Videogaming and blindness do not tend to form an obvious association. Any attempts to make videogames accessible to the visually impaired have previously focused on ways in which standard games can be ‘read’ by the blind. But now, some producers have begun to create audio games - games based predominantly on aural rather than visual stimuli. There are currently around 200 titles, of which about 50 are commercial (the others are freeware or shareware).
Naturally, games based on sonic environments require a different approach on the part of developers. Certain elements are vital, according to Kelly Sapergia, who reviews audio games for the Canadian radio station ACB: “They need to have really distinctive sounds so that you can easily tell where you are,” he said. “This can be achieved using different ambient music and having the footsteps change depending on whether you’re on grass or mud.” One of the companies working in this field is Bavisoft, who make software exclusively for the blind and visually impaired. Bavisoft utilises sound engineers, musicians and vocal talent as well as programmers in order to create a fully interactive sound-based experience. There is hope that these games will also start appealing to sighted gamers.
However, the market is currently tiny, even among the visually impaired. It is estimated that around 3,000 audio games were sold in 2004 – a figure dwarfed by the millions of sales of conventional games. Richard van Tol, who jointly runs Audiogames.net, feels that the problem is public awareness: “Loads of blind people have computers, but not many of them know about audio games.” This is a shame, as these games are an example of a truly innovative approach to accessibility - it would be of greater benefit to the visually impaired if more companies employed similarly original techniques rather than relying on the same tired methods.