Chelsea Thompson
Monday, November 9th 2009
Yes, I know from the sound of it this bit of news might seem on the edge of ludicrous. Visiually impaired gamer Alexander Stern is giving Sony a wake-up call in the form of a lawsuit for discrimination of the disabled. The lawsuit claims Sony violated the Americans with Disabilities Act by not making their game accessible to the blind. And, unlike most Americans, his lawsuit actually makes sense.
This isn’t the first time Stern has tried to bring this to Sony’s attention though–apparently he sent both written letters and emails to the company requesting they allow for modifications that would assist the visually impaired. Sony chose to completely ignore these requests, probably because big corporate entities never care about the little guy. Insert sarcastic joke about Sony’s moral blindness.
Other games such as World of Warcraft allow for third party modifications, so tools have been developed to help visually impaired gamers enjoy their raiding. The focus on this lawsuit is on MMO’s, and while it’s not specifically mentioned the clues lean towards Sony’s Everquest titles. The claim goes so far as to say that Stern is actually losing money, since in-game items can be auctioned for real money. Since he can’t access this part of the game Sony are, in a very passive way, stealing this guy’s money.
I think Sony might think twice before ignoring the requests of their fans and customers again.
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While I sympathize with Mr Stern’s condition and can’t dismiss him out of hand, doesn’t a private company have a right to conduct its products in the manor it chooses?
And personally, I don’t think he’s missing much by not being able to play EQ 1 or 2, Star Wars Galaxies, Free Realms, or Home. Their all garbage or outdated anyway. That’s like going to a restaurant and complaining because their isn’t a steaming shit sandwich on the menu.
It’s against the law for companies to not provide the disabled access to goods or services, for any company.
You have to remember, that the main complaint here is that Sony is not allowing third party modifications, which could be used to provide support for those who are disabled at no cost to sony.
It does no such thing.
It states that you they(i.e. the disabled) cannot be discriminated against for the purposes of employment(title I), that they must be accommodated in public transportation(title II), that there must make access accommodations in public and commercial facilities(title III), and that telecom companies must provide services to the deaf and those with speech impairments(title IV). This is a stretch of a I’m guessing is a Title IV claim.
In the spirit of the website, I’m not saying Sony isn’t being a bit of a dick here to the one of the few people left on Earth who want to play Everquest. I just don’t think that the letter of the law can compel Sony to allow 3rd party modifications to software that they own and operate.
I don’t… understand this… So, essentially everything has to be made available for people with every sort of disability? While I can see that making sense for basic needs, this is a… 10+ year old computer game? Honestly this smells of someone discovering a potential loophole and deciding to exploit it.
Is this individual going to start suing television networks and movie studios next? Maybe print publishers? Maybe governments for some road signs being illegible?
Hey, look. I’m not being a jerk here, but no… Trying to help out blind people play a video game is like trying to help a kid in a wheelchair run the 50 meter dash. They can’t see, so they can’t do it. Imagine if you closed your eyes, and have your friend yell at you about where things are in left 4 dead. It wouldn’t work in any way. I just don’t see this working, unfortunately.
You clearly have a hate-boner for Sony, which is fine, you’re entitled to it, but this article is stupid at best. WoW is the only example anywhere I can find of a company actually including something for the ‘visually impaired’, and it has a gigantic following, so that makes sense, but no company is actually required to do this, it’s not a public service, so he should just deal with it. Also funny quip about Americans, really helps your case for not looking like an uppity bitch.
There’s a typo in the title, it says ‘a lawsuit that actually isn’t stupid’, but then it’s all about a lawsuit that IS stupid.
You should give your subs a bollocking, can’t believe they missed something that obvious!
No, this lawsuit doesn’t make sense. The guy is blind, I get that and it sucks for him. However, this lawsuit reeks of “give me money I don’t deserve”. This guy is a tool and I hope his stupid lawsuit gets laughed right out of court. Jack ass…
“So, essentially everything has to be made available for people with every sort of disability?” Exactly right. This should be observed for everything with the eventual target being that no person is discriminated against.
Discrimination against a small group of people is no better than discrimination against a large group.
@wardrox
So… couldn’t someone by that logic sue you because this website isn’t 100% accessible?
Stop discriminating man… Seriously.
… sorry, but hopefully you see where I’m going with this. I agree that accommodations should be made for people with disabilities so that they can still have an enjoyable life, but the line has to be drawn to what is reasonable. A 10 year old MMO seems a bit of a stretch, especially when a more popular alternative is easily available and already caters to the needs of the individual in this case.
@ScottyGrayskull: I see where you’re going and it’s, at least in my opinion, wrong. This website should be 100% accessible.
I have spent many hours making the site just that (it’s readable in all text-to-voice apps as best I can test). I’m not going to tell somebody I don’t want them reading my stuff because they’re blind, can’t use a standard keyboard or have any kind of SEN. That’s discrimination and horrid.
Saying “oh, well, it would take a bit of extra effort to help these people out so I won’t bother” is simply unethical.
Allowing other people to make an old, yet still played and supported game, accessible would take very little effort, but make a huge difference to some people.
Even if you are right, that means a LOT of things are open for lawsuits. Movies, tv shows, music, books, magazines… and that’s just the entertainment industry!
You mean that it’s reasonable to suggest that every single one of them has to accommodate for every single disability that exists?
Wardrox, are you honestly going to say that TV studios should be sued because they don’t offer programs for the blind, or movie studios? Imagine porn, in audio form. It wouldn’t serve the same purpose as the original content. Some people are physically incapable of enjoying certain things. Yes, that is very unfortunate. However, that doesn’t mean companies have to bend over backwards to give them a substandard product. Personally, I would be insulted if they did.
The poor guy just wanted to have fun apparently it’s like he’s the one being making fun at.