{"id":93581,"date":"2019-01-09T13:27:57","date_gmt":"2019-01-09T18:27:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/news\/?p=93581"},"modified":"2020-09-09T10:24:33","modified_gmt":"2020-09-09T14:24:33","slug":"conference-push-accessibility-opportunities-gaming-industry","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/news\/conference-push-accessibility-opportunities-gaming-industry\/","title":{"rendered":"Growing Accessibility in the Gaming Industry"},"content":{"rendered":"
Providing more opportunities for people with disabilities in the video game<\/a> and simulation<\/a> industries is the theme of the second annual Press Play Conference in downtown Orlando on Jan. 12.<\/p>\n The Florida Interactive Entertainment Academy at Âé¶¹Ó³»´«Ã½<\/a>\u00a0and local partners are sponsoring the half-day conference aimed at educating and inspiring people with disabilities.<\/p>\n \u201cThe gaming and simulation industries are places where people from all backgrounds can thrive,\u201d says FIEA executive director Ben Noel. \u201cWe want to show the disability community in Central Florida all the resources and opportunities for people who want to choose one of these exciting careers.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThe gaming and simulation industries are places where people from all backgrounds can thrive.\u201d \u2014 Ben Noel, FIEA executive director<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Graduate student Aaron Cendan, who is pursuing a degree in interactive entertainment<\/a>, is already immersed in finding ways to make games more accessible to everyone. Inspired by a friend who could no longer play games because of a hand issue, Cendan decided to take action.<\/p>\n \u201cI was surprised to find no custom controllers out there on the market, so I decided to try and build them myself,\u201d says Cendan. In 2018, he formed Stickless, a company that makes custom controllers for competitive and disabled gamers. Now he\u2019s got more orders than he can fill and is pleased to see Press Play address the needs of disabled people.<\/p>\n \u201cFor so long accessibility was an afterthought in the game industry, and in every industry really,\u201d Cendan says. \u201cAnd that\u2019s no longer the case. So, to have an event that is so welcoming and informing for people with disabilities is really incredible.\u201d<\/p>\n He will have a table at the event with some of his custom controllers on display.<\/p>\n The event will begin at 10 a.m. with keynote speaker Karen Stevens from Electronic Arts. Stevens is a software engineer and the accessibility lead at EA, one of the co-sponsors of the event.<\/p>\n Afterward, participants can select two of four workshops offered:<\/p>\n Parents can attend a panel discussion about how to prepare children for careers in video game and technology fields. Experts from higher education and technology companies will offer practical advice about how to pay for education and how to land that first job. Experts from Âé¶¹Ó³»´«Ã½ will discuss resources available for students with disabilities.<\/p>\n The cost is $5, which covers lunch and a T-shirt in addition to the day\u2019s activities. Limited scholarships are available. To sign up, visit: communication.ucf.edu<\/a>.<\/p>\n Sponsors are: Marriott, UCP of Central Florida, Orlando Science Center, Limbitless Solutions, Orlando Economic Partnership, Global Down Syndrome Foundation, City of Orlando and Âé¶¹Ó³»´«Ã½\u2019s Nicholson School of Communication and Media.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Âé¶¹Ó³»´«Ã½’s Florida Interactive Entertainment Academy and local partners are hosting a conference that aims to inspire the next generation of game designers.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":11,"featured_media":93582,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"lazy_load_responsive_images_disabled":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":"","_wp_rev_ctl_limit":""},"categories":[3,5,6],"tags":[14947,17023,1517,1765],"tu_author":[],"class_list":["post-93581","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-arts","category-colleges","category-community","tag-ben-noel","tag-college-of-arts-and-humanities","tag-electronic-arts","tag-florida-interactive-entertainment-academy"],"yoast_head":"\n