Delegates at the Videogames P.E.I. Summit, Friday in Charlottetown, will learn about how to reach more people with the games they are developing.
Christopher Power, a computer science professor at UPEI and vice president of the AbleGamers Charity, will speak about making video games more accessible.
“There’s not that much work to it. Certainly it takes some forethought and some planning,” said Power.
“It brings people along and makes sure that we’re all playing together, and that’s something I want to see happen.”
With four million in Canada identifying as having a disability and 46 million in the United States, the potential market for more accessible games is enormous, he said. Those numbers don’t include older players or people with repetitive strain injury who don’t consider themselves disabled.
‘Thinking a little bit more broadly’
Making a game more accessible is mostly about flexibility, and can mean changes to both hardware and software.
“Subtitling or remapping of different buttons on the controller, or it might be about adjusting the challenges in a way that people can engage with them,” Power said.
“It’s just thinking a little bit more broadly, so just something like having hints in a puzzle for someone or having ways to turn off gore, for example, for someone who has PTSD.”
The key is to plan ahead, said Power. Once you enable controller remapping, for example, your work is done.
Power will also talk about the work of AbleGamers, which helps people with disabilities get into gaming. It offers peer counselling to help gamers address issues they’re facing, and provides grants to provide gear for gamers who need extra help with hardware.
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