[games_access] Australian Game Dev Awards -- First Mainstream Award Show to Include Accessibility Award

[Michelle Hinn]

Yeah, we caught that belatedly -- It's been corrected in a later version
and online. Hopefully people don't get too derailed who saw the early
version!

The most important of the press releases will be the announcement of the
award winning game and I'm hoping the IGDA will do a press release from the
main organization. Lots of excitement about this award! :)

Michelle


On Wed, Sep 25, 2013 at 11:53 AM, Brian Schmidt <brian at gamesoundcon.com>wrote:

> FYI, looks like they have a typo in the URL in their announcement.****
>
> For more information see http://www.gameaccessibilitguidelines.com. Screen
> ****
>
> That’s a dead link.****
>
> They forgot the “y” in gameaccessibilityguidelines****
>
> ** **
>
> Brian****
>
> *From:* games_access-bounces at igda.org [mailto:
> games_access-bounces at igda.org] *On Behalf Of *Barrie Ellis
> *Sent:* Wednesday, September 25, 2013 1:38 AM
>
> *To:* IGDA Games Accessibility SIG Mailing List
> *Subject:* Re: [games_access] Australian Game Dev Awards -- First
> Mainstream Award Show to Include Accessibility Award****
>
> ** **
>
> Belatedly... Fantastic news!! Well done to all involved It's happening it
> seems...****
>
>  ****
>
> Barrie****
>
> ** **
>
> *From:* Michelle Hinn <michellehinn at gmail.com> ****
>
> *Sent:* Wednesday, September 18, 2013 8:52 PM****
>
> *To:* IGDA Games Accessibility SIG Mailing List <games_access at igda.org> **
> **
>
> *Subject:* [games_access] Australian Game Dev Awards -- First Mainstream
> Award Show to Include Accessibility Award****
>
> ** **
>
> Ok, so this is some exciting news -- the Game Development Association of
> Australia is giving (and still accepting nominations for) their annual
> awards show, making this the first mainstream game development awards show
> to have this award! Please spread the news! My email is
> michellehinn at gmail.com if you have any questions and the head of the
> GDAA's information is in their press release below
>
> ------****
>
> Media Release: For immediate release****
>
>  ****
>
> A world first for recognising the importance of inclusion in game
> development.****
>
>  ****
>
> 17  September 2013****
>
> Australia is leading the world in making games accessibility a priority.
> The latest demonstration of commitment to enabling a wider cross section of
> the community be catered for when playing games is the inaugural
> Accessibility Award announced by the Game Developers’ Association of
> Australia (GDAA) as part of the 2013 Australian Game Developer Awards. This
> follows on from the inclusion of accessibility considerations by Film
> Victoria and Screen Australia when allocating funding to game development
> projects.****
>
> Accessibility in this context means mainstream games that make an effort
> to avoid unnecessarily excluding people with motor, cognitive, hearing,
> speech or vision impairments. For more information see
> http://www.gameaccessibilitguidelines.com. Screen Australia’s Investment
> Manager, Justin Halliday said “Accessibility was one of the key issues
> raised by the industry during the consultation process for Screen
> Australia’s new Games Fund. Screen Australia and state agencies like Film
> Victoria recognise that accessibility in gaming brings some huge benefits,
> not only the obvious economic benefits of being able to reach wider
> audiences, but also quality of life, allowing access to culture,
> entertainment, and socialising for many people who have limited recreation
> opportunities. " ****
>
>  Accessibility advocates and experts the world over are excited by the
> news that Australia is not only financially supporting, but also
> recognising excellence in the field of game accessibility.****
>
> The International Game Developers’ Association (IGDA) Accessibility
> Special Interest Group (SIG) Co-chair, Michelle Hinn, welcomed the award’s
> inclusion in the Australian Game Developer Awards, to be held in Melbourne
> on 22 October. “The Accessibility SIG has been lobbying for inclusion of
> accessibility categories in industry awards for at least 8 years now. There
> have been so many "almost...but thanks but no thanks" roads we have been
> down and I am just simply over the moon that you guys are picking up on an
> award for this!”****
>
>  ****
>
> Another Accessibility advocate and expert, Ian Hamilton from the UK, who
> visited Australia late last year, also pledged his support for these latest
> initiatives. “From Team Bondi to The Voxel Agents, Global Game Jam to the
> Film Victoria and Screen Australia funding programmes, Australia has often
> been at the forefront of accessibility in the games industry. The
> government and industry support and guidance through the funding programmes
> in particular has resulted in a local industry with an unsurpassed level of
> knowledge and understanding about the barriers people can face and how to
> open up access to as wide an audience as possible.****
>
> The accessibility award is a natural next step. Awards have been given in
> the past by individuals and charities such as AbleGamers in the USA, but
> this AGDA category is, to my knowledge, the first time that the economic
> and life changing value of accessibility has been recognised in this way by
> an internal industry body, which is a really significant and exciting
> landmark in game accessibility.” Said Hamilton.****
>
> Nominations for the Accessibility Award are open until 30 September 2013
> come from within the video game development sector and a panel of experts
> in the field then decide on the winners. For the accessibility award the
> panel will include international authorities in the field including
> Hamilton and representatives from the IGDA Accessibility SIG. ****
>
>  ****
>
> The Australian Game Development Awards include the categories of: Game of
> the Year, Studio of the Year, Excellence in Art, Excellence in Design,
> Excellence in Audio, Technical Excellence, Innovation Award, and the
> Accessibility Award.  The awards night will be held on Tuesday 22 October
> in conjunction with 2013 Game Connect Asia Pacific (GCAP) conference at the
> Melbourne Conference and Exhibition Centre 21-23 October.****
>
> ----ends****
>
>  ****
>
> For further information contact****
>
> Giselle Rosman****
>
> Game Developers’ Association of Australia****
>
> gisellerosman at gdaa.com.au****
>
> 0406631926****
> ------------------------------
>
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> The main SIG website page is http://igda-gasig.org****
>
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