SURVAY ON AUDIOGAME FOR BLIND PEOPLE – BY GIULIA PAGGIARIN

Dear Madam, dear Sir,

I am a student at the State University of Milan and I am graduating in Science and Technology of Musical Communication. 
The subject of my thesis are audio-accessible videogames for blind people. In particular, my project includes the creation of an audio-game in which the user will be guided through the story only by sounds. To play, the user needs only headphones and a keyboard with directional buttons.

During my research, I could not find a lot of example of videogames conceived and developed ad hoc for blind people. I found some adaptations of traditional games (board games, card games), but I think it would be interesting to start and study and develop a series of game that focus on sound and on the audio experience in general.

The aim of the thesis is also to provide useful information for developers and centres of research to guide their studies and new applications to this area.

To complete this research, I think it is fundamental to interview people that may have something interesting to say about this topic (blindness, videogames and accessible software) and that could help me understanding which may be the most interesting issues to focus on. The following interviews will help me gathering useful information to integrate my work with.

The results will be incorporated in the thesis, which will be published online in the Archives of the State University of Milan.

Your responses will remain anonymous and your personal information will not be used nor communicated to third parties.

For any questions or information please contact:

Giulia Paggiarin (Università degli Studi di Milano - Italy)

Mail: [email protected]

MSN: [email protected]

Interview
A - General Profile: 

Please, specify:

1 – Age

2 – Sex

3 – Country

4 – E-mail

5 – How often do you use the computer? (Every day? Once a week? Once a month? Other?) 

6 – How many hours a day do you use the computer?

7 – Why do you use the computer? (Work? Study? Fun? Other?)

8 – Do you usually use the computer alone or with someone else’s help?

B - Survey’s addressee

- Blind computerized;
- Student;

- Parent;

- Teacher;

- Educator who has some experience in this field;

- Expert of software accessibility;
- Expert of game accessibility in general (not only for visual disability)

- Other (please specify)

C - Talking about accessible games, have you ever done any of the following activities?
- Searched accessible games on market?
- Adapted games for blind people?
- Developed accessible games?
- Defined rules of accessibility or usability?
- Other (please specify) 
D – Do you know any audio-game conceived for blind people? 
If yes, please specify:

     A – Which kind of game it is:

     B – Does it need specific hardware?

Below you can find a list of suggestions to answer the above question, but feel free to add anything that is not there.

original or classic games re-adapted?:

- Text game (quiz, text adventures, etc.): original or classic games re-adapted?

- Music games (quiz music, musical memory ...): original or classic games re-adapted?

- Adventure/exploration games with textual references (accessible by voice or Braille) and sounds (the environment is described by words and background sounds);

- Games on dynamic Braille display;

- Games with dynamic sound;

- Other...

B) Suggestions - Use of specific hardware for access, as well as synthesis and display:

- Normal hardware (mouse, keyboard, etc.);

- Sensitive tablets with designs in relief;

- Adapted joystick;

- Special mouse/keyboard or special hardware;

- Other;

E - In order to use the computer in your everyday life, what kind of equipment do you use?

1. What interfaces do you use? (input: keyboard, mouse, sensitive tablet, other – please specify; output: speakers, headphones, Braille display, other – please specify)

2. What operating system do you use?

3. What sound system do you use? (headphones, stereo speakers, speakers 5.1, other – please specify) 
F – Can you suggest any improvement to make games more accessible to blind people?(More intuitive commands? More hints? Different aims of the games? New features related to sound or speech? Other? Please specify.)

G - What kind of genre of games you would like to find? (Action, adventure, puzzle, sport, educational, etc.)

H – Are you interested in receiving the results of the research? (If you say yes, I will send you an e-mail with the results of the questionnaire and with a link to the videogame to download for free)

Thank you for your time and your collaboration.

Giulia Paggiarin (Università degli Studi di Milano - Italy)

Mail: [email protected]

MSN: [email protected]