Massively
07-07-2009, 12:34 PM
Filed under: World of Warcraft (http://www.massively.com/category/world-of-warcraft/), Fantasy (http://www.massively.com/category/fantasy/), Sci-fi (http://www.massively.com/category/sci-fi/), EVE Online (http://www.massively.com/category/eve-online/), Culture (http://www.massively.com/category/culture/), Events, in-game (http://www.massively.com/category/events-in-game/), Expansions (http://www.massively.com/category/expansions/), MMO industry (http://www.massively.com/category/mmo-industry/), Second Life (http://www.massively.com/category/second-life/), The Daily Grind (http://www.massively.com/category/the-daily-grind/)
http://www.blogcdn.com/www.wow.com/media/2009/06/elfly.jpg (http://www.wow.com/gallery/lesleys-gallery/2109601/)
Last week, a blind friend of mine decided to get herself addicted to WoW. We re-rolled characters on a different realm and are slowly leveling. I'm not a fan of leveling but suddenly looking at a basic UI, a new set of icons and an unfamiliar map has reminded me how scary WoW can be for a visually impaired person (http://www.journalism.co.uk/12/articles/533323.php). The same applies to every other MMO from EVE (http://massive.com/tag/eve-online) (which is especially terrifying due to a lack of a humanoid avatar) to Second Life (http://massively.com/tag/second-life) and I often think MMOs should come with the option of an in-game white can or a service animal. I suppose the one perk is you can't run into people and if you do fall off a cliff and die, you get to rez at the nearest graveyard.
I can't help but wonder that there is still a lot games companies need to do in order to make MMOs much more accessible to all kinds of disabled people. I would love to have icons which double in size when you mouse over them, icons on the map, much larger text sizes for the chat box and a radar circle on the floor to tell you how close until you aggro something hostile. For some kinds of disabled gamers, MMOs can offer freedom from their disability and a chance to distance themselves from their everyday lives but for others - usually visually related disabilities - MMOs can range from passable to appalling. So come on readers, do you have a disability that affects your life? Do you play MMOs? How do you find the experience? Do you wish your chosen MMO had more options for people with a specific disability? How would you alter your MMO to make it easier and more comfortable to play.
http://www.massively.com/media/feedlogo.gif (http://www.massively.com)The Daily Grind: Do MMOs need to be more accessible to disabled people? (http://www.massively.com/2009/07/07/the-daily-grind-do-mmos-need-to-be-more-accessible-to-disabled/) originally appeared on Massively (http://www.massively.com) on Tue, 07 Jul 2009 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds (http://www.weblogsinc.com/feed-terms/).
Permalink (http://www.massively.com/2009/07/07/the-daily-grind-do-mmos-need-to-be-more-accessible-to-disabled/) | Email this (http://www.massively.com/forward/19086931/) | Comments (http://www.massively.com/2009/07/07/the-daily-grind-do-mmos-need-to-be-more-accessible-to-disabled/#comments)
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http://www.blogcdn.com/www.wow.com/media/2009/06/elfly.jpg (http://www.wow.com/gallery/lesleys-gallery/2109601/)
Last week, a blind friend of mine decided to get herself addicted to WoW. We re-rolled characters on a different realm and are slowly leveling. I'm not a fan of leveling but suddenly looking at a basic UI, a new set of icons and an unfamiliar map has reminded me how scary WoW can be for a visually impaired person (http://www.journalism.co.uk/12/articles/533323.php). The same applies to every other MMO from EVE (http://massive.com/tag/eve-online) (which is especially terrifying due to a lack of a humanoid avatar) to Second Life (http://massively.com/tag/second-life) and I often think MMOs should come with the option of an in-game white can or a service animal. I suppose the one perk is you can't run into people and if you do fall off a cliff and die, you get to rez at the nearest graveyard.
I can't help but wonder that there is still a lot games companies need to do in order to make MMOs much more accessible to all kinds of disabled people. I would love to have icons which double in size when you mouse over them, icons on the map, much larger text sizes for the chat box and a radar circle on the floor to tell you how close until you aggro something hostile. For some kinds of disabled gamers, MMOs can offer freedom from their disability and a chance to distance themselves from their everyday lives but for others - usually visually related disabilities - MMOs can range from passable to appalling. So come on readers, do you have a disability that affects your life? Do you play MMOs? How do you find the experience? Do you wish your chosen MMO had more options for people with a specific disability? How would you alter your MMO to make it easier and more comfortable to play.
http://www.massively.com/media/feedlogo.gif (http://www.massively.com)The Daily Grind: Do MMOs need to be more accessible to disabled people? (http://www.massively.com/2009/07/07/the-daily-grind-do-mmos-need-to-be-more-accessible-to-disabled/) originally appeared on Massively (http://www.massively.com) on Tue, 07 Jul 2009 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds (http://www.weblogsinc.com/feed-terms/).
Permalink (http://www.massively.com/2009/07/07/the-daily-grind-do-mmos-need-to-be-more-accessible-to-disabled/) | Email this (http://www.massively.com/forward/19086931/) | Comments (http://www.massively.com/2009/07/07/the-daily-grind-do-mmos-need-to-be-more-accessible-to-disabled/#comments)
More... (http://www.massively.com/2009/07/07/the-daily-grind-do-mmos-need-to-be-more-accessible-to-disabled/)