Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 – Accessibility First Look

Posted on September 11, 2015 by short

Five Nights at Freddy’s 2!

Hello, Ability Powered gamers! This week’s Accessibility First Look is a game that has terrorized thousands of players since its release. Five Nights at Freddy’s 2! Is it accessible though? Let’s take a look!

Fretting with Freddy

Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 is a jump scare game which is hugely popular within the independent gaming community. For my mouse only gamers: it starts in fullscreen mode and, are you ready for this, there are no options. Nope, zero options, not a one! There’s no windowed mode available, and one tool you can use in-game requires you to press the “Control” key to activate it. However, this is possible if you have two monitors since the game window is borderless. Make sure you have your on-screen keyboard on the second monitor before you start the game. Otherwise, you not only won’t be able to use your flashlight by pressing control, but you’ll also find yourself stuck in the game.

How Can I Leave the Game?!

That’s right, there’s no exit button! I’m not sure how important the flashlight is for survival, because I’m pretty terrible at the game. I’m certainly not a gamer who’s good at jump scares. For keyboard only gamers: I’m honestly not sure if there are hotkeys in place that would let you control actions with your keyboard. I do know there are no options, so rebinding keys would definitely not be available. If I hear about any from other Ability Powered gamers I’ll be sure to post updates!

Figuring out Freddy’s Features

Short cruises down the street in her very own World of Warcraft wheelchair as she discusses the first look accessibility options for Five Nights at Freddy's 2. Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 is definitely made for people who love jump scares. Development left me scared of the lack of accessibility options in a game made this day in age however. If you think you can survive without a flashlight or have two monitors, you should at least be able to try it out. But don’t take my word for it, it’s on Steam! If you have played Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, let me know how you liked it and how long you survived! Check out more of our Accessibility First Looks!

Why World of Warcraft’s Move Pad Needs Rotate

Posted on September 10, 2015 by short

Short discusses reasons why World of Warcraft's a Move Pad needs rotate option.

World of Warcraft’s Move Pad Needs Rotate

Hello, Ability Powered gamers! I felt like I needed to write a post about something near and dear to my heart… World of Warcraft’s Move Pad. If you follow me on Twitter you’ve probably seen me tweeting @WarcraftDevs every week asking about the same thing: rotate buttons being added to Move Pad. I realize a lot of you guys probably don’t really understand why it’s important for them to be added, so let me elaborate.

Would Rotation Help Much?

My days in Azeroth are probably not that different from yours. I log in, do garrison missions, travel, and raid. How I play is probably unique compared to most though. Since I can no longer use a traditional keyboard I rely heavily on various other things to play at a level where raiding is still part of my week in Azeroth. I don’t just use one thing in general, I use many from on-screen keyboard to keybinds, and macros to addons. My setup is definitely different!

Why Add Rotate to Move Pad?

Recently I’ve had to start relying more on Move Pad as my disease has progressed to a point where right clicking to move isn’t always possible. Even though moving with on-screen keyboard and keybinds is sometimes slower than what the mechanics require. The more I used it the more I noticed one thing: I couldn’t turn! I can run; backup; and strafe, but no turning. The more I used it the more of a problem it was. At first, it was just annoying little things like steering vehicles or trying to navigate spiral staircases. However, bigger issues appeared with this raid tier. One boss fight in particular is Gorefiend in Hellfire Citadel.

Short explains why a Move Pad rotation should be added in World of Warcraft (WoW) because of bosses like Gorefiend.

Gorefiend the Revealer

There are two mechanics on Gorefiend that play off each other, and being able to rotate is important to the life of my raid team. If you are familiar with the fight you know you get sucked into the belly of the boss, but you might not realize when that happens your camera direction resets. So sometimes I would come out and instead of my camera being behind my character it would be somewhere totally different. When I strafed I would go in a random direction instead of where I needed to go. I’m no amateur though. I knew if I locked my camera to always adjust to stay behind me I should be okay. That’s where my rotating issues really came to light.

Camera following style options seen from the in-game Interface option displaying why a Move Pad needs rotation.

Since the camera was locked I couldn’t pre-turn it to make it easier to get to someone quickly if I was hit with Shared Fate. You have to move so quickly when you get it. While I could start running with move pad, if I wasn’t already facing the right direction when it hit I was in trouble! I’m forced to have to rotate first. I have the rotate key bound, but by the time I move from game screen to on-screen keyboard I had basically already blown up a raid member. I need a rotate button close to the run button. This isn’t the only reason why I Tweet developers every week, but I feel like it’s a good example of situations where a rotate button would make a huge difference.

Why a Move Pade rotation button should be added to World of Warcraft. Example for buttons seen here.

A Move Pad Plea: a Little Rotation Is All

Short riding in her custom World of Warcraft wheelchair as she talks about a Move Pad rotation button! Gamers who are disabled in Azeroth depend on all the accessibility features Blizzard offers. While many use Move Pad for movement successfully, why not make it as functional as possible? Can you imagine navigating winding roads with strafe? How about spiraling staircases? We need to turn! I know what some of you are thinking and no it wouldn’t be wasting time Blizzard could be using to develop Legion. There’s already plenty of room on the existing interface to add rotate buttons it’s just a matter of adding to it. So, Ability Powered gamers, help me in my mission of convincing Blizzard to update Move Pad with rotate buttons, so navigating Azeroth is easier us willing adventurers. Tweet @WarcraftDevs today and ask about adding rotate buttons to Move Pad! Check out our Opinion column for more WoW thoughts from me!

Dasher – Software for Accessibility

Posted on September 9, 2015 by short

Dasher – Text Entry Interface

Hello, Ability Powered gamers! I wanted to write a post about a new on-screen keyboard I’m checking out called Dasher. This accessibility software works completely different than other on-screen keyboards by letting the letters come to you. It’s actually referred to as a text entry interface. There’s really no way to describe how it works other than by showing you, so check out the video above!

Short announces her new favorite user text interface known as Dasher. Image is a screenshot from Dasher itself.

Dashing Through Dasher

When I first started testing it out it was definitely a challenge to get the hang. However, I was anxious to see how well it would work with a mouse with the Dasher website claiming users with Eyegaze software can reach 30 words a second! It didn’t take very long for me to begin mastering the program and typing at faster speeds than I could when I used a traditional keyboard. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not hanging up my regular on-screen keyboard anytime soon. This is more for longer writing sessions while your on-screen keyboard is more of general use typing tool.

Dictating with Dasher

While sitting in her custom made World of Warcraft wheelchair, Short praises the text interface softward known as Dasher in today's Software for Accessibility. Dasher is definitely my new go to program for longer projects such as this post. I’m enjoying the way it works, but the program has one downside. You have to type into the program itself then “Copy” and “Paste” on Windows into the appropriate program you need the text in. Since it works based on copy and pasting, it would be more difficult to use on things where you type in short bursts rather than longer documents. It could be done, but would be a lot less efficient then your Windows‘ on-screen keyboard. While I feel it’s is a perfect addition to my software arsenal, I don’t think I would use it exclusively. But don’t take my word for it, check out Dasher now! It is a free program you can get at: The Dasher Project. Find more accessibility programs on our Software for Accessibility column!

RetroSensei Podcast – Short Notes

Posted on August 11, 2015 by short

Short's doing some co-podcasting with RetroSensei!

Ability Powered Podcast Co-Host!

Hello, Ability Powered gamers! In case you missed the news, I will be co-hosting a podcast twice a month with Chris from retrosensei.com. So far we have three episodes available with topics ranging from E3 announcements to our MMO gaming experiences. If you would like to check out our episodes you can go to retrosensei.com or you can find us out on iTunes! If you have been listening to our podcast, leave me a comment below and let me know what you think or any topics you would like to hear us discuss in the future! Find more of my on-goings on our Short Notes!

The Price of Accessibility

Posted on August 11, 2015 by short

Short discusses the Price of Accessibility and all its atrocities. "The Price of Accessibility" seen overlayed upon stacks of cash.

The Price of Accessibility!

Hello, Ability Powered Gamers! Today, I wanted to talk to you guys about something that is becoming more and more apparent to me as an Ability Powered gamer: the price of accessibility. We live in a time where computers are everywhere and used for everything from surfing the Internet, working for your occupation, and even just ordering a pizza. In today’s world computers have become more of a necessity than a luxury. While most of my readers are here because you guys want to get the most out of your video games, I’m sure at least some of you have had issues with basic accessible functions be in accessing your keyboard or using a mouse.

Searching for Accessibility

Recently I ran into new accessibility problems after getting a new wheelchair and having some positioning issues while adjusting to it. I developed a problem right clicking with my mouse which, as it turns out, is pretty useful! I couldn’t right click to save images. I couldn’t right click to move my character in World of Warcraft. I couldn’t even open boxes I was getting in-game, because it requires you to right click. I got tired of needing help and started looking for assistive software.

The Price of Accessibility goes in depth on accessibility software such as the example here for those with mouse clicking problems.

Clickable Disability Software

I did find software that did exactly what I needed! It would allow me to right click with the left mouse button after pressing a button on the software. The price to right click was going to be very expensive. Some software had a retail price of US$100! That is an expensive click when you are on a fixed budget. Lucky for me I found another program which did the exact same thing for free. The whole thing got me thinking, “Why is accessibility software so expensive?” I have yet to come up with a viable answer.

Cheaper Accessibility Options

I look at accessibility web sites and am completely confused at why an on-screen keyboard could have a price tag of US$300 to US$600. For those of you who don’t know, Microsoft’s Windows, comes with “On-Screen Keyboard” in the “Ease of Access” directory. It also comes with a Speech-to-Text program that I am using as I speak to type this post. Both of these programs are free with Windows. Maybe the expensive programs offer more options I am not aware of, but the Windows versions serve the purpose that I need for no extra money.

Accessibility & Gaming

Another shocker came when I recently heard there was a new way to play Mojang’s Minecraft in development by some of the guys at Special Effect. I was very anxious to learn more about their progress in making Minecraft playable for us gamers who use only a mouse. I found out that the controls were based around an accessibility program called The Grid 2. I downloaded a trial of the program and it was definitely made for accessibility and communication for Ability Powered people.

The Grid 2

It comes with a program where you click words and the computer will say them out loud in case you need help communicating. It also had various control is used to operate a computer. With the possibility of playing Minecraft I went to look up how much The Grid 2 would cost. If you follow me on social media you all know how long I’ve been waiting to play this game! I was floored when I saw the price tag set at US$645.00!

The Grid 2 price tag at US$645 is exactly the kind of example to show the price of accessibility and how its outrageous.

What’s the Big Deal, Huh?

I know every piece of software takes time and effort to make. Yes, I understand it is a product just like any other game or software people buy. Yes, there is a large number of disabled people with jobs that pay the income needed to buy high priced accessibility software. I am also aware that there are a large number who aren’t and do so on fixed incomes. So, Ability Powered gamers, I ask you why is software that can be almost necessary in today’s society so high priced? Especially when it is presented to the disabled community as accessibility software when there are other programs more affordable and at times even free?

Why So Expensive?

Accessibility websites even offer the exact same accessibility software on their websites as pitched to non-disabled customers on other sites. These necessary programs are even priced higher on “Accessibility” websites than on office supply stores or even Amazon where they’re promoted to a different audience. Dragon NaturallySpeaking is a great program aimed for people who dictate a lot of documents for their jobs. When marketed in this way Amazon has it priced at US$123, while a site marketing it as accessibility software has a price tag of US$199!

Accessibility Prices & You

Short points out the audacious behaviors of those in the world that would have disabled people pay more for the same technologies as non-disabled users in her custom World of Warcraft wheelchair. "The Price of Accessibility" So, Ability Powered gamers, as you find yourself looking for different types of software that may make your quality of life better becareful. I beg you to do your homework! Accessibility is expensive, but it doesn’t have to be. Remember, Windows comes standard with on-screen keyboard; speech-to-text software; magnifier to make things on the screen more easily visible; and a text-to-speech program! There are also many small developers that have written programs to make accessibility easier. You just have to look for them! I would love to hear everyone’s thoughts on this topic and your experiences on dealing with the high price of accessibility. Leave a comment below, and check out our Opinion column for more thoughts from me!