[games_access] Press Release: Games for People with Disabilities to Make Showing at E for All 2007

[d. michelle hinn]

Games for People with Disabilities to Make Showing at E for All 2007

Event Marks the First Game Industry Consumer Expo to Include A Group 
Advocating Awareness of Gamers with Disabilities

CHAMPAIGN, IL - October 14, 2007 - The Game Accessibility Special 
Interest Group (SIG) of the International Game Developers Association 
(IGDA) has been invited to participate as exhibitors at next week's E 
for All Expo at the Los Angeles Convention Center, October 18 - 21. 
SIG members hope that this opportunity will help raise awareness 
amongst game consumers and developers that people with disabilities 
also want the chance to play commercial games designed for computers 
and popular console systems.

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

SIG members also hope that their participation in the first annual E 
for All will raise awareness amongst potential gamers with 
disabilities who want to learn more about game hardware alternatives 
- often created by hobbyist supporters and SIG members - that already 
exist to make game play possible for some people with certain types 
of disabilities, usually mobility disabilities. But there are many 
other types of disabilities - learning, auditory, and visual 
disabilities - and people with these disabilities require other 
solutions, such as closed captioning.

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

The Game Accessibility SIG will be exhibiting at booth #1056 in the 
Los Angeles Convention Center. The SIG will be presenting games, game 
mods, and game hardware designed for gamers with disabilities.

About the International Game Developers Association (IGDA)

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

About the IGDA Game Accessibility Special Interest Group (SIG)

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