GimpGear Accessible Video Game Gear
April 26, 2011 Accessibility ArticlesIt’s ncie to stumble upon these sorts of things.
I was recently browsing a website which specializes in accessibility aids for daily living. The site, Enable Mart (http://www.enablemart.com/) has loads of exceptionally useful items to help people with any number of disabilities. One of the sections of the site that piqued my interested was their category called “Accessible Games” (which, as it happens, is the title of this website!) Under the category are are a variety of really interesting products, including Tactile Chess, Large Print Uno, and Braille Dominoes. Under the video game section was something else entirely, though.
The video game category has a scant few items for sale, only three, but they’re by a brand I had not heard of before: GimpGear. Available for purchase are Accessible Wii controllers, adapted Guitar Hero controllers, and “The Ultimate Arcade Controller” (which requires no manual dexterity of any kind to use). They’re expensive, and can range upwards of $1000 in some cases, but these are the sorts of things that the market needs.
I checked out the brand using good ol’ fashioned Google Search and found it belongs to parent company “Broadened Horizons” (http://www.broadenedhorizons.com/) This company has an even wider selection of available GimpGear gaming products, in addition to accessible devices for other areas of your life, from cell phones and computers to wheelchairs which are voice controlled. It’s pretty incredible stuff that’s worth checking out.
While much of these things are outside of the typical budget, it’s nie to see that they’re out there and available.