[games_access] You Can Make a Difference

[D. Michelle Hinn]

That's definitely a cool idea, Thomas!

As John pointed out, it would definitely help if we could help  
developers know that things they have already done have made a  
difference via purchases. That would help strengthen the idea/argument.

Michelle

On Dec 3, 2009, at 6:12 PM, <thomas at pininteractive.com> wrote:

> good idea
>
> I have been thinking about establishing a Game Accessibility Day;  
> during that day game companies should spend 8 hours to implement  
> one access feature in (one of) their current game(s). That is 1/365  
> of their budget which for a million dollar game  is approx 3000  
> dollars.
>
> Kind regards,
> Thomas
>
> (Sent from my mobile)
>
> On 3 dec 2009, at 11.08, "John Bannick" <jbannick at 7128.com> wrote:
>
>> Folks,
>>
>> The SIG does more to make computer games accessible than anywhere  
>> else I've found on the Web.
>>
>> Here's something additional we all can do this month.
>>
>> 1. Buy accessible games as gifts (Not necessarily ours, but anyones’)
>> 2. Suggest to friends and family that accessible games make good  
>> gifts
>> 3. And, most importantly, suggest to everyone who’ll stand still  
>> for a minute that they tell game companies when they’ve bought  
>> their game because it was accessible.
>>
>> Our own 7-128 Software recently released Visit Salem, a travelogue  
>> game. It includes over 6 hours of audio descriptions, history,  
>> architecture, music and interviews. It’s also totally inaccessible  
>> to players who are blind, deaf, or motion-impaired.
>>
>> Why? Because it would take an additional 6 months to make it  
>> accessible. Even with a code base that includes a lot of  
>> accessibility features and useful guidance from John Oliveira, a  
>> colleague and head of our Massachusetts Commission for the Blind,  
>> and from you and other folks I know in the accessibility community.
>>
>> I’d love to make it accessible to players who are blind, or deaf,  
>> or motion-impaired. But the consensus among our management team is  
>> that there are too few potential sales to justify the effort and  
>> expense, at least at this time.
>>
>> Game margins are razor slim. Electronic Arts lost tens of millions  
>> of dollars this year, also last year. The difference between  
>> profit and loss at our small mainstream company is tiny.
>>
>> Posts by other colleagues suggest that a few more sales could help  
>> pay their light bills, too.
>>
>> Posts by Barrie, Dark, Mark Barlet, Brian Papineau, and my own  
>> experience here suggest that some mainstream game companies do  
>> respond positively when you tell them “I buy your stuff because  
>> you make it work for me. I buy other people’s stuff when you  
>> don’t” (Recent news notwithstanding)
>>
>> So, over the next few weeks you personally can make a difference  
>> by bugging people to buy accessible games and for them to tell  
>> developers when they do.
>>
>> John Bannick
>> Chief Technical Officer
>> 7-128 Software
>>
>>
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