Ashley, I'm certain that you've received a lot of good feedback from others already, but I may be able to add some unique perspective: I'm not blind, but I run a large multiplayer role-playing game which caters to the blind. I've had to learn a lot in the last few years about how to convert an originally sighted game to VI friendly.
The game server I run, Alter Aeon, is entirely text based by default, where a player types commands, and screen reader software reads back what is going on. The game originally started in the mid-90's, before screen readers were really that common, and it was almost by accident that we started to get blind players. The biggest hurdle we've run into regarding the blind is that screen readers, which read text to the player, are slow - sometimes very, very slow. It is hard to skim material, and it is hard to filter chaff text, something which is extremely easy for those with vision. In order to really be playable, and to be fun for the blind, we had to work very hard to limit and filter text. Another major improvement in the game came about when the special blind client, Mush-Z, was released by a blind player. This further speeds things up by replacing some lines of text with short sounds to further speed up the process. In a real time game, speed is king. >From a more general standpoint, it's important to remember that audio data is linear, and it comes out of the speaker in a linear order. The player can't skip around in the stream as easily as a sighted person can skim a web page or glance at a geometric drawing. Text and story games are well suited to this. One other information channel that the blind have which most sighted players ignore is stereo or surround sound data from their speakers. When sound is most of your interface, you learn to notice little changes in the speaker balance, volume, and where sounds are coming from. Games like Swamp make extensive use of this for targetting zombies in a three dimensional world, and to help players find their way around. Similarly, the Mush-Z soundpack can also use stereo audio to indicate various real-time injury status. If you'd like to take a look at Alter Aeon for yourself, I've included the web page link below. If you're sighted, keep in mind that you'll be seeing something very different from what blind players see, but it should still help you understand how and why the game is so popular to blind players. I hope this helps you with some background for your article. Please post a link here when it's complete, I'm sure we'd all love to see it! Thanks, Dennis Towne Alter Aeon MUD http://www.alteraeon.com On Tue, Mar 26, 2013 at 4:42 PM, Ashley Taylor <[email protected]> wrote: > Hello, > > I am a journalist writing an article about computer games for the blind and > would really appreciate your input. Please only reply to this post if you > are willing for me to quote you in my article (for the Popular Mechanics > website). It would be helpful if you could describe yourself as you'd like > me to describe you in the article. > > What are the qualities of a good computer game for the blind? What does it > have to have to work well for someone who can't see? > > For blind or visually impaired gamers, what are your favorite audio games, > and why? Which games designed for sighted people are these most analogous > to? > > What are some examples of games for the blind that I can play online? > > What do you think is the most interesting factoid about games for the blind? > > > Thank you, > Ashley > -- > Ashley Taylor > Writer and journalist > ashleyptaylor.com > (270) 485-1753 > --- > Gamers mailing list __ [email protected] > If you want to leave the list, send E-mail to [email protected]. > You can make changes or update your subscription via the web, at > http://audyssey.org/mailman/listinfo/gamers_audyssey.org. > All messages are archived and can be searched and read at > http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]. > If you have any questions or concerns regarding the management of the list, > please send E-mail to [email protected]. --- Gamers mailing list __ [email protected] If you want to leave the list, send E-mail to [email protected]. You can make changes or update your subscription via the web, at http://audyssey.org/mailman/listinfo/gamers_audyssey.org. All messages are archived and can be searched and read at http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]. If you have any questions or concerns regarding the management of the list, please send E-mail to [email protected].
