The AbleGamers Foundation
| Founded | 2004 |
|---|---|
| Founder | Mark Barlet and Stephanie Walker |
| Type | Public Charity |
| Focus | Gamers with Disabilities |
Area served | Internationally |
Members | 2000 |
Key people | Mark Barlet, Steve Spohn |
Employees | 0 |
Volunteers | 5 |
| Slogan | Improving the quality of life for people with disabilities using the power of digital entertainment. |
| Website | http://www.ablegamers.org |
AbleGamers Foundation is a leading nonprofit organization and foundation dedicated to bringing greater accessibility in the video game space[1] so people with disabilities can gain a greater quality of life through developing a rich social life that gaming can bring.[2] The AbleGamers Foundation promotes open dialog, education, research and funding grants[3] in the area of accessibility. Ablegamers.com is a website run by the AbleGamers Foundation that specifically caters to the game accessibility community.
The AbleGamers Foundation is working with Evil Controllers to design accessible peripherals for disabled gamers[4]
The Ablegamers Foundation participated on a prestigious panel discussion[5] sponsored by the IGDA (International Game Developers Association) - Game Access Special Interest Group at the March 2011 PAX Penny Arcade Expo and festival for video game players with symposia for video gamers developers. The panel discussion topic was "How We Use Games to Make Life Better for Others".
Mark Barlet, President AbleGamers received the 2012 American Association of People with Disabilities Hearne Leadership Award for his work at AbleGamers [6]
In 2013 AbleGamers won a MS Society Da Vinci Awards for the Includification [7] - A Practical Guide to Game Accessibility, the first time the award had ever been given to a document and concept, not a product. AbleGamers also won the LEO Award, the 'People's Choice'
The AbleGamers Foundation was granted 501(c)(3) nonprofit public charity status in 2009.
During the Gamergate controversy, porn star Mercedes Carrera offered to perform a porn stream to raise money for the group. Although this was initially accepted, staff at the foundation saw statements on Reddit suggesting the stream was associated with GamerGate. The foundation then pulled its support stating they felt they were mislead.[8][9] Representatives from their hosting provider stated the AbleGamers site was subsequently subjected to a DDoS attack.[10] Carrera stated that the charity stream was not associated with GamerGate. She also cited others who had researched the DDoS claim and concluded it was a result of an increase in traffic due to the controversy.[11] Stating that she was not upset by the rejection, Carrera later chose to use the planned porn stream to fund a scholarship to be administered by The Fine Young Capitalists.[12]
References
- ↑ Schuster, Shawn (2009-04-09). "Do Developers Consider Disabled Gamers Enough". Massively by Joystiq. Retrieved December 2011.
- ↑ Adams, Paul (2011-07-14). "Gamers With Disabilities Battle Indifferent Industry". Wired Magazine. Retrieved December 2011.
- ↑ "The AbleGamers Veterans AT Grants 2011". The AbleGamers Foundation. 2011-01-01. Retrieved December 2011.
- ↑ Fletcher, JC (2011-06-24). "'Adroit' controller line to make games more accessible". Massively by Joystiq. Retrieved December 2011.
- ↑ "Gamers Doing Good. – How We use Games to Make Life Better for Others - Panel Discussion at PAX March 11, 2011". (IGDA)International Game Developers Association. Retrieved February 2011.
- ↑ "Meet the 2012 Hearne Leadership Award Winners". AAPD. March 2012.
- ↑ "da Vinci Award Winners announced at gala April 11, 2013". National MS Society. April 2013.
- ↑ "AbleGamers' Weird Weekend of Porn, Charity, DDoS Attacks, and GamerGate". GamePolitics.com. 8 December 2014. Retrieved 2 January 2015.
- ↑ Gera, Emily (9 December 2014). "AbleGamers' weird weekend of porn stars, charity and a worries over a DDoS attack". Polygon. Retrieved 2 January 2015.
- ↑ Holmes, Jonathan (7 December 2014). "AbleGamers backs out of charity event after reading it will 'weaponize porn'". Destructoid. Retrieved 2 January 2015.
- ↑ Holmes, Jonathan (7 December 2014). "Mercedes Carrera comments on the charity stream hubbub". Destructoid. Retrieved 2 January 2015.
- ↑ Fudge, James (2 January 2015). "The Porn Charity Hosting First Event to Fund Merit -Based STEM Scholarship". GamePolitics.com. Retrieved 2 January 2015.