Fun for Everyone:
Assistive Technology for
Video Gaming
June 26, 2014
Mark Barlet, AbleGamers Foundation
Laura Hall, MATP Staff
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Michigan Disability Rights
Coalition (MDRC)
A disability justice movement working to transform
communities.
Home of Michigan’s Assistive Technology Program
MDRC’s Web Page: www.mymdrc.org
Contact [email protected]
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Gaming Then and Now
 The shift of video
gaming in our culture
 “Outside Only” criticism
 Changes in equipment
and consoles
 A massive expansion of
the industry
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Why Include People with
Disabilities?
 Social
 Conflict resolution
 Friendship
 Communication with friends and others
from around the world
 Skill Development
4
Why Include People with
Disabilities 2
 Shared experiences
and the
disappearance of
disability.
 Physical activity
5
What We Will Cover
 Elements of accessibility in the game
and assistive technology for
 Visual disabilities
 Hearing disabilities
 Cognitive disabilities
 Mobility disabilities
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Visual Disabilities
 Changeable text colors and font sizes
 Color blind options
 High contrast target crosshairs
 Enemy marking
 Map recoloring/alternate views
 Speed Setting
 Text to Speech input
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Examples of Games with
Visual Accessibility
Elements
 Almost all games
from PopCap
 Elder Scroll Online
 WildStar
 Call of Duty
 World of Warcraft
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Hearing Disabilities
 Best covered in the gaming industry
 Why closed captioning is so common
 Don’t forget the ambient noises
 Changeable fonts and text colors to
reduce strain
 Alternative Reactionary Input
 Totally blind gaming options
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Examples of Games with
Hearing Accessibility
Elements
World of WarCraft
WildStar
WatchDogs
Many, Many more
10
Cognitive Disabilities
 Tutorials and Sandbox mode
 Difficulty Levels
 Training Levels
 Intuitive Menus
 Enemy Marking
 Speed Settings
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Mobility Disabilities
 Alterative Configurations
 Camera Controls
 Re-mappable Keys
 Third-Party Access for AT
 Moveable/resizeable user interfaces
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Mobility Disabilities 2
 Keyboard
Movement
 Game Assists
 Input Devices
 Speed Settings
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Mobility Disabilities 3
 Macroability
 Difficulty Levels and
Fail
 Safes
 Save Points
 Sensitivity Sliders
 Click to Move/Mouse to
Move
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Examples of Games with
Mobility Accessibility
Elements
 WildStar
 Call of Duty
 Star Wars The Old
Republic
 World of Warcraft
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Assistive Technology (The
Hardware)
 Adroit SwitchBlade
 Axis1,2,and 3
 Many custom solutions
 3D printers are letting people design things
that we have never even seen.
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AbleGamers Foundation
 Largest game accessibility advocates in the
world
 http://www.ablegamers.com
 Our community
 We have the largest database of accessible
game reviews
 The largest community of disabled gamers
 http://community.ablegamers.com
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How to Contact MATP




Phone: (800) 760-4600
Email: [email protected]
Web: www.mymdrc.org
Twitter:
www.twitter.com/MiAssistTech
 Blog:
http://www.miassisttech.org/mdrcat/
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How to Contact AbleGamers
http://www.ablegamers.com
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Questions and Final
Thought
“I believe that there is nothing more
powerful for people with disabilities than
the freedom that only video games can
provide. It is an art form that allows us
to run, jump and be whatever we want
to be.”
-Mark Barlet
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