Socialization Is Key

In games, it is all about the user's experience and one of the biggest aspects of the user's experiences is the socialization that you get in online games. For the disabled gamer, this is a great tool for one's mental and social health. It can help build self-esteem, communication skills, confidence and of course a bigger network of friends.

When games first began to allow chatting as a way to communicate, they were all text based but as time went on, the need for Voice over IP (VoIP) became a growing trend. The most popular choice of today for VoIP is third party applications such as Ventrilo or TeamSpeak. Although, the majority of games have some type of online feature that allows for in game chat but the two aforementioned programs are still the most popular way of voice communication. Today, developers have begun incorporating built-in VoIP into their games, especially for FPS and MMOs. In my opinion, being able to communicate is accessible gaming done right.

If It Isn't Broke

Although, there are some people who are unable to use VoIP. For example, sometimes someone with muscular dystrophy is placed on a ventilator, which places a breathing tube in between the vocal cords. This makes speaking difficult, more so for some than others. As you can see, for these individuals, using VoIP is sometimes out of the question. Game developers need to consider this before they decide to eliminate any type of in game chat. If they do go completely to VoIP, then it will be a backwards step for game accessibility.  Developers need to realize that leaving in options is always a better choice than narrowing down the possibilities to force one method of communication. There are some things that you just leave alone; if it isn't broke don't fix it.  In this case, removing text chat areas in favor of voice communication would be a mistake and alienate possible customers.

The Importance of Social Interaction

There are some people that are homebound or live in some kind of health care facility and as a result, they do not get a chance to get out very often and at times can feel very lonely. I personally know people who are in this situation, at one point I was pretty much in the same boat. I can tell you from experience the importance of having social connections; it is not fun when your human interaction is very limited. So, hopefully you can see, not only in these people's lives but in general we all have a basic human need for interaction.  It is intrinsic to search out other people for protection, defense, strength, and many other primal instincts.  We are hardwired to avoid being alone for extended periods of time.

Online gaming is a superb way to make these important connections. Keeping the mind active by chatting and interacting with friends while playing games helps develop and maintain excellent mental and social health. This is one subject that all disabled gamers know a lot about.  For more information on the importance of socialization, please read the following articles from AbleGamers own Steve Spohn, where he takes you through the importance of being able to communicate with friends and strangers alike and titles such as Warhammer Online.