Is the iPad the Wave of the Future for Disabled Gamers?

{sidebar id=1}The iPad just came out and AbleGamers has had a chance to get our hands on one of these devices from the future.  Does the iPad have incredible promise for us disabled gamers? Let’s explore.

One great example of how user friendly and accessible the iPad is the story of 99-year-old Virginia Cambell of Lake Oswego, Oregon.  According to The Oregonian, Virginia is an avid read who has glaucoma, which affects her vision and makes it difficult for her to read her beloved books.

One of her daughters decided to buy her an iPad because she loves to read but her glaucoma prevents her from doing so.

The iPad has built in accessibility, it comes with a screen reader. support for playback of closed-captioned content, and other innovative universal access features right out of the box. No assembly required and no additional software to buy or install.

One of my favorite features on my iPhone that is also on the iPad is the ability to change fonts and increase screen brightness, which is great on the go for anyone with limited eyesight or someone that suffers from eye fatigue from spending way too many hours reading or using the computer.

As far as the keyboard goes I was able to test drive an iPad while both my Macbook Pro and iPhone were being repaired.

The keyboard is truly amazing. Letters are clearly announced and you can turn on phonetics (touching A gets you “A” “Alpha”).  Dragging your finger across the surface reads the labels to you. Double tapping inserts the character and insertions can be announced with a pitch change.

In addition, the increased screen size allows people with decreased motor skills to type successfully with limited frustration.

One of my favorite free applications is iBooks. Getting best-sellers on your iPad is as easy as tapping the iBooks icon and your bookshelf appears. In the upper-left corner, you’ll find the store button. Tap it and the bookshelf flips around like a secret passageway to reveal the iBookstore.

The iBooks application is excellent for those with vision impairments because it uses the Zoom feature extraordinarily well.

Zoom on the iPad lets you magnify the entire screen of any application. You can zoom up to five times the normal size and move left, right, up, or down to view any portion of the screen close up.

As far as gaming on the iPad, I do not think it will be as big as the iPhone because the iPad is simple not as portable; it’s not as easy to hold and the battery life is limited so you will need an adapter and charger.

But racing games like Asphalt 5 will not disappoint because you feel like you’re actually racing and you control the car by moving the iPad. This really shows off its accelerometer prowess here, letting you bank tight turns and helping to keep things stable when you frantically tap the nitro button on straight-aways.

Asphalt 5 offers solo play and head-to-head racing, either locally over Bluetooth and Wi-Fi, or you can game with someone online. If you're planning on challenging strangers, however, you've got to sign up for a Gameloft Live account.

The casual gaming market does not have many full-version games as I had expected but one of my favorites is Diner Dash Grilling Green.  And not only because I have been following this game since its first edition, but because the iPad’s bigger gaming area means that you're less likely to make mistakes by moving things to the wrong location.

Movement errors can be pretty annoying on the iPhone version.

Casual games like Diner Dash are fun because they're predictable and they almost all work in exactly the same way. Making it great for the gamer with low vision or limited motor skills.

Overall, Ablegamers will enjoy this product if they do not already have an ipod touch or macbook because this is combination of both amazing devices.

Apple does a great job with accessibility.  If you are like 99-year-old Virginia Cambell and want a fun device to read and type on, as well as play games, then buy the iPad because it is fully accessible and reasonably priced.