[games_access] Slashot: Visually Impaired Gamer Sues Sony

[D. Michelle Hinn]

Well, this is the lawsuit that we knew would come about at some  
point. As we've discussed before, a case will have to be made for  
"reasonable accommodations" as well as "public space" or a myriad of  
other ways, as this will be a tough case to win. And as we've  
discussed before, is the courtroom the way to go? I'll do some  
digging to summarize past conclusions or "draws" that we've reached  
when this has come up as a possibility before.

Even if it should win, the ruling may or may not have much impact.  
For example movie theaters -- as a public entertainment space -- in  
the US have had rulings against the that resulted in their having to  
provide "open captioning" (captioning not on screen but in an  
accessible place for a person with a hearing disability. However --  
and I don't have my links handy for a 100% accurate quote -- it has  
been around a decade with, I believe, 95% of movie theaters not in  
compliance of this and it has not been challenged to my knowledge.  
Again, I'd have to look up the exact stats and/or search through our  
unsearchable list archives but it is an example of legislation that  
has resulted in no change.

I know that there were similar lawsuits for wheelchair access in  
arcades -- another public space -- back in the 70s and 80s but I'd  
need to do more digging.

Definitely an issue that is rife with controversy...the commentary on  
Slashdot is what I expected -- a lot of hate talk...sadly...

I'm wondering if the person suing (does anyone know the person's  
name?) is the same person who tried to make the case against  
secondlife being inaccessible coming from the point of view that the  
virtual environment was a place that they were earning income from  
(and thus brought into question SL being a place of employment). I  
believe that either the lawsuit was dropped or is still sitting 4  
years later to be heard in court.

Michelle

On Nov 7, 2009, at 4:20 PM, Thomas Westin wrote:

> as far as I know for computer games, yes
> will be really interesting to follow how this goes, could change a  
> lot if he wins
> /Thomas
>
>
> On Nov 7, 2009, at 7:35 PM, Sheri Rubin wrote:
>
>> http://games.slashdot.org/story/09/11/07/1622230/Visually-Impaired- 
>> Gamer-Sues-Sony?from=rss
>>
>> Just thought I'd pass this along.
>>
>> Is this the first time this has ever happened?
>> Sheri
>>
>> -- 
>> Sheri Rubin
>> CEO/President
>>
>> Design, Direct, Deliver
>> Website: www.designdirectdeliver.com
>> Email: sheri at designdirectdeliver.com
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