[accessibleimage] tatoo, iplayer, Narinia, actress, games

GamesIndustry.biz
Tuesday, October 16, 2007

Game accessibility group to exhibit at E for All 2007
By Mark Androvich 
19:51 (BST) 16/10/2007
Chairperson sees social injustice issue

The Game Accessibility Special Interest Group of the International Game 
Developers Association will be an exhibitor at the upcoming E for All in Los 
Angeles.

The SIG will be presenting games, game mods, and game hardware designed for 
gamers with disabilities.

"The message we hope to convey is that games are for everyone and are an important 
part of life today that cannot continue to be inaccessible for people with 
disabilities," said Michelle Hinn, chairperson of the Game Accessibility SIG and 
game design instructor at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign.

"The majority of games on the market remain unplayable by up to 10 to 20 per cent of 
the population. This is not simply an opportunity for developers to increase revenue - it 
is an issue of social injustice that must be corrected."

SIG members hope to raise awareness amongst potential gamers with disabilities 
that hardware alternatives exist to make playing videogames possible for some 
people with certain types of mobility disabilities.

However, Hinn noted that there are other types of disabilities--learning, 
auditory, and visual, for example--that impact game play in different ways, 
requiring other solutions.

"Solutions that help gamers with disabilities can enhance the game play experience 
for ALL gamers," she said.

http://www.eforallexpo.com/



Express-Times, NJ, USA
Friday, October 19, 2007

Blind playwright explores challenges in personal journey
"Weights: One Blind Man's Journey" will be performed by its author, Lynn Manning, beginning Wednesday at Touchstone Theatre in Bethlehem. Manning, based in California, is a poet, playwright, actor and former Blind Judo world champion. He lost his sight at the age of 23, during a bar fight in which he was shot and blinded. "I think 'Weights' resonates with audiences because there is something each person can relate to," Manning explains. "What one person takes away from the story and performance isn't always the same thing as what the person sitting next to him takes away. The play is an emotional, forward-moving journey." "Weights" begins the night Manning was shot and takes the audience on a time-travel back to his troubled childhood. There are experiences in the Los Angeles foster care system, and ultimately to the place where he rents his first apartment as a blind man "There was so much work being done about being a black person in New York, or in Chicago, or in the South, but there was no work being done about being a black man in Los Angeles, or anywhere in California," Manning reflects. "I guess it's because we're all supposed to be living in paradise here." Manning says the play, which is among his most extensive body of work and the most performed, is a 90-minute, one-act journey that illustrates his childhood, youth and struggle toward complete independence. "This isn't just a blind person's story, but rather a story that has a broader exploration of disabilities and how we overcome them," Manning explains. He will perform in Philadelphia during his upcoming stay in the Lehigh Valley, at the Amaryllis Theater and at the Playground Theatre at the Adrienne. In addition to "Weights," Manning has written "Shoot," "Up from the Downs," "Private Battle," and "The Last Outpost." He is a member of the Playwrights/Directors Unit of the Actors Studio West Coast. Manning's television credits include appearances on "8 Simple Rules," "Popular," "Seinfeld," "The Sinbad Show," and "Dream On." He has also appeared in commercials for Nike Shoes, Hewlett Packard, Schweppes, Bank of America, and Sprint Long Distance. 

http://www.nj.com/entertainment/expresstimes/index.ssf?/base/entertainment-1/1192767066207390.xml&coll=2





ABC27, Pennsylvania USA
Tuesday, October 16, 2007
Students Produce Blind Awareness Video
Tuesday October 16, 2007 10:24pm Posted By: Seth Charles Lower Paxton Township - Bronwen Tagoe is somewhat of a celebrity at Central Dauphin East High School. The tenth grade student has been blind since birth. Now she is showing others about white cane day and what it means. The high school's broadcasting class tapped into Monday's observation of "White Cane Day" as an opportunity for the class and the school. "When I was approached about doing a video for blind awareness day, at first I was a little hesitant because I felt it was overwhelming.", said Jennifer Scarle, the broadcasting teacher, "Five videos in a short amount of time." After a bit of brain storming, they were able to come up with a way for others to see or hear the world of blindness. Senior Levi LaFleur had people recognize everydays sounds as an auditory exercise. "I did a little bit of everything. I did some filming. I did on screen talking and edited, most of the editing." LaFleur said. The Central Dauphin East students crafted the five part series on the visually impaired which is broadcast each morning during homeroom announcements. While it's good training, this story though went beyond an assignment. "You think you know more than you actually do." Brittany Leonhard, a senior said, "It's very eye opening and humbling to get and meet someone like Bronwen because you realize how easy you have it." But for Bronwen, like everyone else, it's just another day to tap into and enjoy. 

http://www2.abc27.com/news/stories/1007/464352.html





The Telegraph (UK)
Thursday, October 18, 2007

Telegraph showcases BBC iPlayer

By Nicole Martin, Digital & Media Correspondent
Nicole Martin, 
Quote: "The BBC also plans to introduce downloadable programmes with subtitles and 
audio description"

The BBC has chosen The Daily Telegraph's website to showcase its free catch-up 
television service.


From next month, visitors to telegraph.co.uk will be able to read reviews of 
BBC programmes and then click on a link to watch the show in full on their 
computer via the iPlayer.


The Daily Telegraph website will be the BBC's first "media partner" to showcase 
the iPlayer, which offers an online, on-demand catch-up service that allows viewers to 
download and watch the bulk of the BBC's TV output.

Users must register online at www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer and download the iPlayer 
software before they can start to build an online library of programmes.

Programmes are available to download for up to seven days after transmission. 
Viewers then have a window of 30 days in which to watch the shows before the 
files automatically delete themselves.

The iPlayer service will be fully launched before Christmas along with a catch-up 
"streaming facility" which allows viewers to watch programmes via the internet 
without having to download the software.

This service, however, does not allow viewers to store the shows for up to 30 
days.

Both the programmes and the iPlayer software application will be free to 
download.

The BBC also plans to introduce downloadable programmes with subtitles and 
audio description, and versions of the iPlayer application that are compatible 
with Apple Macintosh computers and Sony Vista computers.

Mark Thompson, the BBC director general, previously hailed the iPlayer "as big a 
revolution in broadcasting as the introduction of colour television 40 years ago".



Wired.com News
Monday, October 15, 2007

Tattoos for the Blind
By sonia zjawinski Call me superficial, but I love cute haircuts, hot make-up, and creative tattoos, but lately I've wondered, if you're blind, can you enjoy these very visual things. Well one student has thought up a way where the visually impaired can express themselves through tattoos that can be read. 
LINK:
http://www.digital.udk-berlin.de/en/projects/summer07/haupt/bodytech/braille.html
The Braille Tattoo, designed by Klara Jirkova (a student at the University of the Arts Berlin), is a series of implantable surgical steel, titanium, or medical plastic that's placed under the skin. The tattoo can then be read via touch. Subdermal implants are nothing new, but using them to create body art for the visually impaired is an interesting idea. Jirkova thinks the implants could be used in the divet between thumb and pointer finger, so when people shake hands they can "read" each other's names and info. 
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/10/16/nmedia216.xml






NarniaFans.com
Wednesday, October 17, 2007

Center for the Blind allows Blind to "see" Narnia
Contributing sources: AG.org 
Caption: Paul Weingartner, national director of the Center for the Blind in 
Springfield, Missouri, stands with Sarah Sykes, project translator and tactile 
graphic creator of the Narnia project. Currently, they are less than a year 
away from having the entire seven-volume set of the Braille version of C. S. 
Lewis'\ The Chronicles of Narnia completed.

Nearly a decade ago, Paul Weingartner began a journey that eventually would 
lead him and the Assemblies of God Center for the Blind to Narnia.
After years of waiting and wanting to produce a Braille version of C.S. Lewis' classic, The Chronicles of Narnia, with tactile pictures, Weingartner and the CftB are close to completing the voyage. 
The CftB version of Narnia is not actually the first time the works have been 
transcribed into Braille, but it is distinct in at least two other ways.

First, a tactile picture accompanies each chapter, and allows Blind readers to "see" what 
Lewis describes. Then, the CftB intends to never again let the work be "out of print," 
unlike the other Braille translations in existence.

The process to produce one edition is no simple task for the CftB. In all, one 
book in the series takes approximately 15 weeks to complete.

Twelve weeks are devoted to preparing the normal print book for transcription, 
a process which includes manually keying in the entire text and then the 
proofreading process. Then, it takes three weeks to convert each picture into a 
tactile graphic.

Sarah Sykes, the project translator and tactile graphic creator, tells of what 
God has showed her through a few of the more arduous points of the project.

"In the moments when things keep going wrong, like when I couldn't find a graphic for 
transcription, and I just wanted to quit," Sykes tells, "God proved Himself faithful. He 
continues to teach me the value of persevering and trusting him for what I need next."

Weingartner knows that even though it takes so long to make one edition, that 
the time is well spent. He tells that not much literature is currently 
available for Blind young people.

"If your child is sighted, there is almost no limit to the variety of Christian literature 
available," Weingartner says. "However, if your child is Blind and you don't know of this 
ministry (CftB), it is very likely your child will grow into adulthood without Christian 
literature."

Ensuring that the Blind youth have Christian literature has proved to be a key 
motivator for Weingartner.
"I am thrilled to see the joy in the hearts of children and adults as they get their hands on these," Weingartner says. "Hearing Blind adults shout for joy and watching parents of Blind children cry after getting these works, spurs me on to do more." 
Sykes and Weingartner both have vested interests in the CftB.
In 2001, Sykes began volunteering at the CftB, and eventually joined the staff a little more than a year ago. She says she has a "connection" to the people she serves. 
"These are not some people who need Christian literature," she continues. "These are 
my people who need Christian literature."

Sykes is Blind. And, speaking of her own blindness, she is not about to use it 
as an excuse to keep her from ministering to others. In fact, she almost views 
it as a blessing.

"If Christ is willing, He can heal me of my blindness," Sykes says. "But also, if He 
is willing, I would much rather see Blind people come to know Jesus because of my witness among 
them, than have the miracle of sight for myself."

The director of the CftB since 1994, Weingartner was also born Blind. As a 
parent of five children, he knows the pain of not being able to read a story to 
his kids.

Weingartner, Sykes and the CftB staff are not going to be satisfied until the 
last book is completed - a goal that is less than a year away.

Each CftB member is looking forward to claiming the victory for the Lord by completing 
works that secular organizations could not. Also, Weingartner says he "is anxious to 
squelch the skepticism in the hearts of those who thought a tactile Narnia for the Blind 
was not possible."
Works completed thus far include The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe; Prince Caspian; and The Voyage of the Dawn Treader. The remaining works in the Narnia series are underway and targeted for a July 1, 2008, release date. 
Beyond Narnia, the CftB is also working on such titles as Pilgrim's Progress by 
John Bunyan; Jesus Freaks by DC Talk; Don't Waste Your Life by John Piper; and 
a series of children's books by Bill Myers.

The AG Center for the Blind is a ministry of AGUSM. Since its beginning nearly 
50 years ago, the CftB has grown beyond a library of Braille materials. It now 
includes discipleship resources, evangelism tools and is a Christian advocacy 
group for the Blind.

1445 North Boonville Ave., Springfield, MO 65802  .  Telephone: 417-862-2781


http://www.narniafans.com/?id=1248

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