42 replies to this topic

[Pasidon]

Refusal to implement or facilitate changes to make online games more accessible violates Americans with Disabilities Act, suit claims.

It's not uncommon for blind gamers to feel invisible in addition to visually impaired. For instance, when gamer Brandon Cole wrote THQ a letter suggesting changes to make its Smackdown series of WWE wrestling games more accessible to the blind, he received a form letter back thanking him for his appreciation of the game's graphics.

But now, one visually impaired gamer has gone beyond simply requesting accessibility features and is demanding them by way of a lawsuit. Last month, disabled gamer Alexander Stern filed suit against Sony, Sony Online Entertainment, and Sony Computer Entertainment America in the United States District Court for the Central District of California. The suit alleges that Sony is violating the Americans with Disabilities Act by failing to implement features to make its games accessible to visually impaired gamers.

The Americans with Disabilities Act states that, "No individual shall be discriminated against on the basis of disability in the full and equal enjoyment of the goods, services, facilities, privileges, advantages, or accommodations of any place of public accommodation by any person who owns, leases (or leases to), or operates a place of public accommodation."

According to the suit, Sony ignored repeated requests through postal mail and e-mail to come up with reasonable modifications to its games to make them more accessible. The suit, which doesn't mention SOE games by name but appears to focus on massively multiplayer online titles, requests the addition of visual cues to point gamers to their destinations for gamers with "disability impaired visual processing."

The suit also specifies the ways in which other companies have made their games accessible. For instance, Blizzard Entertainment's World of Warcraft allows the use of third-party mods in its game, which has led to the creation of several programs to include accessibility aids in the game. The suit also mentions Pin Interactive's action adventure PC game Terraformers, saying high-contrast 3D graphics modes, an audio compass, and voice-over detailing items collected in the game all serve to make the game more accessible.

Beyond the denial of entertainment, the suit also contends that Sony's actions have caused visually impaired gamers a financial loss. Because Sony runs an official auction site where gamers can sell their in-game items for real money, the suit says Stern's inability to participate in that marketplace is costing him money.

"Sony has constructed the products in a way that is inaccessible to plaintiff; maintains the products in this inaccessible form; and has failed to take any action whatsoever to correct these barriers even after being repeatedly notified of the discrimination that such barriers cause," according to the suit.

Representatives with Sony and Sony Online Entertainment said they don't comment on pending litigation.
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http://www.gamespot....adlines;title;6
Guess I'm replacing Hostle on the interesting news thing. Oh well. Discuss this bout of stupidity.

[Ash]

I fail to see (no pun intended) how he even has a case. A blind person wouldn't be able to play videogames because vision is required. What next? Is he going to sue the cinema for not making films that blind people can watch? o_0

[Pasidon]

Brail Cinema!

[some_weirdGuy]

'Tis pretty dumb, one would certainly hope he does not acctually win the case. Although you always hear about idiocies where things that shouldn't have even been considered came to an outcome that leaves you at a loss for words. Like when criminals break into a house and hurt themself, then file a lawsuit and win.

I don't get this part though:

The suit, which doesn't mention SOE games by name but appears to focus on massively multiplayer online titles, requests the addition of visual cues to point gamers to their destinations for gamers with "disability impaired visual processing."

If he's blind, how are VISUAL cues suppose to help?

Edited by some_weirdGuy, 08 November 2009 - 11:09 AM.

[Allathar]

What's next, sueing Nike for not making shoes for legless people?

[Vortigern]

It's always nice to start the day with a bit of humour. But yeah, how exactly do blind people play video games? It's all in the name. 'Video' comes from the Latin verb 'to see', thus explicitly excluding the blind. I'm afraid they'll just have to get over it.

[Rattuskid]

In a world where the blind are sometimes legitimately discriminated against... this REALLY pisses me off. This really belittles any strides that have been made by the pioneers of the past. This lawsuit, even if thrown out of court, still is basically someone wiping their ass with the work of Helen Keller.

[Elvenlord]

Only in America

[Ash]

That's the shit I'm talking about with observable inequalities. Just because it's a disabled guy and not someone who calls God by a different name/has different-coloured skin doesn't make it any less wrong and piss-taking.

The sad part is, the bastard'll probably win, even though his case is abhorrent, and it'll set a legal precedent where deaf people will be taking music artists to court for similar cases.

[Pasidon]

For just the visually impaired people (not blind), instead of making a stupid case of us this, I recommend something that will change their world. GLASSES!

he received a form letter back thanking him for his appreciation of the game's graphics.

If they didn't put a retarded money behind public affairs...

[Beowulf]

Normally, I'm all for suing Sony because I hate Sony with a fiery fucking passion. But this... is just beyond ridiculous. That said, I agree entirely with Rattus.

[Spectre]

What went wrong? How did the world come to this?

[Elvenlord]

Political correctness happened.

[olli]

We evolved

[Ash]

You mean devolved.

[Bart]

Evolution is one-way

[Beowulf]

Evolution is one-way

Not for society and decency.

[Vortigern]

Nor for the species either. I hereby postulate that we as a species are in fact devolving. The rise of medicine and widely-available cures and related items for all sorts of diseases and ailments, both genetic and otherwise, are allowing the weaker specimens to remain active within the gene pool, thus leading to a decline in the overall strength of humanity. In the old days, survival of the fittest meant that people with haemophilia, asthma, weak immune systems, whatever that thing Stephen Hawking has is, and whatever else wouldn't survive. While it may not have been the best thing for us intellectually, it did lead to physically stronger humans, which further enabled our continued survival. (For all those of you who are about to say that we now need to evolve mentally rather than physically, that's a different argument. Darwin was all about the physical stuff.)

[Pasidon]

You over-estimate how civilized we were through history.

[Vortigern]

Civilisation is irrelevant to my point. I'm talking in pure physical terms.