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More and more people are showing interest in audio games, ranging from sound artists, game accessibility researchers, mobile game developers and mainstream videogamers.
Over the past few years several initiatives were launched to improve the accessibility of games. Several academies and universities have shown their interest by using the subject of game accessibility in student projects.
Just because you may have a vision impairment or may even be totally blind does not mean that you cannot enjoy some fun game playing, stories, puzzles, and word challenge games both on and offline. In this section on gaming we review a selection of computer games designed specifically for people who are blind or with vision impairment(s). Players who are blind or visually impaired now have an ever increasing number of games to play that use sound cues instead of images to guide the player(s).
What is an Audio Game? An audio game is a game played on an electronic device such as but not limited to a personal computer. It is similar to a video game except that the only feedback device is audible rather than visual. Being text based games also means that they are equally accessible for users with and without a visual impairment.
Some games do require adapted controllers, mouse emulators, or special input devices and a switch interface, while others need nothing more than a screenreader in order to play.
The game reviews below include easy computer games such as memory games, arcade games, and logic games for seniors, and game players with disabilities.
Accessible Battleship - Accessible Battleship comes with appealing sound effects and will constantly aid the visually disabled player so that he is aware where he then stands on the battle grid. For example if you currently are on the E5 box then a voice will proceed to saying that your aims are on the E5 box. You will be told if you hit or miss followed by the sounds of what is going on, you will hear it when you hit and you will hear the boat sink if ever you are to sink it. A great game!
Accessible Blackjack - Accessible Blackjack is configured to support players who are blind, a narrator is present to describe the actions taking place and to confirm the cards that are on the table. Although this helps, the narrator in this particular Blackjack game can become annoying to listen to after long periods of time. The voice was programmed to sound too robot like and tends to quickly read through the points in a unorderly fashion. All in all it is still quite amusing.
Accessible Memory - Accessible Memory is similar to a normal memory game with the only difference of sounds instead of images. You can choose a difficulty that matches your playing style and a variety of sounds will be placed at different squares. You must then try to find where the corresponding sounds are positioned on the other squares, once you select one you must find where else it is hiding.
Accessible Car Racing Game - Mach 1 is a racing game for the blind, it consists of driving without getting off the track. Although the game has no image or animations you must try to avoid imaginary walls by listening closely to the the sounds that are projected from the speakers. If you here a rumbling sound coming from the left then that means you are getting off track. That is when you have to turn towards the opposite direction. The game is lots of fun and crashing can be very funny.
Accessible Golf Game - Golf is a sound based golf game, you will get to choose your club by pressing the buttons 1 to 9, then decide if is to be wood or iron with "W" for woods and "I" for iron. You will then hear a sound representing your power guage, when it is at the highest pitch press the "Space" button to swing. When well timed with the power guage at it's peak you will be hitting it the hardest, if not it will be a lighter swing.
Bop It - Bop It is a sound based reflex game where you have to respond to commands as fast as possible to earn points. If the voice says twist it you must press the -> (right) key, if it is pull then you react by pressing the <- (left) key, and finally once it is bop it the corresponding key is "down". The further you get through the level the faster you go.
Accessible Word Play Game - Word Play is a sound based game with the objective of finding a secret word composed of a certain amount of letters. It is basically the game known as hangman, you choose the difficulty by picking how many letter the words should be composed of. Then you choose the duration of the game by picking how many words you will have to unlock.
Curb Game - The Curb Game involves trying to cross the street without getting hit by a car. This game can be played visually but can also be played only by sound. In which case you have to try to listen on the incoming cars and try to cross the street at the right moment, when you believe the car is passed you. If the user is not blind then the cars can be avoided by looking at their patterns.
Klango - In Klango your are a worker doing your job on a production line, all the packages that pass in front of you have a distinct sound. To make the most points you must stack the packages close together so that they can be taken off at the same time once they get at the end of the production line. You will hear the sounds slowly dying as the package moves along to the next station.
Most of these games above are available at www.kitchensinc.net
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- Gaming with Disability MW2 Gameplay Video Clip - Not letting his disability prevent him from playing video games Ian has been able to adapt and come up with a solution to overcome his disability when gaming.
- AbleGamers - The AbleGamers Foundation serves anyone in need through direct person-to-person services, assistive technology grants, community support, and access to data. They help people afford expensive technology, which allows them the ability to participate in gaming experiences that improve their overall quality of life. They also provide the largest database of mainstream videogame titles, complete with reviews focused exclusively on the accessibility of a given title.
- Game accessibility - Within the field of human-computer interaction, game accessibility refers to the accessibility of video games. Game accessibility is considered a subfield of computer accessibility, which studies how software and computers can be made accessibility to users with various types of impairments - Wikipedia
