AbleGamers was founded by Mark Barlet and Stephanie Walker in 2004 after Walker discovered that her Multiple sclerosis was stopping her being able to properly control a computer mouse 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. 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 organisations including AbleGamers.
Center for Inclusive Play
In 2012, The AbleGamers Foundation opened "The AbleGamers Center on Game Accessibility and Inclusive Play" in Harpers Ferry, WV. The center offered a place for people with disabilities to experience new accessible technology as well as a maker space for custom controller design and prototyping. AbleGamers' facility includes a lifesize Songbird from BioShock Infinite donated to the charity by Irrational Games in 2014, in addition to rare items such as original Fallout concept art and signed games. AbleGamers expanded to a new facility, The AbleGamers Center for Inclusive Play, in Charles Town, West Virginia in 2017. The building was previously a US Coast guard facility, and includes space to hold consultations, demonstrations, and has a 3D printing studio for manufacturing of specialized equipment. It was funded by a grant from Level Access. The new facility is a much larger space with more room for AbleGamers to create and display hardware, now has a dedicated streaming room, and had many features - such as wide doors - which made it beneficial for supporting disabled guests. AbleGamers would like to have facilities in more locations around the United States in the future.
Awards
Mark Barlet, president AbleGamers received the 2012 American Association of People with Disabilities Hearne Leadership Award for his work at AbleGamers. In 2013, AbleGamers won an MS SocietyDa Vinci Award for their document "Includification: A Practical Guide to Game Accessibility", the first time the award had been given to a document and concept, not a product. The foundation distributes its own awards each year to the most accessible games released that year, with winners including FIFA 13 and Bayonetta 2. The awards are given to games with customisable control schemes and colors, optional or minimal quick time events, and unique features such as Bayonetta 2's one-button combat mode.
