Now, these files are still visual media. How do I make them work for me? You probably encounter more text-to-speech technology in your life than you realize. Anytime you hear a computerized voice giving you instructions at a parking garage, airport, public building or the like, you\u2019re likely hearing a synthesizer reading a block of text from a database somewhere. The tools I use are pretty much the same.<\/p>\n
One thing to understand about assistive tech is that it\u2019s often very expensive. Using proprietary technologies or intended for a relatively small audience, software packages are usually designed with the goal of being licensed to institutions or sold to the government for the use of people undergoing vocational rehabilitation. I received a copy of Kurzweil 1000<\/a> to read law school textbooks more than a decade ago and use it for everything I can to eke out as much value from the $1000 purchase price the state dropped on it for me. It\u2019s a versatile application that got its start as a tool for converting images acquired by flatbed scanners into speech. It now does a great job of performing the same function for PDFs. With it, I can scan a PDF, correct any recognition errors and save an easily navigable text document that I can easily consult for any bit of game trivia.<\/p>\n One of the great developments in recent years in the realm of software for the blind is the increasing availability of more economical solutions for accessibility needs. These include open source initiatives like the free NVDA screen reader and apps for Windows from individual developers that provide much of Kurzweil\u2019s functionality at a fraction of the price. These apps don\u2019t perform OCR on a document, but instead pull the text from the file: they can\u2019t work with images. What they excel at however is quickly opening books and providing quick navigation through their contents. I often use these programs depending on platform to do a skim of scenarios before running them through Kurzweil for use when I actually run the game.<\/p>\n What\u2019s an RPG without dice? Well, it could be a diceless RPG, but that\u2019s neither here nor there. To play most RPGs, you\u2019ll need some sort of random number generator. When I was first starting out with RPGs, this meant dice rolling apps. I used a fair number, trying to find the best mix of accessibility and functionality: for blind users, this can often be a moving target as app features and resulting interface accessibility can fluctuate from version to version.<\/p>\n Board games for blind people thrived as a niche market for many years before RPG accessibility was contemplated in any form. Braille versions of Monopoly exist for instance. To this end, a few companies make tactile d6s to support these games and to enable people to keep playing with their families as their vision degrades. In 2014 however, two kickstarters came along that provided the prospect of Braille dice. My favorites can now be purchased from Shapeways<\/a> and have served me well in many a campaign for the last two years.<\/p>\n For the other bits, tokens like chips and other markers, we\u2019ve substituted any number of random objects. Anything will do so long as it\u2019s distinguishable by feel. We\u2019ve used marbles of different size, little decorative pebbles and fake gems.<\/p>\n When we started TRF, online video chat was a pain. We used Hangouts for the most part, and it worked most of the time. I found it easiest to connect using an iPhone and then record audio with the computer for later assembly. Now we use Zencastr <\/a>and all I have to do is show up.<\/p>\n As far as the secret communications go, Hangouts works well, so long as I remember to keep it open.<\/p>\n Notes can pose a challenge because it\u2019s one more thing on the desktop. If I\u2019m using Kurzweil, I open an extra blank document and type notes into that or add to the notes I\u2019ve already prepped for the session. If I\u2019m running things out of QRead, I use a notepad document.<\/p>\n When I\u2019ve run games in person \u2013 usually at conventions \u2013 I\u2019ve taken a different tack. I save the scenario I\u2019m running and notes I\u2019ve taken as a word document, open it using the iPhone version of Pages and just scroll through it as needed. Braille dice work just as well there as in front of the computer.<\/p>\n So that\u2019s my process. It\u2019s a bit of a hodgepodge, but it gets the job done. I\u2019d love to hear any suggestions you might have and of course welcome any questions.<\/p>\n 64 Oz Games<\/a>![\"Screenshot](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.theredactedfiles.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/unnamed.png?resize=294%2C522\")
<\/a><\/p>\nKurzweil 1000<\/h2>\n
QRead and VoiceDream Reader<\/h2>\n
![\"a](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.theredactedfiles.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/CUI1OhEUwAA-Ode.jpg?resize=640%2C481\")
<\/a><\/p>\nDice, Tokens and the Fiddly Bits<\/h2>\n
Communication<\/h2>\n
![\"jsDice](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.theredactedfiles.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/C-30QHCVwAAK6PU.jpg?resize=640%2C359\")
<\/a><\/p>\nNotes<\/h2>\n
Running Games in Person<\/h2>\n
Resources<\/h2>\n
\nQRead
\n<\/a>VoiceDream Reader
\n<\/a>Aser talks to Meghan Dornbrock about Accessibility in Gaming on Modifier Podcast<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"