Gaming Beyond the Mechanics: Accessibility of Language, Tone, Culture & Concept

Join us on Wednesday, June 22, 2022, at 12:00 noon for our talk with Lorelei Root on Gaming Beyond the Mechanics: Accessibility of Language, Tone, Culture, and Concept. This presentation was first presented last month at the Guelph Accessibility Conference.

Creating an accessible game needs to be a part of the conversation long before a single line of code is even written. Of course we need to take the accessibility of the game mechanics into account, but the conversation and decision to include accessibility needs to begin at an earlier point and cover a broader range of topics than just the code.

In this presentation I will walk you through some factors that I have often seen overlooked in the video game development industry—such as using accessible language and tone in creating initial game concepts and storylines, creating an accessible environment for game development, and avoiding an ableist corporate culture overall.

Lorelei Root is a digital accessibility specialist currently working for Eagle’s Flight in Guelph Ontario, and who has experience working in digital accessibility with various video game development studios around the world.

She is the Chair of the City of Guelph’s Accessibility Advisory Committee, the Chair of the City of Guelph’s Municipal Elections Accessibility Subcommittee, a board member for the Canadian Centre for Disability Studies, and serves on a number of other boards and committees in an accessibility advisory capacity.

As a disabled woman herself who uses various forms of assistive tech to access the world, Lorelei is driven by a passion for cross-disability accessibility advocacy. She is a firm believer in "nothing about us without us" and believe that any progress toward access inclusion needs to be diverse, with an intersectional view and built on an on anti-oppressive and anti-racist framework.

After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.

#a11yHAM events are free and open to anyone interested in discussing digital accessibility and inclusion. This Zoom event will include a live transcript created by Otter.ai Teams. Please connect with us if you would like any alternative accommodations or have suggestions for improving our accessibility.

Thank you in advance for your support of this physical distancing meetup!