Hi Dark, Yes, and unfortunately what this really tells me as a society, the majority of the human race, really has a problem dealing with disability issues head on. It is almost as though most people, especially companies, act as though as long as they ignore it the problem doesn't exist. However, as a society we are increasingly dependant on electronic devices like cell phones, computers, microwaves, you name it. As a result it is not just the mainstream game companies turning a blind eye to the problem but the corperate sector of our society in general. If and when they do decide to add accessibility to a product or service it usually comes at a much higher cost to the customer who in all likelyhood doesn't have the money to spend. Case in point. Back in the mid 1990's when I was getting ready to move out of my parents home, go away to college, my parents were looking into the idea of buying me a talking microwave that was being sold through one of the Independant Living Aids catalogs. It was a nice idea, but the whole problem with the idea was it was way too expensive. If memory serves me correctly the microwave in question was produced by General Electric, had a large print display, braille keypad, and of course could speak the time, etc. As I recall it cost something like $600 when your standard everyday G.E. microwave could be purchased at any department store for around $125. Why the insane difference in price? The way I see it G.E. could have simply made that accessible microwave the standard moddel, mass produced it, and shipped it, or something like it, to every store in the country. That way everyone would use that moddel of microwave weather they are young, old, disabled, or not. The cost of research and development of that microwave would be shared equally between all of General Electric's customers and so the cost of research and development wouldn't have really been that much in the long run. Instead of that, though, G.E. decided to produce your everyday standard microwave which they ship to department stores around the country, and then manufacturered an accessible version which could be purchased through accessibility catalogs for several times the cost of the standard moddel. So as a person with a physical disability I was expected to pay a higher price for something that came from the factory with accessibility in mind, and probibly didn't cost them much more to produce to begin with. It hardly mattered that I was on SSI, making less than minimum wage, and trying to save money for college and didn' have the money to buy their accessible microwave in the first place. One would think since microwaves are a standard household appliance used by young and old alike large displays and voice output would eventually become a standard feature, but of course it hasn't happened yet even though the technology exists to do it quite inexpensively. Admitedly microwaves can be brailled and used with out large print or speech output by the blind, but that is beside the point. The point is that the Baby Boomer generation is now in their early 60's and beginning to become disabled in some way. Their children and grand children grew up playing video games, using microwaves, using cell phones, etc and they aren't exactly getting any younger either. sooner or later weather it is five years or fifty years from now all those people are going to grow old, need accessible products designed for the elderly, and what exactly will the corperate answer be? Will it be something as harsh as so sorry but we only make games, appliances, cell phones, etc for younger healthier customers? Well, things are improving on that front,but it still doesn't mean it is necessarily affordable. It will be interesting to see how an aging technologically advanced society will handle the fact the moment they become blind, low vision, have motor impairment issues, etc the cost of everything goes up just to acquire accessible products made specifically for their needs. It isn't just microwaves but cell phones and everything else that costs more if you have a disability. Not long ago my wife and I decided to look into getting a couple of cell phones. As it turned out the smart phones that were accessible, those with Talks or Mobile Speak costs more than your basic cell phone, and not only that if I wanted a smart phone with a screen reader on it I had to purchase a cell phone plan that includes internet access. I argued up and down with them saying I'd pay for the phone, but didn't want internet service on my smart phone as the plan was too high for our budget. As it turned out every cell phone carrier we spoke to had the exact same polacy, and if I wanted a phone that was fully accessible, or mostly so, I had to pay for a more expensive phone and a more expensive plan to get it. That's just wrong in my opinion, but that's our society for you. The thing is given the general attitude of companies towards the blind and other disabilities it almost seams impossible to get Sony, Nintendo, Activision, and other mainstream game companies interested in addressing accessibility problems with their games even though their customer base is growing older and sooner or later become disabled at some point. It is all too possible their management will just say that's too bad, and continue selling to their younger non-disabled customers basicly screwing their older customers out of new products they can play. In turn they will eventually be screwing themselves out of the money they would have made by selling to their older customers as well. It is all because as a society we just have a problem dealing with disability issues face to face, and haven't made an honest attempt to fix the problem accross the board. This is where independant game developers can rush in to fill the gap. Most write their own games because the mainstream game companies have in one way or another ignored there long term customers and turned their interest towards younger and younger markets. As a result there are independant game developers all too willing to fill some nitch in the market that has been left open by the big mainstream companies. One of these markets is accessibility, and this is where independant game companies can really shine if they decide to take on the accessibility issue head on instead of acting like it doesn't exist as the mainstream companies do.
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