[games_access] GDC 2007: Please Forward

[d. michelle hinn]

Hi all,

Please forward this to anyone you know who might be attending GDC 
2007 in San Francisco next week or any other related groups. Just 
trying to get the word out about our sessions!

Thanks,
Michelle

Press Release: Game Accessibility featured at Game Developers 
Conference in San Francisco

Game Accessibility Group Organized by Michelle Hinn Hosts 
Accessibility Idol and Other Accessibility Sessions at 2007 Game 
Developers Conference

Industry Veterans Participate in Game Design Challenge to Create Game 
Designs for Gamers with Quadriplegia

SAN FRANCISCO, CA - February 28, 2007 - The International Game 
Developers Association's (IGDA) Game Accessibility Special Interest 
Group, which is chaired by Michelle Hinn, has announced their 
sessions for this year's Game Developers Conference (www.gdconf.com). 
These sessions will include game industry veterans: Ernest Adams; 
Noah Falstein; Sheri Graner Ray; Brenda Brathwaite; and Ellen Guon 
Beeman.

Accessibility Idol: Season Finale!

Accessibility Idol: Season Finale! will be held on Thursday, March 
8th, from 4-6pm in Room 3016 of the Moscone Center's West Hall. This 
faux-reality show style session, hosted by Michelle Hinn, judged by 
SIG members Robert Florio, Eelke Folmer, Reid Kimball, Richard Van 
Tol, and Thomas Westin, and sponsored by Cortex Gaming Systems, pits 
five game industry veterans against one another: Ernest Adams; Noah 
Falstein; Sheri Graner Ray; Brenda Brathwaite; and Ellen Guon Beeman. 
Their challenge? To design a mainstream multiplayer console game 
that's playable and fun for gamers with quadriplegia. For more 
information on this session, see 
https://www.cmpevents.com/GD07/a.asp?option=C&V=11&SessID=3887

A companion blog archive (to be completed by the end of the GDC) 
describing the Road to Accessibility Idol 2007 is available at 
accessibilityidol.blogspot.com

Accessibility Arcade

Accessibility Arcade is a three-part special session at the GDC that 
will allow game developers to see (or hear) what an accessible game 
is like in this hands on (or off) arcade-style show. Accessible 
controllers and games will be shown, including the winning games of 
the 2007 DonationCoder.com Game Accessibility Game Design Challenge 
(Sponsored by CMP, IGDA, Charles River Media, Thomson Publications, 
Sound Ideas, Conitec, THQ/Volition, GarageGames, The Game Creators 
Ltd, and Soundlabel). The developers of many of these games will be 
on hand at the session to discuss their designs.

Accessibility Arcade is being held at the following times:

Wednesday, March 7th: Accessibility Arcade (Part One) 
(https://www.cmpevents.com/GD07/a.asp?option=C&V=11&SessID=3759): 
9-10am -- Room 123 North Hall, Moscone Center

Thursday, March 8th: Accessibility Arcade (Part Two) 
(https://www.cmpevents.com/GD07/a.asp?option=C&V=11&SessID=4743): 
9-10am -- Room 110, North Hall, Moscone Center

Friday, March 9th: Accessibility Arcade (Part Three) 
(https://www.cmpevents.com/GD07/a.asp?option=C&V=11&SessID=4744): 
10:30-11:30 -- Room 110, North Hall, Moscone Center

Other Accessibility Sessions

The IGDA Game Accessibility Special Interest Group will also be 
presenting these additional sessions at the GDC:

Tuesday, March 6th: Serious Accessibility for Serious Games 
(https://www.cmpevents.com/GD07/a.asp?option=C&V=11&SessID=4415): 
10:30-11:30 -- Room 135, North Hall, Moscone Center

Tuesday, March 6th:  Untapped Market of One-Button Mobile Games 
(https://www.cmpevents.com/GD07/a.asp?option=C&V=11&SessID=4201) : 
5-5:45pm -- Room 110, North Hall, Moscone Center

Thursday, March 8th: SIG Group Gathering 
(https://www.cmpevents.com/GD07/a.asp?option=C&V=11&SessID=3892): 
12-1pm -- IGDA Booth, North Hall, Moscone Center

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

About Michelle Hinn

Michelle Hinn is an instructor in the department of Library and 
Information Sciences at the University of Illinois 
(http://www.lis.uiuc.edu), where she teaches game design courses, and 
is the academic advisor for the Women in Math, Science, and 
Engineering living/learning community at the university. She was 
recently named one of Next Generation Magazine's 100 Most Influential 
Women in Gaming based on her work as chair of the IGDA Game 
Accessibility Special Interest Group 
(http://www.igda.org/accessibility). Michelle is also the head of the 
game division of a shareware/donationware company, DonationCoder.com 
(http://www.donationcoder.com). She has a B.A. in Music Performance, 
a B.S. in Psychology, a M.A. in Multimedia Design from Virginia Tech, 
and is completing her PhD in Game Accessibility at the University of 
Illinois.

Michelle Hinn has worked at Microsoft Game Studios where she focused 
on piloting usability tests for Xbox multiplayer games. Additionally, 
she has worked for Computer Sciences Corporation, the National Center 
for Supercomputing Applications (NCSA), and the University of Nevada 
at Reno. She is the co-editor of the 2001 book Visions of Quality: 
How Evaluators Define, Understand, and Represent Program Quality and 
is working with the Game Accessibility SIG on a book on Game 
Accessibility. She is on the editorial board of ACM's Computers in 
Entertainment magazine. Michelle has also authored several 
award-winning papers on the topic of universal accessibility from 
organizations such as the American Evaluators Association and the 
International Visual Literacy Association and was one of the three 
2006 recipients of the IGDA's Most Valuable Player Award.

Her work in game accessibility has garnered much media attention 
lately across North America (NPR: 
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=6669943) 
(Canadian Press: 
http://www.canada.com/topics/technology/news/gizmos/story.html?id=27c298f1-fdfa-434c-b579-1d1583ad58e0&k=99667&p=1)

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

About the International Game Developers Association (IGDA) Game 
Accessibility Special Interest Group

The International Game Developers Association is a non-profit 
professional society that is committed to advancing the careers and 
enhancing the lives of game developers by connecting members with 
their peers, promoting professional development, and advocating on 
issues that affect the developer community. For more information on 
the IGDA, please visit www.igda.org. The Game Accessibility Special 
Interest Group of the IGDA serves as an advocacy group to promote 
awareness and facilitate change in the mainstream gaming industry on 
issues relating to gamers with disabilities. For more information on 
the SIG, please visit www.igda.org/accessibility
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