doesn't matter, they break it anyway).
> But, as you know...it *does* look a little suspicious. However, I
> think that they might be better off worrying about the things that
> don't look suspicious. I guess!

This I could rant on for even longer :)  Long-haired hackers with
goatees wearing old T-shirts and blue jeans are also extremely
suspicious and *must* get the extra special treatment every time they
get on planes if they have to be allowed on at all.  Might be safer,
if more expensive, to use FedEx or UPS to ship the thing to a hotel or
convention sponsor, then back home.

Do you have one that works for the show?

> Anyway, I'm asking him if he can fix it for me -- I think he'd be
> willing to do so if he and I could come up with a repair fee that was
> fair value. I'm sure we can!

Post it if he's got an estimate.  What's broken on it?

-Mike


From hinn at uiuc.edu  Sun Jan 20 18:59:55 2008
From: hinn at uiuc.edu (d. michelle hinn)
Date: Sun, 20 Jan 2008 17:59:55 -0600
Subject: [games_access] Game control question...
In-Reply-To: <f2235baa0801201526y4fd2913cuf8247116bb94713e@mail.gmail.com>
References: <f2235baa0801172252m5d4e7b8ay677e70b7aae71fae@mail.gmail.com>
	<002401c859ab$39be6d80$0202a8c0@oneswitch>
	<f2235baa0801180052r6c4ccb99ne0fc96b764ec51b4@mail.gmail.com>
	<p06230902c3b6b0d4fb47@130.126.29.51>
	<f2235baa0801201254q588c2f73q6a8f2a813e05b599@mail.gmail.com>
	<p06230902c3b975d3d9d7@130.126.29.51>
	<f2235baa0801201526y4fd2913cuf8247116bb94713e@mail.gmail.com>
Message-ID: <p06230903c3b98a70aecf@[130.126.29.51]>

>On Jan 20, 2008 4:33 PM, d. michelle hinn <hinn at uiuc.edu> wrote:
>>  >On Jan 18, 2008 2:04 PM, d. michelle hinn <hinn at uiuc.edu> wrote:
>>  That's what we now have some funding to do -- at last! It takes
>>  money/time-time/money as you know to come up with these plans, get a
>>  flashy brouchure/investers package printed out, etc in order to get
>>  more money to do things like contacting companies and arranging for
>>  them to have a controller and/or purchase one themselves.
>
>Yep - it's very hard work.  One thought, I shopped my ideas a little
>looking to get help on my hardware and software costs for my current
>projects in the area (estimating ~$5k/year) and was told that was
>*way* below most investors' interest level - even for philanthropic
>grants - and I'd have an easier time raising $1 million for it if I
>could figure out how to spend it.

Heh -- that's interesting to know. And kind of not surprising, sadly. 
Oh, I think we could spend some major cash on hiring people to do all 
kinds of work. What were those investor's names? ;)

>  > I must admit that I'm kinda torn between buying controllers for the
>>  companies that could easily afford to buy one themselves and buying
>>  them to give away to gamers that would actually use them day-to-day.
>
>Totally understand, but I think the numbers work out better if we
>target the industry for awareness first.  Then we just have to
>convince resource centers / insurance companies / disability
>associations that gaming is important enough to help fund for
>individuals :)  Might be worth talking to the people at Child's Play
>for ideas on raising cash to get controllers into the hands of people
>that need them.

Well, awareness has been our purpose and what we've been trying to do 
for most of this decade. But without slick packages (back to that 
whole "ask for millions and you have a better chance" thing) and 
demonstrating how a company can financially benefit from including 
accessibility, that's where we get stuck. It's not that the industry 
on the whole is completely unaware -- indeed more and more know we 
exist. But it comes down to numbers in the end -- we get asked "how 
many more gamers would game if they could game and could afford the 
controllers and how does that even out what we would spend on making 
changes to our, say, control scheme and even increase our revenue 
share." Frustrating...that and we need to provide that, it seems, for 
EVERY type of accessibility feature (ie, how much $$ would a company 
get if they put in closed captioning, changed their color scheme, 
etc). And with different companies having different budgets, valuing 
different game attributes, etc...that's not easy.

Actually Child's Play is already on board to help us out as a grant 
partner. :) But yes...convincing resource centers is another slice of 
the pie -- that's actually my own personal research bent, about how 
access to gaming is important. And I've been collecting email 
addresses for resource centers, etc to learn about us -- because it's 
those groups that have actually been the very groups that don't know 
about us. There's been some conflict of interest as a group because 
we are focused on game devs because of our IGDA affiliation. The good 
news, however, is that the IGDA and the new ECA (electronic consumers 
assn) are friends and that's resulting in the ECA joining in with us 
-- hopefully that will result in some money for an awareness campaign 
that is also aimed at disability groups.

>  > I need to come up with this for the SIG grant and it's a steep
>>  learning curve for me. It's something I need to learn how to do now
>>  that we're playing in the big(ger?) leagues now!
>
>Yep. I'll try to help with what I can.  First off - what are our
>goals?  My guesses would be something along the lines of:
>
>1.) To promote awareness of the needs of disabled gamers.
>2.) To research and develop technologies to bridge the gap between
>disabled gamers and the games themselves.
>3.) To promote the results of research and development efforts and try
>to get enabling technologies incorporated within mainstream games.

I'll get back to this in a bit but, yes, those are definitely three 
main goals. Yeah, I get you when you say that you've not been in the 
main business zone and that university curriculum have, uh, some 
problems. Part of me wonders if game accessibility might get picked 
up as a "challenge" for the participants in Trump's Apprentice show. 
Part of that part of me thinks...well...could it?

>  > Yeah...those controllers aren't cheap -- and I have a completely
>>  broken one thanks to airport security (I've taken it through carry on
>>  and through checked luggage -- doesn't matter, they break it anyway).
>>  But, as you know...it *does* look a little suspicious. However, I
>>  think that they might be better off worrying about the things that
>>  don't look suspicious. I guess!
>
>This I could rant on for even longer :)  Long-haired hackers with
>goatees wearing old T-shirts and blue jeans are also extremely
>suspicious and *must* get the extra special treatment every time they
>get on planes if they have to be allowed on at all.  Might be safer,
>if more expensive, to use FedEx or UPS to ship the thing to a hotel or
>convention sponsor, then back home.
>
>Do you have one that works for the show?

Yep -- luckily I have another and Eelke has one as well. And, yes, 
these things will be going UPS from now on! And, yes, hackers totally 
identify with our airline plight -- I explained this to many at E4All 
and they already understood exactly what I'd been through!

>  > Anyway, I'm asking him if he can fix it for me -- I think he'd be
>>  willing to do so if he and I could come up with a repair fee that was
>>  fair value. I'm sure we can!
>
>Post it if he's got an estimate.  What's broken on it?

Oh just about everything. Basically anything that can be taken off of 
the controller has been so it's all a bunch of wires and broken 
switches, missing tubes, etc. So it's in pretty bad shape!

Michelle


From devellison at gmail.com  Sun Jan 20 19:54:03 2008
From: devellison at gmail.com (Michael Ellison)
Date: Sun, 20 Jan 2008 18:54:03 -0600
Subject: [games_access] Game control question...
In-Reply-To: <p06230903c3b98a70aecf@130.126.29.51>
References: <f2235baa0801172252m5d4e7b8ay677e70b7aae71fae@mail.gmail.com>
	<002401c859ab$39be6d80$0202a8c0@oneswitch>
	<f2235baa0801180052r6c4ccb99ne0fc96b764ec51b4@mail.gmail.com>
	<p06230902c3b6b0d4fb47@130.126.29.51>
	<f2235baa0801201254q588c2f73q6a8f2a813e05b599@mail.gmail.com>
	<p06230902c3b975d3d9d7@130.126.29.51>
	<f2235baa0801201526y4fd2913cuf8247116bb94713e@mail.gmail.com>
	<p06230903c3b98a70aecf@130.126.29.51>
Message-ID: <f2235baa0801201654l6ff00d00p1d0c824607b849e@mail.gmail.com>

On Jan 20, 2008 5:59 PM, d. michelle hinn <hinn at uiuc.edu> wrote:
> Heh -- that's interesting to know. And kind of not surprising, sadly.
> Oh, I think we could spend some major cash on hiring people to do all
> kinds of work. What were those investor's names? ;)

I'll let one know we're working on something and see if he has
suggestions.  Once we've got something together to present, we'll see
if/when he has time for introductions.  Trying not to bug him too much
without giving him something solid with an action plan - he gets
people asking for money for the craziest things all the time, and I
want to stay above his noise level.

> Well, awareness has been our purpose and what we've been trying to do
> for most of this decade. But without slick packages (back to that
> whole "ask for millions and you have a better chance" thing) and
> demonstrating how a company can financially benefit from including
> accessibility, that's where we get stuck.

Don't get stuck on the financial benefit part.  If I thought there was
a way to make game accessibility profitable enough to make serious
business sense, I'd raise venture capital to start a company for it
and make millions instead of spending my spare time writing free code
for it and working at a good but not exactly stimulating or life
enhancing day job.  But it's really not a huge-growth market from my
analysis (snide comments about political trends in the US bringing us
more customers aside) - if you do make a company in the accessibility
area you have to charge high prices to make up for low volumes and
you're keeping your fingers crossed hoping the insurance companies
will pay them.  I'd put money on it that KYE operates at a loss or at
best break-even, and only exists because he's a nice guy with noble
values.

I think we'd do better trying to make it stupid simple and cheap for
companies to make their products more accessible and show them how
rather than trying to convince them to do the research, development,
and testing themselves.  Then it's more a question of what the right
thing to do is than whether they have the time, expertise, and money
to spend on figuring out what they need to do and how to do it.

Accessibility is a really broad field, and from what I've seen there's
no clear list of how to make a game accessible that's useful when
implementation time comes - even for a narrow set of disabilities.
Closed captioning is one exception, and I think Valve did a pretty
nice job on Half Life 2 supporting it - because someone there thought
it was important and the right thing to do.  I'd fully expect that if
they've seen what Reid and his group did with Doom 3, we might even
get an audio radar in HL3.

But while every textbook says "Configurable input is the key for
physically disabled gamers", Valve and Id developers would say "Well,
our games are completely configurable for inputs!".  Problem is,
they'd be right and they've obviously put some serious time and effort
into making their games that way, but their games still don't work
worth squat with a QuadController without external software - and the
QuadController, from what I've seen, has more inputs available than
just about any other solution.

> Actually Child's Play is already on board to help us out as a grant
> partner. :) But yes...convincing resource centers is another slice of

Awesome, good job there. And on researching proving that games are
important.  Kinda funny we have to prove that, since even animals play
games to enhance their lives and humans have pretty complex games that
we play today that have been played for centuries.

-Mike


From devellison at gmail.com  Sun Jan 20 20:02:30 2008
From: devellison at gmail.com (Michael Ellison)
Date: Sun, 20 Jan 2008 19:02:30 -0600
Subject: [games_access] Game control question...
In-Reply-To: <f2235baa0801201654l6ff00d00p1d0c824607b849e@mail.gmail.com>
References: <f2235baa0801172252m5d4e7b8ay677e70b7aae71fae@mail.gmail.com>
	<002401c859ab$39be6d80$0202a8c0@oneswitch>
	<f2235baa0801180052r6c4ccb99ne0fc96b764ec51b4@mail.gmail.com>
	<p06230902c3b6b0d4fb47@130.126.29.51>
	<f2235baa0801201254q588c2f73q6a8f2a813e05b599@mail.gmail.com>
	<p06230902c3b975d3d9d7@130.126.29.51>
	<f2235baa0801201526y4fd2913cuf8247116bb94713e@mail.gmail.com>
	<p06230903c3b98a70aecf@130.126.29.51>
	<f2235baa0801201654l6ff00d00p1d0c824607b849e@mail.gmail.com>
Message-ID: <f2235baa0801201702y239bdcbdn2ea193ed2f821a52@mail.gmail.com>

On Jan 20, 2008 6:54 PM, Michael Ellison <devellison at gmail.com> wrote:
> important.  Kinda funny we have to prove that, since even animals play
> games to enhance their lives and humans have pretty complex games that
> we play today that have been played for centuries.

Just reread that and wanted to make sure my meaning is clear - I think
the research and proof is absolutely critical, especially when talking
to insurance companies, resource centers, and legislatures about
funding.   What you're doing is awesome and critically important, it's
just that it seems like people should inherently *know* that games are
important to quality of life.

-Mike


From hinn at uiuc.edu  Sun Jan 20 20:36:38 2008
From: hinn at uiuc.edu (d. michelle hinn)
Date: Sun, 20 Jan 2008 19:36:38 -0600
Subject: [games_access] Game control question...
In-Reply-To: <f2235baa0801201702y239bdcbdn2ea193ed2f821a52@mail.gmail.com>
References: <f2235baa0801172252m5d4e7b8ay677e70b7aae71fae@mail.gmail.com>
	<002401c859ab$39be6d80$0202a8c0@oneswitch>
	<f2235baa0801180052r6c4ccb99ne0fc96b764ec51b4@mail.gmail.com>
	<p06230902c3b6b0d4fb47@130.126.29.51>
	<f2235baa0801201254q588c2f73q6a8f2a813e05b599@mail.gmail.com>
	<p06230902c3b975d3d9d7@130.126.29.51>
	<f2235baa0801201526y4fd2913cuf8247116bb94713e@mail.gmail.com>
	<p06230903c3b98a70aecf@130.126.29.51>
	<f2235baa0801201654l6ff00d00p1d0c824607b849e@mail.gmail.com>
	<f2235baa0801201702y239bdcbdn2ea193ed2f821a52@mail.gmail.com>
Message-ID: <p06230904c3b9a1a61f41@[130.126.29.51]>

>On Jan 20, 2008 6:54 PM, Michael Ellison <devellison at gmail.com> wrote:
>>  important.  Kinda funny we have to prove that, since even animals play
>>  games to enhance their lives and humans have pretty complex games that
>>  we play today that have been played for centuries.
>
>Just reread that and wanted to make sure my meaning is clear - I think
>the research and proof is absolutely critical, especially when talking
>to insurance companies, resource centers, and legislatures about
>funding.   What you're doing is awesome and critically important, it's
>just that it seems like people should inherently *know* that games are
>important to quality of life.

Yeah, I do agree. Unfortunately when it comes to disability and game 
accessibility, we have to fight the good fight to say that 
games/leisure are so important that it can have the power to gift the 
gift of the will to live after a critical accident. Instead we/I 
often get responses like "ok, but is it MORE important than XYZ?" Yes 
and no -- of course if there is nothing in place to help someone 
breathe and so forth...then ok, that's going to obviously get first 
priority. But to shrug it off as completely frivolous? That's not the 
right answer either. Art, music, games, literature, comics, 
television...these are the things that help make life interesting and 
worth wanting to stick around another day.

Those of us on this list? We all understand this. But there are a lot 
of weirdness out there. I've heard from doctors, parents, etc more 
than once "but isn't it good that games are inaccessible so that we 
can help *protect* them from this?" Huh, what? Note, that these 
responses have almost always been from people who are not disabled 
and/or do not have a child, spouse, parent, sibling, friend, etc who 
is disabled. I could go on and on for a few hundred pages about the 
word "protect." But to save everyone the bandwidth, I won't right 
now. ;) But It's a freedom of choice issue. To assume that all people 
with disabilities need some sort of social censorship when it comes 
to games, etc is to assume all people with disabilities are *exactly* 
alike and need someone to make the choice about what information they 
have access to for them. I can smell a dystopia a mile away and we're 
on the frontlines.

But then I've also heard doctors and parents and people with 
disabilities say "is there something that will allow my patient/my 
child/me to play games again?" So all is not lost. But, yeah, it is 
kind of crazy that we have to tell people with research/stats/etc 
backing us up, what seems to be a pretty simple concept. But that's 
the world we live in.

Michelle


From devellison at gmail.com  Sun Jan 20 21:08:50 2008
From: devellison at gmail.com (Michael Ellison)
Date: Sun, 20 Jan 2008 20:08:50 -0600
Subject: [games_access] Game control question...
In-Reply-To: <p06230904c3b9a1a61f41@130.126.29.51>
References: <f2235baa0801172252m5d4e7b8ay677e70b7aae71fae@mail.gmail.com>
	<f2235baa0801180052r6c4ccb99ne0fc96b764ec51b4@mail.gmail.com>
	<p06230902c3b6b0d4fb47@130.126.29.51>
	<f2235baa0801201254q588c2f73q6a8f2a813e05b599@mail.gmail.com>
	<p06230902c3b975d3d9d7@130.126.29.51>
	<f2235baa0801201526y4fd2913cuf8247116bb94713e@mail.gmail.com>
	<p06230903c3b98a70aecf@130.126.29.51>
	<f2235baa0801201654l6ff00d00p1d0c824607b849e@mail.gmail.com>
	<f2235baa0801201702y239bdcbdn2ea193ed2f821a52@mail.gmail.com>
	<p06230904c3b9a1a61f41@130.126.29.51>
Message-ID: <f2235baa0801201808v78f490d2ka6b88c76ad9ffb34@mail.gmail.com>

On Jan 20, 2008 7:36 PM, d. michelle hinn <hinn at uiuc.edu> wrote:
> But to shrug it off as completely frivolous? That's not the
> right answer either. Art, music, games, literature, comics,
> television...these are the things that help make life interesting and
> worth wanting to stick around another day.

Very, very true.

Another tactic that would at least work when talking to people within
the technology industry is to point out how much games push the
envelope of technology and technology acceptance within the general
tech industry and consumer markets. If we can ride their coat-tails
the end result should be that game accessibility pushes the broader
accessibility industry forward at a faster pace.

I'm already looking at retargeting some of the code I'm working on for
a simple input/speech response for a more general accessibility app.

Not trying be depressing, but if anyone has any ideas on available
products or techniques that would help this person communicate, let me
know or post 'em there ( blind, unable to speak, shoulder movement and
weak neck/facial movement, but fully coherent and responsive ):

http://www.apparelyzed.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=5734.

Hasn't responded to me yet, so she might have found something or just
hasn't checked her email.  Seems like a basic communication app would
be simple enough modeled after the whitepaper I posted, but I didn't
see any available products that provided the functionality when I did
a quick search.

At anyrate, anything we do for games is directly applicable to general
accessibility as technology moves forward.

> Those of us on this list? We all understand this. But there are a lot
> of weirdness out there. I've heard from doctors, parents, etc more
> than once "but isn't it good that games are inaccessible so that we
> can help *protect* them from this?" Huh, what? Note, that these
> responses have almost always been from people who are not disabled
> and/or do not have a child, spouse, parent, sibling, friend, etc who
> is disabled. I could go on and on for a few hundred pages about the
> word "protect."

*whimper*

<rant>Yeah. I hate that mindset.  Please *don't* protect me from
myself, thanks.  It's amazing how much of that we get even in a
country supposedly founded on personal liberty. </rant>

-Mike


From hinn at uiuc.edu  Sun Jan 20 22:01:25 2008
From: hinn at uiuc.edu (d. michelle hinn)
Date: Sun, 20 Jan 2008 21:01:25 -0600
Subject: [games_access] Game control question...
In-Reply-To: <f2235baa0801201654l6ff00d00p1d0c824607b849e@mail.gmail.com>
References: <f2235baa0801172252m5d4e7b8ay677e70b7aae71fae@mail.gmail.com>
	<002401c859ab$39be6d80$0202a8c0@oneswitch>
	<f2235baa0801180052r6c4ccb99ne0fc96b764ec51b4@mail.gmail.com>
	<p06230902c3b6b0d4fb47@130.126.29.51>
	<f2235baa0801201254q588c2f73q6a8f2a813e05b599@mail.gmail.com>
	<p06230902c3b975d3d9d7@130.126.29.51>
	<f2235baa0801201526y4fd2913cuf8247116bb94713e@mail.gmail.com>
	<p06230903c3b98a70aecf@130.126.29.51>
	<f2235baa0801201654l6ff00d00p1d0c824607b849e@mail.gmail.com>
Message-ID: <p06230905c3b9a7a98804@[130.126.29.51]>

>On Jan 20, 2008 5:59 PM, d. michelle hinn <hinn at uiuc.edu> wrote:
>>  Heh -- that's interesting to know. And kind of not surprising, sadly.
>>  Oh, I think we could spend some major cash on hiring people to do all
>>  kinds of work. What were those investor's names? ;)
>
>I'll let one know we're working on something and see if he has
>suggestions.  Once we've got something together to present, we'll see
>if/when he has time for introductions.  Trying not to bug him too much
>without giving him something solid with an action plan - he gets
>people asking for money for the craziest things all the time, and I
>want to stay above his noise level.

That I understand all too well!

>  > Well, awareness has been our purpose and what we've been trying to do
>>  for most of this decade. But without slick packages (back to that
>>  whole "ask for millions and you have a better chance" thing) and
>>  demonstrating how a company can financially benefit from including
>>  accessibility, that's where we get stuck.
>
>Don't get stuck on the financial benefit part.  If I thought there was
>a way to make game accessibility profitable enough to make serious
>business sense, I'd raise venture capital to start a company for it
>and make millions instead of spending my spare time writing free code
>for it and working at a good but not exactly stimulating or life
>enhancing day job.  But it's really not a huge-growth market from my
>analysis (snide comments about political trends in the US bringing us
>more customers aside) - if you do make a company in the accessibility
>area you have to charge high prices to make up for low volumes and
>you're keeping your fingers crossed hoping the insurance companies
>will pay them.  I'd put money on it that KYE operates at a loss or at
>best break-even, and only exists because he's a nice guy with noble
>values.

Unfortunately the reality is that game companies will say what we are 
doing is great...but can we guarantee numbers? I completely 
understand that we can get stuck in the numbers game forever. And in 
the end? A company probably isn't going to make huge amounts of money 
-- who can guarantee who would be gamers if they could be and what 
kind of games they would play? But GDC after GDC...there's always 
people who will smile back with this clouded over look in their eyes 
and say "this is great, yes, accessibility is what we should be 
doing...but we're fighting budget cuts and the game industry is a 
tough industry so in order to do any of this we need financial 
details." Every single time. So while I (and many of us in the SIG) 
don't want to get caught up in the financial quicksand...the social 
justice argument just doesn't hold.

And yeah, I bet KYE is not a fortune 50000000 company.

>I think we'd do better trying to make it stupid simple and cheap for
>companies to make their products more accessible and show them how
>rather than trying to convince them to do the research, development,
>and testing themselves.  Then it's more a question of what the right
>thing to do is than whether they have the time, expertise, and money
>to spend on figuring out what they need to do and how to do it.

I agree with us doing the work of figuring out what will work -- 
that's what we strive to do. But to get someone to put in anything? 
It seems like a no brainer...but we haven't exactly seen a whole lot 
of change because it comes down to that damn financial question again 
and again and again. That's what we face in the industry -- there's 
always this insistence that nothing will happen until we can show 
that it's going to be cheap, not lose customers, and maybe even sell 
a few more units...and that it's going to be more important than 
adding in some other feature that has nothing to do with 
accessibility but that they want to do because they can.

>Accessibility is a really broad field, and from what I've seen there's
>no clear list of how to make a game accessible that's useful when
>implementation time comes - even for a narrow set of disabilities.

That's largely because disability itself is complex. There is a huge 
range even within the most narrow set. And then how many people are 
we talking about when we tell a company "here are some guidelines?" 
And who are we shutting out when we let in one group (ie, what is 
accessible for the hearing impaired usually isn't the same thing as 
what is accessible for the visually impaired)? We've created lists 
only to replace them with other lists or guidelines or patterns -- 
the task is huge. But we still chip away at it.

>Closed captioning is one exception, and I think Valve did a pretty
>nice job on Half Life 2 supporting it - because someone there thought
>it was important and the right thing to do.  I'd fully expect that if
>they've seen what Reid and his group did with Doom 3, we might even
>get an audio radar in HL3.

Ah...I'll let Reid tell the story but the hearing impaired community 
went after Valve. Valve has also seen what Reid has done and they 
know him. And it remains the only commercial game to date with closed 
captioning (not just subtitles). And that was years ago...and yet why 
hasn't another company done that? Other companies have been 
complained to...and we've talked about it so much at conferences 
you'd think that by now half the industry would have put in closed 
captioning just to get us to shut up about it. The Doom3[cc] mod was 
even up for a mod of the year award (unfortunately it didn't win) at 
GDC a few years back. If I had to guess, it's the feature we talk 
about the most to the industry about...again...that financial 
question rears up and we need a better answer to that question.

>But while every textbook says "Configurable input is the key for
>physically disabled gamers", Valve and Id developers would say "Well,
>our games are completely configurable for inputs!".  Problem is,
>they'd be right and they've obviously put some serious time and effort
>into making their games that way, but their games still don't work
>worth squat with a QuadController without external software - and the
>QuadController, from what I've seen, has more inputs available than
>just about any other solution.

Well, not every textbook...just the more recent ones. But the trouble 
with every textbook is that they only have so much space to talk 
about the issue -- at GDC I'll see the final contracts for the first 
time but the SIG will be producing a book (for real this time...).

But I think we could go on and on about the value of showing 
developers how their own game can or cannot be played. And I agree -- 
there's got to be someone on the inside of every company that says 
"you know what? we're going to put in this one feature to make our 
game more accessible to people with XYZ disability." But they get 
stuck somewhere in the system.

This is where I/we get stuck -- there's the financial question...and 
then there's the legal question. These surpass the "right thing to 
do" issue -- I don't like to believe it does...but after a while, we 
have to wonder what is going on. Is it really a financial question? 
Is it a legal question -- and if it is, how? and if it is...how much 
would we see the industry turn against us if we made that case? There 
are a lot of rough lessons to be learned from other media...just 
because something does fall under, say, the Americans with 
Disabilities Act doesn't mean that change will follow quickly (or 
even follow) -- there are way too many cases locked up in courts 
around the US just to take the captioning in movie theatres question 
to task.

So Mike I'm not bringing up all these things to say that you are not 
right -- there's a long history with the SIG and we've tried many 
things, many that you have brought up. But I bring them up to say 
that things haven't been as simple as they might seem with regard to 
impact in the industry. I bring them up to remind myself of the 
battle that we are about to go into again -- ie, GDC 2008. I also 
bring them up to say that we haven't had enough bandwidth to really 
have as big of an impact as we all would like. Maybe it's been timing 
for some strategies. I really don't know. I like your idea of 
targeting a company or two and sending them controllers, calling, 
emailing -- asking them what they think and if they say that they 
can't afford to implement any one thing ask them to at least be 
honest and tell us why exactly that is? I hope that those of us going 
to GDC can identify a few companies that are most likely not going to 
completely ignore us and/or let what we send them sit in the corner. 
I hope. I just keep hoping for that day when we can say "wow, they 
did this because we helped make it happen." I think one of these days 
that will happen. We need more than money -- we need the commitment 
of more people like you who aren't waiting for a financial payoff on 
a grand scale...or at all.

So anyway, I hope you'll stick with us because we need more people 
like you who feel like what we do is the right thing to do and won't 
accept "we can't afford it" as the final answer from the game 
industry. I just want us to remember what we face/have faced/will 
face so that we take it not as discouragement but as encouragement -- 
hey, regardless of whether or not we buy into the financial 
excuses/realities/whatever people want to call it, the fact that 
people are even responding tells us that they know we are out there.

There's a quote that my advisor told me years ago that keeps popping 
back in my mind recently. It seemed super obscure when he brought it 
up. It was a quote from Miguel de Unamuno -- a Spanish philosopher -- 
who said in his book "The Tragic Sense of Life" (If you are rolling 
your eyes already, don't worry -- I had the same reaction as I often 
do when I hear something obscure come out of someone's mouth):

When the disillusionment of the mind and despair of the heart come 
together then you finally have something to build on.

Maybe that's where we are now? Maybe we've finally arrived at the 
place where we have something to build on?

Michelle

PS -- Ok, ok...this may have been one of my crazier emails but, no, I 
haven't completely lost my mind! I think it's just the energy of it 
being the eve of Martin Luther King day (from wikipedia):

The national Martin Luther King Day of Service was started by former 
Pennsylvania U.S. Senator Harris Wofford and Atlanta Congressman John 
Lewis, who co-authored the King Holiday and Service Act. The federal 
legislation challenges Americans to transform the King Holiday into a 
day of citizen action through volunteer service in honor of Dr. King. 
The federal legislation was signed into law by President Bill Clinton 
on August 23, 1994. Since 1996, the annual Greater Philadelphia King 
Day of Service has been the largest event in the nation honoring Dr. 
King.
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From reid at rbkdesign.com  Sun Jan 20 22:35:29 2008
From: reid at rbkdesign.com (Reid Kimball)
Date: Sun, 20 Jan 2008 19:35:29 -0800
Subject: [games_access] Game control question...
In-Reply-To: <p06230905c3b9a7a98804@130.126.29.51>
References: <f2235baa0801172252m5d4e7b8ay677e70b7aae71fae@mail.gmail.com>
	<002401c859ab$39be6d80$0202a8c0@oneswitch>
	<f2235baa0801180052r6c4ccb99ne0fc96b764ec51b4@mail.gmail.com>
	<p06230902c3b6b0d4fb47@130.126.29.51>
	<f2235baa0801201254q588c2f73q6a8f2a813e05b599@mail.gmail.com>
	<p06230902c3b975d3d9d7@130.126.29.51>
	<f2235baa0801201526y4fd2913cuf8247116bb94713e@mail.gmail.com>
	<p06230903c3b98a70aecf@130.126.29.51>
	<f2235baa0801201654l6ff00d00p1d0c824607b849e@mail.gmail.com>
	<p06230905c3b9a7a98804@130.126.29.51>
Message-ID: <a6673b8d0801201935u5f06e47bk286f7d3a8cb2179f@mail.gmail.com>

I haven't read this whole thread but I suggest we can make GA an
easier sell by saying they work for everyone, not just the disabled. I
got as much email from foreign language players who wanted to use
Doom3[CC] to learn English as I did from deaf players.

When you think about the growth games are enjoying now, I believe it
will peak sooner than later if developers don't adopt more
accessibility features. Someone who's never played an FPS may give up,
unless there's a feature to use auto aiming, which some games have,
but not all. I think we should say game accessibility features can
help developers reach more gamers and increase sales across a wide
spectrum of people. This wide spectrum includes people that have never
played to people that currently can't but really want to.

The idea of game accessibility for the disabled is foreign and scary
for developers. Yet, the Nintendo Wii has made the concept of game
accessibility... accessible to developers.

-Reid

On Jan 20, 2008 7:01 PM, d. michelle hinn <hinn at uiuc.edu> wrote:
>
>
> On Jan 20, 2008 5:59 PM, d. michelle hinn <hinn at uiuc.edu> wrote:
>  > Heh -- that's interesting to know. And kind of not surprising, sadly.
>  > Oh, I think we could spend some major cash on hiring people to do all
>  > kinds of work. What were those investor's names? ;)
>
>  I'll let one know we're working on something and see if he has
>  suggestions.  Once we've got something together to present, we'll see
>  if/when he has time for introductions.  Trying not to bug him too much
>  without giving him something solid with an action plan - he gets
>  people asking for money for the craziest things all the time, and I
> want to stay above his noise level.
>
>  That I understand all too well!
>
>
> > Well, awareness has been our purpose and what we've been trying to do
>  > for most of this decade. But without slick packages (back to that
>  > whole "ask for millions and you have a better chance" thing) and
>  > demonstrating how a company can financially benefit from including
>  > accessibility, that's where we get stuck.
>
>  Don't get stuck on the financial benefit part.  If I thought there was
>  a way to make game accessibility profitable enough to make serious
>  business sense, I'd raise venture capital to start a company for it
>  and make millions instead of spending my spare time writing free code
>  for it and working at a good but not exactly stimulating or life
>  enhancing day job.  But it's really not a huge-growth market from my
>  analysis (snide comments about political trends in the US bringing us
>  more customers aside) - if you do make a company in the accessibility
>  area you have to charge high prices to make up for low volumes and
>  you're keeping your fingers crossed hoping the insurance companies
>  will pay them.  I'd put money on it that KYE operates at a loss or at
>  best break-even, and only exists because he's a nice guy with noble
> values.
>
>
> Unfortunately the reality is that game companies will say what we are doing
> is great...but can we guarantee numbers? I completely understand that we can
> get stuck in the numbers game forever. And in the end? A company probably
> isn't going to make huge amounts of money -- who can guarantee who would be
> gamers if they could be and what kind of games they would play? But GDC
> after GDC...there's always people who will smile back with this clouded over
> look in their eyes and say "this is great, yes, accessibility is what we
> should be doing...but we're fighting budget cuts and the game industry is a
> tough industry so in order to do any of this we need financial details."
> Every single time. So while I (and many of us in the SIG) don't want to get
> caught up in the financial quicksand...the social justice argument just
> doesn't hold.
>
>
> And yeah, I bet KYE is not a fortune 50000000 company.
>
>
>
> I think we'd do better trying to make it stupid simple and cheap for
>  companies to make their products more accessible and show them how
>  rather than trying to convince them to do the research, development,
>  and testing themselves.  Then it's more a question of what the right
>  thing to do is than whether they have the time, expertise, and money
> to spend on figuring out what they need to do and how to do it.
>
>
> I agree with us doing the work of figuring out what will work -- that's what
> we strive to do. But to get someone to put in anything? It seems like a no
> brainer...but we haven't exactly seen a whole lot of change because it comes
> down to that damn financial question again and again and again. That's what
> we face in the industry -- there's always this insistence that nothing will
> happen until we can show that it's going to be cheap, not lose customers,
> and maybe even sell a few more units...and that it's going to be more
> important than adding in some other feature that has nothing to do with
> accessibility but that they want to do because they can.
>
>
>
> Accessibility is a really broad field, and from what I've seen there's
>  no clear list of how to make a game accessible that's useful when
> implementation time comes - even for a narrow set of disabilities.
>
>
> That's largely because disability itself is complex. There is a huge range
> even within the most narrow set. And then how many people are we talking
> about when we tell a company "here are some guidelines?" And who are we
> shutting out when we let in one group (ie, what is accessible for the
> hearing impaired usually isn't the same thing as what is accessible for the
> visually impaired)? We've created lists only to replace them with other
> lists or guidelines or patterns -- the task is huge. But we still chip away
> at it.
>
>
>
> Closed captioning is one exception, and I think Valve did a pretty
>  nice job on Half Life 2 supporting it - because someone there thought
>  it was important and the right thing to do.  I'd fully expect that if
>  they've seen what Reid and his group did with Doom 3, we might even
> get an audio radar in HL3.
>
>
> Ah...I'll let Reid tell the story but the hearing impaired community went
> after Valve. Valve has also seen what Reid has done and they know him. And
> it remains the only commercial game to date with closed captioning (not just
> subtitles). And that was years ago...and yet why hasn't another company done
> that? Other companies have been complained to...and we've talked about it so
> much at conferences you'd think that by now half the industry would have put
> in closed captioning just to get us to shut up about it. The Doom3[cc] mod
> was even up for a mod of the year award (unfortunately it didn't win) at GDC
> a few years back. If I had to guess, it's the feature we talk about the most
> to the industry about...again...that financial question rears up and we need
> a better answer to that question.
>
>
>
> But while every textbook says "Configurable input is the key for
>  physically disabled gamers", Valve and Id developers would say "Well,
>  our games are completely configurable for inputs!".  Problem is,
>  they'd be right and they've obviously put some serious time and effort
>  into making their games that way, but their games still don't work
>  worth squat with a QuadController without external software - and the
>  QuadController, from what I've seen, has more inputs available than
> just about any other solution.
>
>
> Well, not every textbook...just the more recent ones. But the trouble with
> every textbook is that they only have so much space to talk about the issue
> -- at GDC I'll see the final contracts for the first time but the SIG will
> be producing a book (for real this time...).
>
>
> But I think we could go on and on about the value of showing developers how
> their own game can or cannot be played. And I agree -- there's got to be
> someone on the inside of every company that says "you know what? we're going
> to put in this one feature to make our game more accessible to people with
> XYZ disability." But they get stuck somewhere in the system.
>
>
> This is where I/we get stuck -- there's the financial question...and then
> there's the legal question. These surpass the "right thing to do" issue -- I
> don't like to believe it does...but after a while, we have to wonder what is
> going on. Is it really a financial question? Is it a legal question -- and
> if it is, how? and if it is...how much would we see the industry turn
> against us if we made that case? There are a lot of rough lessons to be
> learned from other media...just because something does fall under, say, the
> Americans with Disabilities Act doesn't mean that change will follow quickly
> (or even follow) -- there are way too many cases locked up in courts around
> the US just to take the captioning in movie theatres question to task.
>
>
> So Mike I'm not bringing up all these things to say that you are not right
> -- there's a long history with the SIG and we've tried many things, many
> that you have brought up. But I bring them up to say that things haven't
> been as simple as they might seem with regard to impact in the industry. I
> bring them up to remind myself of the battle that we are about to go into
> again -- ie, GDC 2008. I also bring them up to say that we haven't had
> enough bandwidth to really have as big of an impact as we all would like.
> Maybe it's been timing for some strategies. I really don't know. I like your
> idea of targeting a company or two and sending them controllers, calling,
> emailing -- asking them what they think and if they say that they can't
> afford to implement any one thing ask them to at least be honest and tell us
> why exactly that is? I hope that those of us going to GDC can identify a few
> companies that are most likely not going to completely ignore us and/or let
> what we send them sit in the corner. I hope. I just keep hoping for that day
> when we can say "wow, they did this because we helped make it happen." I
> think one of these days that will happen. We need more than money -- we need
> the commitment of more people like you who aren't waiting for a financial
> payoff on a grand scale...or at all.
>
>
> So anyway, I hope you'll stick with us because we need more people like you
> who feel like what we do is the right thing to do and won't accept "we can't
> afford it" as the final answer from the game industry. I just want us to
> remember what we face/have faced/will face so that we take it not as
> discouragement but as encouragement -- hey, regardless of whether or not we
> buy into the financial excuses/realities/whatever people want to call it,
> the fact that people are even responding tells us that they know we are out
> there.
>
>
> There's a quote that my advisor told me years ago that keeps popping back in
> my mind recently. It seemed super obscure when he brought it up. It was a
> quote from Miguel de Unamuno -- a Spanish philosopher -- who said in his
> book "The Tragic Sense of Life" (If you are rolling your eyes already, don't
> worry -- I had the same reaction as I often do when I hear something obscure
> come out of someone's mouth):
>
>
> When the disillusionment of the mind and despair of the heart come together
> then you finally have something to build on.
>
>
> Maybe that's where we are now? Maybe we've finally arrived at the place
> where we have something to build on?
>
>
> Michelle
>
>
> PS -- Ok, ok...this may have been one of my crazier emails but, no, I
> haven't completely lost my mind! I think it's just the energy of it being
> the eve of Martin Luther King day (from wikipedia):
>
>
> The national Martin Luther King Day of Service was started by former
> Pennsylvania U.S. Senator Harris Wofford and Atlanta Congressman John Lewis,
> who co-authored the King Holiday and Service Act. The federal legislation
> challenges Americans to transform the King Holiday into a day of citizen
> action through volunteer service in honor of Dr. King. The federal
> legislation was signed into law by President Bill Clinton on August 23,
> 1994. Since 1996, the annual Greater Philadelphia King Day of Service has
> been the largest event in the nation honoring Dr. King.
> _______________________________________________
> games_access mailing list
> games_access at igda.org
> http://seven.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/games_access
>
>


From hinn at uiuc.edu  Sun Jan 20 22:54:43 2008
From: hinn at uiuc.edu (d. michelle hinn)
Date: Sun, 20 Jan 2008 21:54:43 -0600
Subject: [games_access] Game control question...
In-Reply-To: <a6673b8d0801201935u5f06e47bk286f7d3a8cb2179f@mail.gmail.com>
References: <f2235baa0801172252m5d4e7b8ay677e70b7aae71fae@mail.gmail.com>
	<002401c859ab$39be6d80$0202a8c0@oneswitch>
	<f2235baa0801180052r6c4ccb99ne0fc96b764ec51b4@mail.gmail.com>
	<p06230902c3b6b0d4fb47@130.126.29.51>
	<f2235baa0801201254q588c2f73q6a8f2a813e05b599@mail.gmail.com>
	<p06230902c3b975d3d9d7@130.126.29.51>
	<f2235baa0801201526y4fd2913cuf8247116bb94713e@mail.gmail.com>
	<p06230903c3b98a70aecf@130.126.29.51>
	<f2235baa0801201654l6ff00d00p1d0c824607b849e@mail.gmail.com>
	<p06230905c3b9a7a98804@130.126.29.51>
	<a6673b8d0801201935u5f06e47bk286f7d3a8cb2179f@mail.gmail.com>
Message-ID: <p06230907c3b9c52871d2@[130.126.29.51]>

>I haven't read this whole thread but I suggest we can make GA an
>easier sell by saying they work for everyone, not just the disabled. I
>got as much email from foreign language players who wanted to use
>Doom3[CC] to learn English as I did from deaf players.

Reid -- as you know I agree with this although I do have a fear 
(rational or not) that "for everyone" will quickly exclude a lot if 
there aren't watchdog groups like ours to remind people that "for 
everyone" does mean "everyone."

That being said...the most interesting thing about my recent 
discussions with Emotiv is how little they have considered their 
product to be an accessibility tool (at least according to the 
current company leadership). This reminds me of GDC years ago when 
we'd go up to a company and tell them how their product could also 
help, say, blind gamers and the look of horror on their faces as they 
muttered something about "...but we don't want to be seen as JUST a 
disability company." But the good news is that Emotiv and other 
companies reactions now are not taking these comments as a potential 
liability should word get out that their product helps people with 
disability XYZ. Instead they seem much more interested in learning 
more. Sure, the current state of the US economy is probably having an 
influence on people wanting to market their product as much as 
possible, in as many ways as possible. But I don't think it's 
*entirely* that -- maybe thanks to Nintendo's bravery more companies 
are getting it. I can STILL remember all the snickers they got at 
their keynote at GDC 2006, as people banked more and more on the PS3 
-- oh how time changes everything.

I wonder what has happened to Brainfingers/Cyberlink? It seems like 
they've moved off the radar as far as brain controlled interfaces go 
and they were pioneers in the area.

Michelle


From eelke.folmer at gmail.com  Mon Jan 21 17:30:19 2008
From: eelke.folmer at gmail.com (Eelke Folmer)
Date: Mon, 21 Jan 2008 14:30:19 -0800
Subject: [games_access] Game Accessibility Suite, and first prototype...
In-Reply-To: <f2235baa0801181230s6c1a6b69l94dcd7b021049ef2@mail.gmail.com>
References: <f2235baa0801140229q599e2a78xbe2bf3cecbe70ce1@mail.gmail.com>
	<836db6300801181201v47140d58p3d438ce386024ba9@mail.gmail.com>
	<f2235baa0801181230s6c1a6b69l94dcd7b021049ef2@mail.gmail.com>
Message-ID: <836db6300801211430q17b0b079xa334e3c281e1b063@mail.gmail.com>

Hi Mike,

Sounds very promising.

> When I've got the user interface code done, it will be a runtime
> control - all that needs to happen there is for a multiplier to be
> changed and a base time offset reset.

So you basically run it in a shell ? I was thinking maybe you can kind
of hook it up to a button on a controller that just slows the game
down to a certain speed when tapped. (Kind of like the old turbo
button we had on the 286/386) That way you can still play the game
full screen and players can activate it runtime. I'm assuming you have
to do a context switch to get back to the slowdown shell and slow the
game down? the only problem I would foresee is that player using this
tool already have a hard time interacting and would not really prefer
an additional button. (Robert do you have any ideas on this? do you
have an extra button to spare on your quad controller?)

Cheers eelke




> > On 14/01/2008, Michael Ellison <devellison at gmail.com> wrote:
> > > Greetings,
> > >     Just wanted to post a note if any of ya'll are interested... I've
> > > started an open source project on SourceForge.net to create a suite of
> > > utilities to make modern Win32 games more accessible.  Currently
> > > trying to figure out a good way to do external captioning with Reid,
> > > and I have a few other utility projects going at the moment.
> > >
> > > I've finished my first prototype utility using the common libraries
> > > I'm building up.  It is called GASThrottle, and should allow you to
> > > slow down many modern games on Windows to 10%-90% speed.  I've tested
> > > it with Doom 3 and Far Cry with great success, and others with mixed
> > > results - e.g. it crashes BioShock ;( .  When I looked, I didn't find
> > > much out there that did this for modern games that worked, although I
> > > found a few that didn't and some that work *great* for old DOS games.
> > >
> > > If there is already a free utility out there that does this well,
> > > please tell me :)
> > > Right now it's just a command line app, but if it looks useful to
> > > people I'll eventually make it all nice and pretty.
> > >
> > > Anyway, if anyone has ideas/suggestions on this or other utilities to
> > > add to the suite, please email me or post in the project's
> > > forums/tracker.
> > >
> > > Download page: http://sourceforge.net/project/showfiles.php?group_id=212119&package_id=258851
> > > Code Docs: http://gameaccess.sourceforge.net
> > > Project URL: http://sourceforge.net/projects/gameaccess
> > > Source Repository:
> > > https://gameaccess.svn.sourceforge.net/svnroot/gameaccess/trunk/
> > >
> > > Cheers,
> > > Mike
> > > _______________________________________________
> > > 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
> > ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
> >
> > _______________________________________________
> > 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 devellison at gmail.com  Mon Jan 21 18:35:21 2008
From: devellison at gmail.com (Michael Ellison)
Date: Mon, 21 Jan 2008 17:35:21 -0600
Subject: [games_access] Game Accessibility Suite, and first prototype...
In-Reply-To: <836db6300801211430q17b0b079xa334e3c281e1b063@mail.gmail.com>
References: <f2235baa0801140229q599e2a78xbe2bf3cecbe70ce1@mail.gmail.com>
	<836db6300801181201v47140d58p3d438ce386024ba9@mail.gmail.com>
	<f2235baa0801181230s6c1a6b69l94dcd7b021049ef2@mail.gmail.com>
	<836db6300801211430q17b0b079xa334e3c281e1b063@mail.gmail.com>
Message-ID: <f2235baa0801211535m1a6f5a56v94016f3775b6335@mail.gmail.com>

On Jan 21, 2008 4:30 PM, Eelke Folmer <eelke.folmer at gmail.com> wrote:
> So you basically run it in a shell ? I was thinking maybe you can kind
> of hook it up to a button on a controller that just slows the game
> down to a certain speed when tapped. (Kind of like the old turbo
> button we had on the 286/386) That way you can still play the game
> full screen and players can activate it runtime. I'm assuming you have
> to do a context switch to get back to the slowdown shell and slow the
> game down? the only problem I would foresee is that player using this
> tool already have a hard time interacting and would not really prefer
> an additional button. (Robert do you have any ideas on this? do you
> have an extra button to spare on your quad controller?)

What I'm doing is injecting a DLL into the game process and hooking
the timer functions that most games use to control their speed
(timeGetTime, QueryPerformanceCounter, GetTickCount, etc.). This way
it only affects the game, and doesn't slow down the processing - you
should still get good performance in the game, it'll just be slower.
Anyway, in the prototype I just set a registry key and inject the DLL
from the command line, so I didn't have any communications or
interface at all in it.

For an interface, I've written some test code for hooking into the
DirectX rendering pipe and tossing an overlay on top of the game.  So
you'll at least be able to see the current speed.  Right now I'm
debating between a heads-up display showing the speed and allowing
control via the joystick (e.g. left is slower, right is faster), or
just cycling speeds and giving some visual feedback per button
press... I like the first interface better, but unless I lock out the
joystick from affecting the game itself you might end up running
around in circles or off a cliff while trying to slow it down.  The
second wouldn't have that problem, but would be less natural IMHO.
Any ideas ya'll have on this would be *much* appreciated.

>
>
> Cheers eelke
>
>
>
>
> > > On 14/01/2008, Michael Ellison <devellison at gmail.com> wrote:
> > > > Greetings,
> > > >     Just wanted to post a note if any of ya'll are interested... I've
> > > > started an open source project on SourceForge.net to create a suite of
> > > > utilities to make modern Win32 games more accessible.  Currently
> > > > trying to figure out a good way to do external captioning with Reid,
> > > > and I have a few other utility projects going at the moment.
> > > >
> > > > I've finished my first prototype utility using the common libraries
> > > > I'm building up.  It is called GASThrottle, and should allow you to
> > > > slow down many modern games on Windows to 10%-90% speed.  I've tested
> > > > it with Doom 3 and Far Cry with great success, and others with mixed
> > > > results - e.g. it crashes BioShock ;( .  When I looked, I didn't find
> > > > much out there that did this for modern games that worked, although I
> > > > found a few that didn't and some that work *great* for old DOS games.
> > > >
> > > > If there is already a free utility out there that does this well,
> > > > please tell me :)
> > > > Right now it's just a command line app, but if it looks useful to
> > > > people I'll eventually make it all nice and pretty.
> > > >
> > > > Anyway, if anyone has ideas/suggestions on this or other utilities to
> > > > add to the suite, please email me or post in the project's
> > > > forums/tracker.
> > > >
> > > > Download page: http://sourceforge.net/project/showfiles.php?group_id=212119&package_id=258851
> > > > Code Docs: http://gameaccess.sourceforge.net
> > > > Project URL: http://sourceforge.net/projects/gameaccess
> > > > Source Repository:
> > > > https://gameaccess.svn.sourceforge.net/svnroot/gameaccess/trunk/
> > > >
> > > > Cheers,
> > > > Mike
> > > > _______________________________________________
> > > > 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
> > > ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
> > >
> > > _______________________________________________
> > > 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
> ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
> _______________________________________________
> games_access mailing list
> games_access at igda.org
> http://seven.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/games_access
>


From devellison at gmail.com  Tue Jan 22 03:28:42 2008
From: devellison at gmail.com (Michael Ellison)
Date: Tue, 22 Jan 2008 02:28:42 -0600
Subject: [games_access] Game control question...
In-Reply-To: <p06230907c3b9c52871d2@130.126.29.51>
References: <f2235baa0801172252m5d4e7b8ay677e70b7aae71fae@mail.gmail.com>
	<p06230902c3b6b0d4fb47@130.126.29.51>
	<f2235baa0801201254q588c2f73q6a8f2a813e05b599@mail.gmail.com>
	<p06230902c3b975d3d9d7@130.126.29.51>
	<f2235baa0801201526y4fd2913cuf8247116bb94713e@mail.gmail.com>
	<p06230903c3b98a70aecf@130.126.29.51>
	<f2235baa0801201654l6ff00d00p1d0c824607b849e@mail.gmail.com>
	<p06230905c3b9a7a98804@130.126.29.51>
	<a6673b8d0801201935u5f06e47bk286f7d3a8cb2179f@mail.gmail.com>
	<p06230907c3b9c52871d2@130.126.29.51>
Message-ID: <f2235baa0801220028n4e5c969amc5f9fdbe1db33dc3@mail.gmail.com>

On Jan 20, 2008 9:35 PM, Reid Kimball <reid at rbkdesign.com> wrote:
> >I haven't read this whole thread but I suggest we can make GA an
> >easier sell by saying they work for everyone, not just the disabled. I
> >got as much email from foreign language players who wanted to use
> >Doom3[CC] to learn English as I did from deaf players.

I totally agree that the goal should be to make games accessible to
everyone and that that line of thinking also sounds the best, but to
achieve that and include disabled gamers requires a real focus on how
disabled gamers play when it comes down to implementation.  Input
remapping in games is a good example - developers take a general
approach and do it well, but it falls apart when it hits the
limitations of custom controllers. Even with closed-captioning,
subtitling is more common in games and does well for foreign gamers.
My wife and I often play video games and watch movies together in
other languages to practice - she can actually even understand them :)

Businesses look for broad solutions that solve a problem for the vast
majority of their users at the least expense.  I don't currently have
a reference for the meme, but I've been told to provide a solid
solution for "90%" so many times in my career that it's got to be
written down in someone's management book.  And for most things that's
actually a good, sound business plan - it just sucks when you're in
the other 10%.

On Jan 20, 2008 9:35 PM, Reid Kimball <reid at rbkdesign.com> wrote:
> The idea of game accessibility for the disabled is foreign and scary
> for developers. Yet, the Nintendo Wii has made the concept of game
> accessibility... accessible to developers.

I think a lot of it is they specifically targeted a different market
than most game companies - casual gamers and party games - and did a
really nice job.  I've played the Wii at parties and it was fun, but
really wouldn't want one for myself with the titles I've seen so far
(unless I got an SDK) - they just aren't the types of games I
generally play.  I am *very* interested in their controllers
though....

On Jan 20, 2008 9:54 PM, d. michelle hinn <hinn at uiuc.edu> wrote:
> That being said...the most interesting thing about my recent
> discussions with Emotiv is how little they have considered their
> product to be an accessibility tool

I so want to tinker with one of these.  My first thought looking at
BCIs is how much they could have helped victims of Parkinson's in my
own family if they had come out earlier.  My second thought is that
it'd be cool to pwn n00bs with my brain 8-)  I've been trying to
justify the cost of one as a toy for years - I hope Emotiv succeeds in
the consumer market and brings the price down for a usable system.


From jbannick at 7128.com  Tue Jan 22 19:16:39 2008
From: jbannick at 7128.com (John Bannick)
Date: Tue, 22 Jan 2008 19:16:39 -0500
Subject: [games_access] ALERT Game Book Uploaded for the DVD
Message-ID: <6.1.0.6.2.20080122190712.01e06ac0@enigami.com>

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



From richard at audiogames.net  Wed Jan 23 18:52:45 2008
From: richard at audiogames.net (AudioGames.net)
Date: Thu, 24 Jan 2008 00:52:45 +0100
Subject: [games_access] Gamasutra Game Audio Article (which is useful for
	game audio accessibility)
Message-ID: <006401c85e1b$0d267050$6402a8c0@Delletje>

Hi,

Today Gamasutra.com has published an article that we (Sander and Richard) wrote as part of our PhD study of game audio. It is titled "IEZA: A Framework For Game Audio" and in it we present a structure for sound in games:

http://www.gamasutra.com/view/feature/3509/ieza_a_framework_for_game_audio.php

This article covers 'structure' of game audio, and not yet 'functions' or 'performance' of game audio (which will be other articles and our theses). I believe the framework is very useful for discussing game audio accessibility solutions, because I think the framework shows the scope of what game audio accessibility should cover. I also think that it is a good idea to think about possible different solutions for the different categories of the framework.

Greets,

Richard
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From eelke.folmer at gmail.com  Wed Jan 23 20:14:42 2008
From: eelke.folmer at gmail.com (Eelke Folmer)
Date: Wed, 23 Jan 2008 17:14:42 -0800
Subject: [games_access] Gamasutra Game Audio Article (which is useful
	for game audio accessibility)
In-Reply-To: <006401c85e1b$0d267050$6402a8c0@Delletje>
References: <006401c85e1b$0d267050$6402a8c0@Delletje>
Message-ID: <836db6300801231714y6a7d0411yd7083edf948ab656@mail.gmail.com>

Hi Sander/Richard,

Very interesting article. I like the framework but where would the
sounds & music of a rhythm playing game like guitar hero fit it? I'm
assuming it's part of the diegetic but i'm unsure if it is effect or
zone. The music itself kind of provides the storyline (diegetic) but
the music is not used for ambience but really to guide the player (so
i'ts not zone); its a primary stimuli in addition to primary visual
stimuli (notes on the screen). The sound of missing a note which leads
to hearing a false note is probably an effect?

cheers Eelke


On 23/01/2008, AudioGames.net <richard at audiogames.net> wrote:
>
>
> Hi,
>
> Today Gamasutra.com has published an article that we (Sander and Richard)
> wrote as part of our PhD study of game audio. It is titled "IEZA: A
> Framework For Game Audio" and in it we present a structure for sound in
> games:
>
> http://www.gamasutra.com/view/feature/3509/ieza_a_framework_for_game_audio.php
>
> This article covers 'structure' of game audio, and not yet 'functions' or
> 'performance' of game audio (which will be other articles and our theses). I
> believe the framework is very useful for discussing game audio accessibility
> solutions, because I think the framework shows the scope of what game audio
> accessibility should cover. I also think that it is a good idea to think
> about possible different solutions for the different categories of the
> framework.
>
> Greets,
>
> Richard
> _______________________________________________
> 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  Thu Jan 24 12:57:07 2008
From: barrie.ellis at oneswitch.org.uk (Barrie Ellis)
Date: Thu, 24 Jan 2008 17:57:07 -0000
Subject: [games_access] Game Accessibility Suite, and first prototype...
References: <f2235baa0801140229q599e2a78xbe2bf3cecbe70ce1@mail.gmail.com><836db6300801181201v47140d58p3d438ce386024ba9@mail.gmail.com><f2235baa0801181230s6c1a6b69l94dcd7b021049ef2@mail.gmail.com><836db6300801211430q17b0b079xa334e3c281e1b063@mail.gmail.com>
	<f2235baa0801211535m1a6f5a56v94016f3775b6335@mail.gmail.com>
Message-ID: <019e01c85eb2$89568ec0$0202a8c0@oneswitch>

Hi Michael,

Regarding your speed control utility...

I personally think a Windows style point and click interface would suit many 
(e.g. head-tracker users, eye tracker users, trackball users, touch screen 
and so on). Bear in mind that triggering lots of clicks can be very 
laborious for users - especially if they're using a dwell clicker. Equally - 
not all can trigger a held mouse-click. Take a look at "Great Britain 
Limited" http://demonews.com/download-3115.html for an example of 
problematic control for adjusting parameters through dwell clicking.

I would also like to see a switch accessible menu for one or two switches - 
and a joystick accessible menu. All reconfigurable if possible.

Barrie





On top of this - a switch accessible menu would be great. Some switch users 
can take control over the mouse pointer - but it can be quite laborious. 
Scan and select is faster. It's critical to try to avoid clashing with the 
game controls. Calling and exiting this software will need some thought for 
independence.

There again - if you could build a menu based profile system - where you can 
select a specific speed then have your utility start up the game you might 
solve this problem (thinking of those using a single switch or two 
switches).




> For an interface, I've written some test code for hooking into the
> DirectX rendering pipe and tossing an overlay on top of the game.  So
> you'll at least be able to see the current speed.  Right now I'm
> debating between a heads-up display showing the speed and allowing
> control via the joystick (e.g. left is slower, right is faster), or
> just cycling speeds and giving some visual feedback per button
> press... I like the first interface better, but unless I lock out the
> joystick from affecting the game itself you might end up running
> around in circles or off a cliff while trying to slow it down.  The
> second wouldn't have that problem, but would be less natural IMHO.
> Any ideas ya'll have on this would be *much* appreciated.





From barrie.ellis at oneswitch.org.uk  Thu Jan 24 13:11:18 2008
From: barrie.ellis at oneswitch.org.uk (Barrie Ellis)
Date: Thu, 24 Jan 2008 18:11:18 -0000
Subject: [games_access] Game control question...
References: <f2235baa0801172252m5d4e7b8ay677e70b7aae71fae@mail.gmail.com><p06230902c3b6b0d4fb47@130.126.29.51><f2235baa0801201254q588c2f73q6a8f2a813e05b599@mail.gmail.com><p06230902c3b975d3d9d7@130.126.29.51><f2235baa0801201526y4fd2913cuf8247116bb94713e@mail.gmail.com><p06230903c3b98a70aecf@130.126.29.51><f2235baa0801201654l6ff00d00p1d0c824607b849e@mail.gmail.com><p06230905c3b9a7a98804@130.126.29.51><a6673b8d0801201935u5f06e47bk286f7d3a8cb2179f@mail.gmail.com><p06230907c3b9c52871d2@130.126.29.51>
	<f2235baa0801220028n4e5c969amc5f9fdbe1db33dc3@mail.gmail.com>
Message-ID: <01c301c85eb4$847b0c80$0202a8c0@oneswitch>

Quick thought re. Michael's posts about getting developers to realise 
reconfigurable controls are important...

There's no essential reason a Quadcontroller to be sent to developers, 
although it could help.

I'd recommend showing them this link: 
http://www.solcon.nl/avee/ohgp/indexeng.html - then ask them to try playing 
other games in this way one handed...

Quad controller shares the problem they'll have with standard controllers - 
too many controls for many to be able to cope with.

Then you could point them this way:

http://www.oneswitch.org.uk/2/ARTICLES/physical-barriers.htm

Mention this 
http://switchgaming.blogspot.com/2007/07/well-done-electronic-arts.html - 
which is different from reconfigurable controls - but could help a lot - 
assist modes and reduced control sets.

Okay I'm over simplifying things - but it should help developers to start 
thinking about accessibility a little more around this area.

Barrie







From barrie.ellis at oneswitch.org.uk  Thu Jan 24 13:15:18 2008
From: barrie.ellis at oneswitch.org.uk (Barrie Ellis)
Date: Thu, 24 Jan 2008 18:15:18 -0000
Subject: [games_access] Accessible Controller: Light Glove
Message-ID: <01d901c85eb5$13e056a0$0202a8c0@oneswitch>

http://gameaccessibility.blogspot.com/2008/01/lightglove-virtual-controller.html

Demo of pinball being played with fingers in air.
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From barrie.ellis at oneswitch.org.uk  Thu Jan 24 10:10:15 2008
From: barrie.ellis at oneswitch.org.uk (Barrie Ellis)
Date: Thu, 24 Jan 2008 15:10:15 -0000
Subject: [games_access] Fw:  Game control question...
Message-ID: <010801c85e9b$3a4c7450$0202a8c0@oneswitch>

> Not trying be depressing, but if anyone has any ideas on available
> products or techniques that would help this person communicate, let me
> know or post 'em there ( blind, unable to speak, shoulder movement and
> weak neck/facial movement, but fully coherent and responsive ):
> 
> http://www.apparelyzed.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=5734.
> 
> Hasn't responded to me yet, so she might have found something or just
> hasn't checked her email.  Seems like a basic communication app would
> be simple enough modeled after the whitepaper I posted, but I didn't
> see any available products that provided the functionality when I did
> a quick search.
> 

What about a head-tracker? I'm wondering about Natural Point's SmartNav head-tracker used in conjuction with a screen magnifier?

Could open up a Word document then use the Accessibility options XP has built in to suit (e.g. on-screen keyboard with dwell click and the magnifier). You could spell out words in that way although it's a bit clunky.

If that didn't work - what about trying the free software utility "TrackMapper" with the SmartNAV head-tracker which allows you to assign key-strokes to certain tracked positions.



With clever positioning of the camera and reflective dot - you can get the device to track finger movements, shoulder movements and so on. Big movements are not needed either.

Imagine if you mapped the top half of the tracking zones to trigger a SPACE BAR stroke. A good testing area for this would be SEN Switcher: http://www.northerngrid.org/ngflwebsite/sen/intro.htm to develop basic skills. From there - the On Screen Keyboard can be set to work in a one-switch scan and select mode.

With practice much more could be opened up.

There's other solutions - but this one is not too expensive and can be tried in a number of ways.

Barrie
www.OneSwitch.org.uk


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From jbannick at 7128.com  Thu Jan 24 16:42:40 2008
From: jbannick at 7128.com (John Bannick)
Date: Thu, 24 Jan 2008 16:42:40 -0500
Subject: [games_access] Gamasutra Game Audio Article (which is useful for
 game audio accessibility)
Message-ID: <6.1.0.6.2.20080124163556.01e26ae0@enigami.com>

Richard,

You and Sander did a great job on that article.

Wish I'd read it before we did the audio for our Inspector Cyndi in Newport 
series.
Would have separated the coding for the ambient sounds from the coding for 
the background music.
As it is, we can't turn off one without turning off the other.
Not so good for our blind brethren.

In any event, we've incorporated your IEZA framework into our architectural 
planning for the next Game Book.

Thanks for another tool in the old toolbox,

John Bannick
CTO 7-128 Software



From arthit73 at cablespeed.com  Fri Jan 25 12:25:35 2008
From: arthit73 at cablespeed.com (Robert Florio)
Date: Fri, 25 Jan 2008 12:25:35 -0500
Subject: [games_access] Robert Florio's story on crave.com
In-Reply-To: AAAAADBf8GSYa4xDlD4sBa5lcIxEpS0A
References: AAAAADBf8GSYa4xDlD4sBa5lcIxEpS0A
Message-ID: <003601c85f77$4bb243a0$6501a8c0@Inspiron>

Is a really good story that just came out just questions and answers about
game accessibility with crave.com that they interviewed me a little while
ago.  The pitch the story to someone else so they might pick it up so that's
good for us.

http://www.craveonline.com/articles/gaming/04649567/robert_florio_against_al
l_odds.html 

Robert
www.RobertFlorio.com   




From ioo at ablegamers.com  Fri Jan 25 22:41:09 2008
From: ioo at ablegamers.com (Ioo)
Date: Fri, 25 Jan 2008 22:41:09 -0500
Subject: [games_access] AbleGamers.com Posts Interview with Jason Stone,
	RE:  Age of Conan.
Message-ID: <479AABD5.9090301@ablegamers.com>

Hello all,

I wanted to let you know that AbleGamers has done it again, we had the 
opportunity to sit down with Jason Stone, game designer, at Funcom on 
their highly anticipated game, Age of Conan. We talk about the game, and 
get into how disabled gamers may approach this work of art...

I invite everyone to please go and take a look

http://ablegamers.com/index.php/Disabled-Gamers-News/AbleGamers-Gets-to-Chat-with-Age-of-Conan.html

(I know the URL is long, it is also on the front page of the site, and 
foresee it being there for a while)

THANKS!!!!

Mark Barlet
AbleGamers.com


From barrie.ellis at oneswitch.org.uk  Sun Jan 27 17:53:17 2008
From: barrie.ellis at oneswitch.org.uk (Barrie Ellis)
Date: Sun, 27 Jan 2008 22:53:17 -0000
Subject: [games_access] Special Effect - Accessible Gaming Charity
Message-ID: <1b4801c86137$67f341b0$0202a8c0@oneswitch>

Via: GASIG Blog - 
http://gameaccessibility.blogspot.com/2008/01/special-effect-accessible-gaming.html

"SpecialEffect is perhaps the only charitable organisation dedicated to 
helping ALL young people with disabilities to enjoy computer games. GASIG 
member Barrie Ellis of OneSwitch.org.uk is presently working with Special 
Effect on their latest exciting project to bring accessible games to 
disabled children in and around Oxford (UK).

Barrie is helping initially to gather four different accessible gaming 
set-ups based around a Laptop (XP), Nintendo Wii, Xbox 360 and a Playstation 
2. The next step is to find and train a small group of passionate volunteers 
to take this equipment out to clubs, schools, hospitals and so on.

The plan is for the project to run until around June/July this year, but the 
hope is this will be just the start and that this work will spread to other 
parts of the UK and beyond. Read more on the Special Effect Facebook page.

Some great gaming gear has been pledged so far from generous companies and 
organisations, which shall be detailed later. If anyone wishes to donate 
(PAL) games or anything that might help - please visit the Special Effect 
web-site or contact www.OneSwitch.org.uk directly."

More on Special Effect here:

http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=20287064280 - Facebook page for 
Special Effect
http://www.specialeffect.org.uk/ - Main page 





From hinn at uiuc.edu  Sun Jan 27 21:13:26 2008
From: hinn at uiuc.edu (d. michelle hinn)
Date: Sun, 27 Jan 2008 20:13:26 -0600
Subject: [games_access] Special Effect - Accessible Gaming Charity
In-Reply-To: <1b4801c86137$67f341b0$0202a8c0@oneswitch>
References: <1b4801c86137$67f341b0$0202a8c0@oneswitch>
Message-ID: <p06230917c3c2e9cb7263@[130.126.29.8]>

Awesome! Keep us posted about the progress -- it sounds like 
something me might want to present about at Develop Brighton this 
summer. Keep good notes! :)

Anything we could do to help grow the foundation in our own areas? 
I'm thinking if just a few members helped set something like this up 
in their own areas that this good be a great SIG project and 
partnership with Special Effect! I'm willing to start one here in 
Illinois!

Michelle

>Via: GASIG Blog - 
>http://gameaccessibility.blogspot.com/2008/01/special-effect-accessible-gaming.html
>
>"SpecialEffect is perhaps the only charitable organisation dedicated 
>to helping ALL young people with disabilities to enjoy computer 
>games. GASIG member Barrie Ellis of OneSwitch.org.uk is presently 
>working with Special Effect on their latest exciting project to 
>bring accessible games to disabled children in and around Oxford 
>(UK).
>
>Barrie is helping initially to gather four different accessible 
>gaming set-ups based around a Laptop (XP), Nintendo Wii, Xbox 360 
>and a Playstation 2. The next step is to find and train a small 
>group of passionate volunteers to take this equipment out to clubs, 
>schools, hospitals and so on.
>
>The plan is for the project to run until around June/July this year, 
>but the hope is this will be just the start and that this work will 
>spread to other parts of the UK and beyond. Read more on the Special 
>Effect Facebook page.
>
>Some great gaming gear has been pledged so far from generous 
>companies and organisations, which shall be detailed later. If 
>anyone wishes to donate (PAL) games or anything that might help - 
>please visit the Special Effect web-site or contact 
>www.OneSwitch.org.uk directly."
>
>More on Special Effect here:
>
>http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=20287064280 - Facebook page 
>for Special Effect
>http://www.specialeffect.org.uk/ - Main page
>
>
>_______________________________________________
>games_access mailing list
>games_access at igda.org
>http://seven.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/games_access



From thomas at pininteractive.com  Sat Jan 26 17:54:15 2008
From: thomas at pininteractive.com (Thomas Westin)
Date: Sat, 26 Jan 2008 23:54:15 +0100
Subject: [games_access] ALERT Game Book Uploaded for the DVD
In-Reply-To: <6.1.0.6.2.20080122190712.01e06ac0@enigami.com>
References: <6.1.0.6.2.20080122190712.01e06ac0@enigami.com>
Message-ID: <F490FF38-283F-4E6B-8F5F-F793BED35DEC@pininteractive.com>

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



From arthit73 at cablespeed.com  Mon Jan 28 14:27:06 2008
From: arthit73 at cablespeed.com (Robert Florio)
Date: Mon, 28 Jan 2008 14:27:06 -0500
Subject: [games_access] AbleGamers.com Posts Interview with Jason Stone,
	RE:  Age of Conan.
In-Reply-To: AAAAADBf8GSYa4xDlD4sBa5lcIzkqi0A
References: AAAAADBf8GSYa4xDlD4sBa5lcIzkqi0A
Message-ID: <00cb01c861e3$cab2e010$6501a8c0@Inspiron>

Cool interview and awesome game especially since they have the license and
the writer to the Conan game.  I left a comment about the article really
would like to see more direct questions to really get a perspective from the
developers if they truly understand the importance of the scenario of able
gamers needs.  Seems like they always give the general question politicians
used..  Like about the crafting system question.

Basically his answer did not say he understood the need for for able gamers
to play the game better just said, paraphrasing, it's a system that allows
you to create and play at the same time.  What in the world does that
mean?lol. designers they say they're always thinking about us but what are
they really thinking...lol

Robert
www.RobertFlorio.com  

-----Original Message-----
From: games_access-bounces at igda.org [mailto:games_access-bounces at igda.org]
On Behalf Of Ioo
Sent: Friday, January 25, 2008 10:41 PM
To: IGDA Games Accessibility SIG Mailing List
Subject: [games_access] AbleGamers.com Posts Interview with Jason Stone,RE:
Age of Conan.

Hello all,

I wanted to let you know that AbleGamers has done it again, we had the 
opportunity to sit down with Jason Stone, game designer, at Funcom on 
their highly anticipated game, Age of Conan. We talk about the game, and 
get into how disabled gamers may approach this work of art...

I invite everyone to please go and take a look

http://ablegamers.com/index.php/Disabled-Gamers-News/AbleGamers-Gets-to-Chat
-with-Age-of-Conan.html

(I know the URL is long, it is also on the front page of the site, and 
foresee it being there for a while)

THANKS!!!!

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



From jbannick at 7128.com  Mon Jan 28 22:15:57 2008
From: jbannick at 7128.com (John Bannick)
Date: Mon, 28 Jan 2008 22:15:57 -0500
Subject: [games_access] ALERT Game Book Uploaded for the DVD
Message-ID: <6.1.0.6.2.20080128221100.01e6edc0@enigami.com>

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



From thomas at pininteractive.com  Tue Jan 29 13:26:55 2008
From: thomas at pininteractive.com (Thomas Westin)
Date: Tue, 29 Jan 2008 19:26:55 +0100
Subject: [games_access] ALERT Game Book Uploaded for the DVD
In-Reply-To: <6.1.0.6.2.20080128221100.01e6edc0@enigami.com>
References: <6.1.0.6.2.20080128221100.01e6edc0@enigami.com>
Message-ID: <5DB91E1C-A387-4D40-82A3-D641E918E9AA@pininteractive.com>

Hello John,
great, and thanks for contributing
/Thomas

On 29 jan 2008, at 04.15, John Bannick wrote:

> 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 hinn at uiuc.edu  Wed Jan 30 21:43:04 2008
From: hinn at uiuc.edu (d. michelle hinn)
Date: Wed, 30 Jan 2008 20:43:04 -0600
Subject: [games_access] GDC 2008 Update + Non-Profit Status
In-Reply-To: <6.1.0.6.2.20080128221100.01e6edc0@enigami.com>
References: <6.1.0.6.2.20080128221100.01e6edc0@enigami.com>
Message-ID: <p06230916c3c6de9e086a@[130.126.29.68]>

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


From jbannick at 7128.com  Thu Jan 31 04:49:14 2008
From: jbannick at 7128.com (John Bannick)
Date: Thu, 31 Jan 2008 04:49:14 -0500
Subject: [games_access] GDC 2008 Update + Non-Profit Status
Message-ID: <6.1.0.6.2.20080131044746.01e07f90@enigami.com>

Michelle,

Wow!

What a list of accomplishments.

Great work!

John



From thomas at pininteractive.com  Thu Jan 31 15:33:30 2008
From: thomas at pininteractive.com (Thomas Westin)
Date: Thu, 31 Jan 2008 21:33:30 +0100
Subject: [games_access] GDC 2008 Update + Non-Profit Status
In-Reply-To: <p06230916c3c6de9e086a@[130.126.29.68]>
References: <6.1.0.6.2.20080128221100.01e6edc0@enigami.com>
	<p06230916c3c6de9e086a@[130.126.29.68]>
Message-ID: <B3D1620A-3A7B-49D4-94DE-D8A7652542C0@pininteractive.com>

and as always, thanks to you Michelle
-especially for the bullet points :)

great line up of companies

nice to hear about the IGDA foundation and non-profit organization,  
makes our group more formally accepted which is great

I'll look into the DVD upload account tonight and write some manifest  
file about the content

/Thomas


On 31 jan 2008, at 03.43, d. michelle hinn wrote:

> 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
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