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AbleGamers
The AbleGamers Foundation (also known as The AbleGamers Charity) is an American nonprofit organization dedicated to improving accessibility in the video game space, enabling more people with disabilities to be able to play video games. The charity creates resources, assists individuals in getting the peripherals they need, runs scholarships, and works with video game publishers and video game companies to improve accessibility.
AbleGamers was founded by Mark Barlet in 2004 after his best friend, Stephanie Walker, began losing the ability to control a computer mouse due to multiple sclerosis. Barlet and Walker used video games as a way of socializing and maintaining their close friendship. AbleGamers was created with the goal of assisting people with disabilities to play video games. The charity works with individuals to assess their needs and challenges, determining what equipment they need to help them play video games, including both existing and new, custom-made hardware. This includes both online consultations and visits to the charity's facilities. The charity helps up to 300 people every year through direct support, and more through online resources. While the program was initially opened for applications only at certain times of the year, it began being offered year-round from 2013.
The charity has opened Accessibility Arcades in locations such as Washington, D.C.'s Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Library and the University of Toronto's Semaphore Research Cluster, showcasing accessible hardware and games. In 2013 the charity topped $100,000 USD in donations.
January 2016 the charity announced that it was extending its mission to include a new program entitled "Expansion Packs". Partnering with sponsors, AbleGamers is building accessible game rooms for activity centers that support people with disabilities, the first being at the Pediatric Specialty Care in Hopewell PA.
In 2017 AbleGamers started the Player Panels initiative, whereby gamers with disabilities work with game developers to improve the accessibility of upcoming games, and participate in research studies.
Also in 2017, Mark Barlet, AbleGamer's Founder, talked at Google highlighting the organization and his involvement in bettering the lives of people with disabilities.
The AbleGamers Foundation worked with Evil Controllers to design accessible peripherals for disabled gamers, and in 2018 it was announced that the Xbox Adaptive Controller had been created in partnership with organizations including AbleGamers.
August 6, 2020, marked the premier of a collaboration between AbleGamer's COO Steve Spohn and actor Ryan Reynolds.
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AbleGamers
The AbleGamers Foundation (also known as The AbleGamers Charity) is an American nonprofit organization dedicated to improving accessibility in the video game space, enabling more people with disabilities to be able to play video games. The charity creates resources, assists individuals in getting the peripherals they need, runs scholarships, and works with video game publishers and video game companies to improve accessibility.
AbleGamers was founded by Mark Barlet in 2004 after his best friend, Stephanie Walker, began losing the ability to control a computer mouse due to multiple sclerosis. Barlet and Walker used video games as a way of socializing and maintaining their close friendship. AbleGamers was created with the goal of assisting people with disabilities to play video games. The charity works with individuals to assess their needs and challenges, determining what equipment they need to help them play video games, including both existing and new, custom-made hardware. This includes both online consultations and visits to the charity's facilities. The charity helps up to 300 people every year through direct support, and more through online resources. While the program was initially opened for applications only at certain times of the year, it began being offered year-round from 2013.
The charity has opened Accessibility Arcades in locations such as Washington, D.C.'s Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Library and the University of Toronto's Semaphore Research Cluster, showcasing accessible hardware and games. In 2013 the charity topped $100,000 USD in donations.
January 2016 the charity announced that it was extending its mission to include a new program entitled "Expansion Packs". Partnering with sponsors, AbleGamers is building accessible game rooms for activity centers that support people with disabilities, the first being at the Pediatric Specialty Care in Hopewell PA.
In 2017 AbleGamers started the Player Panels initiative, whereby gamers with disabilities work with game developers to improve the accessibility of upcoming games, and participate in research studies.
Also in 2017, Mark Barlet, AbleGamer's Founder, talked at Google highlighting the organization and his involvement in bettering the lives of people with disabilities.
The AbleGamers Foundation worked with Evil Controllers to design accessible peripherals for disabled gamers, and in 2018 it was announced that the Xbox Adaptive Controller had been created in partnership with organizations including AbleGamers.
August 6, 2020, marked the premier of a collaboration between AbleGamer's COO Steve Spohn and actor Ryan Reynolds.