September 13, 2012 by Disability.Blog Team

Taking Accessible Gaming to the Next Level
Taking Accessible Gaming to the Next Level

Categories: Community Life, Technology

Picture of Front Cover of Includification, A Practical Guide to Game Accessibility

By Guest Blogger Steven Spohn, Editor-in-Chief, AbleGamers

For the past eight years, the AbleGamers Foundation has been diligently advocating for more accessibility in digital entertainment. We have reached out to video game developers and publishers alike, gone to conferences and expos and attended meetings at the headquarters of many AAA gaming studios. We gave the same speeches to anyone who would listen, and our message was clear – the disability community needs these options.

A few years ago, the responses we got from developers started to change. We no longer heard excuses about why games couldn’t afford to add more accessibility options, or how difficult it would be to do. We also stopped getting asked questions about why accessibility was important. Today, developers are recognizing the importance of the disabled gaming community. What we hear now is the overwhelming question of how games can be made more accessible.

On Wednesday, September 12th, that question was finally answered. Includification is a brand-new publication from The AbleGamers Foundation that includes numerous detailed explanations of common problems for gamers with disabilities, solutions for those problems, printable checklists, developer exercises and personal letters from industry insiders to the game industry.

The companion website, www.includification.com, holds all of the same great information without the fancy graphics and explanations. This website will be a resource for developers to find, at a glance, specific solutions to common and not so common problems.

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September 12, 2012 by stephanieb

Mesothelioma & Its Debilitating Effects
Mesothelioma & Its Debilitating Effects

Categories: Disability.Blog News

A photograph of Douglas Karr

By Guest Blogger Douglas Karr, Petty Officer Second Class (Retired), United States Navy Veteran

Mesothelioma is not one of the more common cancers being contracted nowadays, but it is no longer considered rare. Due to the increase of diagnosed cases in recent years, awareness is extremely important and the number one goal of this post.

What is Mesothelioma?

Mesothelioma is cancer caused by exposure to asbestos fibers. It occurs in the mesothelium, a thin membrane encompassing the body’s internal organs and cavities. Mesothelioma is classified into three different types: pleural, peritoneal and pericardial.

  • Malignant pleural mesothelioma normally originates in the chest cavity and will sometimes involve the lungs.
  • Peritoneal mesothelioma will start in the abdomen then spread to areas such as the bowel, spleen or liver.
  • Pericardial mesothelioma, the rarest of the three, involves the heart.

If you know you have been exposed to asbestos during your life, whether it was at work or at home, you should regularly go to the doctor for an examination. The scariest part about this deadly cancer is its latency period. A person may have been exposed to asbestos up to 40 years prior to noticing any symptoms of the disease. In some cases the cancer can progress into the later stages before being diagnosed, which does not bode well for the victim.

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September 11, 2012 by stephanieb

In the Shadow of Greatness – Honoring Those Who Have Sacrificed
In the Shadow of Greatness – Honoring Those Who Have Sacrificed

Categories: Veterans & Military

By Guest Blogger Major Elizabeth Kreft, Military Legislative Fellow, Co-Author, In the Shadows of Greatness

Dedication. To those who served in uniform after 9/11, and the thousands who never returned home. To our Naval Academy 2002 Classmates Who Left This Earth Much Too Early. And to Our Mothers, Who Allowed Us to Embark on an Adventure of Service and Never Lost Faith.

Like thousands of Americans, September 11 will always be a day when I pause to remember the brave men and women who served and gave all for our country. And just as important, it’s a day to remember those who never intended to sacrifice so much, but their stories still remind us of the courage and honor it takes to wake up every morning and be an American.

It seems so simple some days, doesn’t it? We wake up, get dressed and either go to work or take care of our families and pursue life without much turmoil. But every day we breathe is a day that we bravely and purposefully embody the traits of a free nation. And today deserves an extra dose of inspiration, so I hope to share that with you – our calling for Veteran Awareness and Resource support through In the Shadow of Greatness.

On that Tuesday morning, 11 years ago, my classmates and I were seniors at the United States Naval Academy, walking to class and preparing for another day of leadership training and military mentorship.

When the first plane struck, we paused in curiosity and watched, wondering how something like that could have happened on a clear, blue-sky day.

When the second plane hit the towers, we knew we were at war.

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