Visually Impaired Gamer Sues Sony

A visually impaired gamer has filed a lawsuit against Sony claiming that the company is violating the Americans with Disabilities Act by failing to make its games more accessible to visually impaired gamers.

The Americans with Disabilities Act states that, "No individual shall be discriminated against on the basis of disability in the full and equal enjoyment of the goods, services, facilities, privileges, advantages, or accommodations of any place of public accommodation by any person who owns, leases (or leases to), or operates a place of public accommodation."

My mom said she see where this kid is coming from but she also understands how Sony can feel blindsided by this lawsuit.

I guess I have to be in their shoes to understand their anger. I know I was upset when they released the first Half-Life without subtitles. I wasn't able to play the single player mode because I didn't know what the npcs were asking me to do.

Fortunately someone made a subtitle mod for us to use and Valve was kind enough to include it in the HL2.

My question is why this person is suing Sony only.

Another dumb lawsuit by someone who is looking for an easy way to make some money.

Oh well, that's it now Nvidia is going to be sued by users with only one eye because Nvidia did not the glasses more accessible to them.

When is a privately owned console a public place. It would kinda be like him filing suit over someones private house not having an elevator or ramp instead of stairs.

Sorry deep pocket lawsuits really p*** me off.

Only in America. PS, Sony is a hardware manufacturer, not a software developer.



End lawsuit.

we need a stupid law

if you fail in a lawsuit deemed 'frivolous' by a selection of your 'peers' (aka jury), you get prison time.
felony criminal offense

and the lawyer who represented you / your party gets disbarred

by now I'm even sick of seeing headlines of this sort of crap

this just in: deaf person sues polk audio

Originally Posted by Azhar

I guess I have to be in their shoes to understand their anger.

That is it in a nutshell.

I hate it when I hear someone say "I know how you feel" when they really don't. My Mom is blind and, although I grew up with her being blind, I have no idea what it is like.

To be honest, many companies just don't give a shit either. I pulled up to a Schuck's Auto parts store recently and there were no wheelchair ramps and the curb was literally a foot high. The kicker? On the door it said "If you need assistance, please ask a store employee for help." How? If I am stuck in the parking lot?




I think this guy is mostly mad about being repeatedly ignored, his lawsuit isn't going anywhere and I'm not sure why it is just Sony he's suing though.

Ok, this is such frivolous lawsuit it's not even funny.

Even though I can careless about sony, this is just stupid. It's like that guy that went around and suit every restaurant he could cause the sink was to high for wheel chair bound people. He had done it so many times the courts finally said stop it and you are banned from filing any more suits (200+ and the were personal suits not class actions).

What does this guy expect, console makers to make a braille monitor so they can feel what is going on the screen? Audio commentary of all the action, which for a FPS would be near impossible, how could you really target anything?

I mean sure its bad he is blind and all, but this is ridiculous, and I hope it gets tossed out.

better sue auto manufacturers while you're at it, how DARE they deny blind people the right to drive.

Common sense people...

This is one of the many problems with the ADA.

I don't mind the government setting some basic rules and guidelines as part of building codes and such to make the world more accessible, but I don't think someone should have the right to sue a business just because a product or service they offer isn't accessible to the disabled.

i'm somewhat torn over the issue myself. on the one hand, I agree that there should be a means so that everyone can enjoy a game regardless of disabilities. on the other, it would be difficult to try and cater to everyone with some kind of disability. there is a point where a company cannot cater to everyone's desires, as much as they would like to. and even if they could, some of the methods would probably not even be given much of a mention unless you were really doing your research. even then, there's a chance it never got past the prototype stages.

I remember a long time ago, either Nintendo Power or Gamepro magazine posted a device setup for the NES that would be used for people who had no use of their arms or legs. it had a straw-like tube that would operate the functions of a NES controller based on their interaction with the straw in their mouth. haven't heard anything past that article. hell I don't even remember the name of the company that developed it.
Posted via [H] Mobile Device

Some of you guys are assuming the person's blind. He's visually impaired. It could mean anything from color-blindness to low-contrast blindness to just plain really bad eyesight blindness.

If it were a truly blind person being upset, then yes, I'm sorry to say it's frivolous. But not to the other visually impaired people. Some accommodations should be reachable. In the article they used an example of a difficult-to-see spirit from EQ. The guy is only asking for the ability to disable transparency so he could see them better. He's not asking to make all games braille mode.

Let's try and keep an open mind. Don't just slam blind people in general.

I see this as dumb.

Originally Posted by Azhar

Some of you guys are assuming the person's blind. He's visually impaired. It could mean anything from color-blindness to low-contrast blindness to just plain really bad eyesight blindness.

If it were a truly blind person being upset, then yes, I'm sorry to say it's frivolous. But not to the other visually impaired people. Some accommodations should be reachable. In the article they used an example of a difficult-to-see spirit from EQ. The guy is only asking for the ability to disable transparency so he could see them better. He's not asking to make all games braille mode.

Let's try and keep an open mind. Don't just slam blind people in general.

He is a retard with a frivolous lawsuit. I hope he and all like him piss off the wrong person and get the crap beat out of them, Preferably multiple times.

If i go blind i am going to sue movie production houses for not producing more movies for the visually impaired...what a crock of shit...

I hate to be the one to do this, but;

"No individual shall be discriminated against on the basis of disability in the full and equal enjoyment of the goods, services, facilities, privileges, advantages, or accommodations of any place of public accommodation by any person who owns, leases (or leases to), or operates a place of public accommodation."

This paragraph in no way signifies that Sony is doing anything wrong by not making their games accessible to those with disabilities. So I find the mention of it rather peculiar. An MMO is not a place of public accommodation, it is a privately owned and operated piece of software in which all users must agree to the terms of service, terms of service which generally state that the company is not required or obligated to provide the consumer with anything more than is given.

Personally I think the guy should just accept that it is how it is and possibly find a different activity that he can enjoy more. I know that sounds cold, but if I were disabled and couldn't do something or enjoy something properly because of my disability I just wouldn't do it rather than sue a company like Apple just because I couldn't listen to an iPod because I'm deaf.

The point I guess I'm trying to make is that disabilities shouldn't warrant some kind of preferred treatment except where it is warranted (like being able to get around, use the bathroom, etc.). I'm sure I seem like an asshole, but I'm a believer in equality no matter what.