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Brawndel · 10-27-2008, 02:17 PM

Heya folks

I've been considering writing about this for a while now... I'd like to get your prospectives on the matter.
It seems that a number of the newer muds are trying to attract new players by creating clients which are esthetically pleasing. While I understand that your average player is used to windows, which is so widely used because people can understand graphics, and it doesn't take a whole lot of brane-power to figure out that an icon with a picture of a trash can for instance represents recycle bin. I think that your imagination is better than any picture, and it makes me sad to see the imagination pushed aside in favour of attracting players.
I wouldn't mind if the gui client was an option... but several of the mu*s are letting you connect with nothing but their own propriatary graphical clients.
I know that I am byus on the matter, as I happen to be visually impaired (blind), and I can see a trend rolling into motion.
I think that it would amaze most of you to find out how many visually impaired mudders there are out there. We access the computer with a program called a screen-reader, and this ingenius piece of software reads all of the "TEXT" on the screen to us. As it is, there are very few games that are "blind-friendly" and so obviously we are drawn to text-based games (interactive fiction, mu*s, browser based rpgs...) which our screen-readers can access.
There are a number of blind mudders for instance that would like to get involved in the Skotos games, the Simutronics games, and many games have graphical clients that give sighted players an edge in one way or another. It seems that new muds are coming out all of the time that are totally inaccessible to the blind.
My primary goal in writing this message is to inform new creaters of the issue, and to let them know that it would be a great help if they would find a way to make their clients accessible.
I'd also like to take my hat off to those who have gone out of their way to level the playing-field.
KaVir has done a great job making GodWars2 accessible for screenreaders, and some of the players have created sound-packs to create a more immersive environment.
The makers of Miriani, as well as Alter Aeon have done likewise, and honestly when looking on blind gaming forums, it's astounding how many blind gamers play one of these three games.
I'm sorry for rambling on, but I think that this is an issue that not many people consider. Accessibility and equality prove at least to me that the administration really has his/her head on their shoulders.

I'd like to get some feedback if I may, and I am always available to help with accessibility on a project.
Thanks for your time, and please forgive all of the typos.:P

Carry On

Brawny

10-27-2008, 02:17 PM	#1
Brawndel Member Join Date: Oct 2005 Posts: 35	Going Graphical Heya folks I've been considering writing about this for a while now... I'd like to get your prospectives on the matter. It seems that a number of the newer muds are trying to attract new players by creating clients which are esthetically pleasing. While I understand that your average player is used to windows, which is so widely used because people can understand graphics, and it doesn't take a whole lot of brane-power to figure out that an icon with a picture of a trash can for instance represents recycle bin. I think that your imagination is better than any picture, and it makes me sad to see the imagination pushed aside in favour of attracting players. I wouldn't mind if the gui client was an option... but several of the mus are letting you connect with nothing but their own propriatary graphical clients. I know that I am byus on the matter, as I happen to be visually impaired (blind), and I can see a trend rolling into motion. I think that it would amaze most of you to find out how many visually impaired mudders there are out there. We access the computer with a program called a screen-reader, and this ingenius piece of software reads all of the "TEXT" on the screen to us. As it is, there are very few games that are "blind-friendly" and so obviously we are drawn to text-based games (interactive fiction, mus, browser based rpgs...) which our screen-readers can access. There are a number of blind mudders for instance that would like to get involved in the Skotos games, the Simutronics games, and many games have graphical clients that give sighted players an edge in one way or another. It seems that new muds are coming out all of the time that are totally inaccessible to the blind. My primary goal in writing this message is to inform new creaters of the issue, and to let them know that it would be a great help if they would find a way to make their clients accessible. I'd also like to take my hat off to those who have gone out of their way to level the playing-field. KaVir has done a great job making GodWars2 accessible for screenreaders, and some of the players have created sound-packs to create a more immersive environment. The makers of Miriani, as well as Alter Aeon have done likewise, and honestly when looking on blind gaming forums, it's astounding how many blind gamers play one of these three games. I'm sorry for rambling on, but I think that this is an issue that not many people consider. Accessibility and equality prove at least to me that the administration really has his/her head on their shoulders. I'd like to get some feedback if I may, and I am always available to help with accessibility on a project. Thanks for your time, and please forgive all of the typos.:P Carry On Brawny