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Alanah Pearce wants to address the situational "kid disability" problem a lot of players have.

OmegaSupreme

advanced basic bitch
drunk episode 15 GIF
 

soulbait

Member
This is definitely something UX designers need to take into account. Ya'll may not like the term, but it is something. As in this article, https://aeldata.com/situational-disabilities/, it states:

"Situational disability refers to a temporary impairment in a person’s ability to interact with technology due to their situation, context, or environment. For instance, someone might struggle to read a screen under bright sunlight, type on a keyboard with a broken arm, or hear a phone call in a noisy crowd. Regardless of age or health, situational disabilities can affect anyone at any time."

There is a push to use the term "situational limitations" instead of "situational disability" but it is indeed a term in use when it comes to accessibility and tech.
 

Topher

Identifies as young
This is definitely something UX designers need to take into account. Ya'll may not like the term, but it is something. As in this article, https://aeldata.com/situational-disabilities/, it states:

"Situational disability refers to a temporary impairment in a person’s ability to interact with technology due to their situation, context, or environment. For instance, someone might struggle to read a screen under bright sunlight, type on a keyboard with a broken arm, or hear a phone call in a noisy crowd. Regardless of age or health, situational disabilities can affect anyone at any time."

There is a push to use the term "situational limitations" instead of "situational disability" but it is indeed a term in use when it comes to accessibility and tech.

Situational limitations would be a much better term.
 

mitch1971

Member
She was never a Dev. She was a HR stunt hire they did for publicity. There was a post on Reddit once by someone who basically said she didn’t do anything but browse Twitter all day and they had to get an intern to write the flavor text on weapons she was hired to do.
never said she was a Dev. I said she used a term devs use, then she explains it and gets shit on.
 
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tkscz

Member
1. Who the hell is she and why are people asking for her opinion?
2. I have two kids and was easily capable of pausing the game, or going to the home menu of the console, and go be a responsible parent before coming back to my game that was sitting and waiting for me.
3. If you are not disabled, it is not a disability.
 

FoxMcChief

Gold Member
1. Who the hell is she and why are people asking for her opinion?
2. I have two kids and was easily capable of pausing the game, or going to the home menu of the console, and go be a responsible parent before coming back to my game that was sitting and waiting for me.
3. If you are not disabled, it is not a disability.
I sometimes feel like I must be mentally disabled, in that I must have been crazy to have kids. It’s just that my pull out game sucks. Well, to be honest, I just don’t want to deal with the mess.
 

DonF

Member
dont fall for her obvious hate bait. she has this down to a science. Ive read lots of comments and even if she is right, you know she did it on purpose to have engagement and hate comments.

keep the pictures coming, but stop the comments on her socials.
 
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Loomy

Banned
From an accessibility standpoint, you have to account/design for "situational disability". This is not unique to gaming.

Permanent, temporary, situational.

Permanent = someone is missing a hand
Temporary = someone has a broken arm
situational = someone is holding something(groceries, laundry basket, child, etc)

When you design with accessibility in mind, you account for those.


1. Who the hell is she and why are people asking for her opinion?
2. I have two kids and was easily capable of pausing the game, or going to the home menu of the console, and go be a responsible parent before coming back to my game that was sitting and waiting for me.
3. If you are not disabled, it is not a disability.
  1. She is involved with the video game accessibility awards, and is an advocate for that cause
  2. Good for you. You're right that parenting should come first. But not every game is designed to be easily paused, not every game can be, or should be, and I think there are enough brilliant minds in this industry to keep moving that forward.
  3. The naming has an unfortunate connotation and some services/companies use different terms.
 

Topher

Identifies as young
'Fighting'. Where is she fighting it? She is repeating a term used in gaming. She didn't make it up. Should words meanings not be expanded on at all. Do we get master and slave in pc terms?

Yeah..."fighting". She is being condescending towards those who think it is stupid to call parenting a "disability". Even her former colleague piped in and remarked how it was a weird term. When you've got a phrase that can be applied so broadly that it makes virtually anything a "disability" then yeah, probably should rethink its usage.
 

DonkeyPunchJr

World’s Biggest Weeb
I agree.

While technically "disability" does work here in its most basic definition, it can come across as insensitive to label a loud crowd or a distracting child the same as someone who is deaf or does not have use of their hands.
Yeah it just makes it sound like someone trying to label themselves as a victim so they gain some sympathy/credibility.

It sounds like one of those stupid terms that people all start using almost overnight in order to prove they’re part of the in-group (like “the unhoused”, BIPOC, Latinx, MAP, etc).
 

ByWatterson

Member
That's just an inconvenience.

Also we don't get to really play until they go to bed at which point everything is fine. There's no issue - I have two kids and one Elden Ring platinum trophy.

Childless millennial influencers are some of the dumbest people on the planet.
 
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-BLITZ-

Member
For someone who played a lot The Division which doesn't have a pause menu even on solo gameplay, including DLC like Survival where you can't even go to the kitchen for a glass of water because the time runs or dying of ilness, then yes this is an issue, but not a self disability, not by a long shot. 🥱👌🏻
 
Not a fan of the term myself, but she's not wrong. It's an actual term used not just in game design, but in UX design in general.
 

tkscz

Member
Good for you. You're right that parenting should come first. But not every game is designed to be easily paused, not every game can be, or should be, and I think there are enough brilliant minds in this industry to keep moving that forward.
What games? Online mulitplayer are the only ones I can think of and when you have kids you take a full understanding that your online gaming will be slowed. Having children is different than breaking a hand. It's a big responsibility that will take up your time and will (or should) always come before playing online. That child will need you, and if you decided to take the responsibility of a parent then that is not a form of "disability" that the game needs paused for. That's the player's responsibility, not the game devs.
 
As a parent of two, I just applied for the parking permit and government checks while playing Hunt: Showdown. A game that clearly hates disabled people. I will SUE THEM.
 

FeralEcho

Member
Use protection during sex everyone otherwise you become "disabled" lmao

This just highlights how most of these parents view their children as a nuissance and not as a responsibility.

Hint: being responsible as a parent means having to sacrifice some of your own time to make sure your child is growing up alright... It's not a hard concept to grasp and if you're unable to "sacrifice" 5 mins of your time to leave your chair without caring if you die in a fucking videogame then you're not qualified to be a parent in the first place and shouldn't have made that child in the first place.

In other words: Grow the Fuck Up!
 
Can't count the number of times I've been top of the boards for COD matches, and my then 3 year old son walks in smiling and snatches the controller out of my hand and does 360s in the same spot just shooting while my team is going ham and cussing me out.

I wouldn't change a thing.

It's game and they're only going to be kids for a while. Enjoy them.

Alanah can say what she wants though, bitch is fine.
 
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soulbait

Member
Yeah it just makes it sound like someone trying to label themselves as a victim so they gain some sympathy/credibility.

It sounds like one of those stupid terms that people all start using almost overnight in order to prove they’re part of the in-group (like “the unhoused”, BIPOC, Latinx, MAP, etc).

But that is not how that term came about. It was people trying to label something that you have to think about in UX design. They just chose the incorrect label, IMO.

I don't think Alanah was trying to cause a controversy or make a new group or anything. She used a technical term that is being used by some people in the industry, and by the reaction of most people hearing the term for the first time, shows that the industry needs to find better words for this term.

She did not come up with it and it has nothing to do with being in a group. The term is a label for something that can prevent a user, temporarily, from using your product properly or the way they want to use it. And yes, this does mean another person distracting you. Which is why a method to pause a game should be built in all areas where it makes sense to do so.

I would argue that those who are up in arms about the term are similar to those who push to change terms like "homeless" to "unhoused".
 

Damien Grief

Neo Member
I'm all for some accessibility options in gaming. I don't think it's a bad thing for more people to be able to play who don't have finger dexterity or are missing fingers, etc. Color blind modes are nice, too. But This whole temporary thing? Meh. If you can pause the game, you can walk away to address whatever you need to. I do sympathize with people not being able to play single player games that don't pause when you go into your inventory (e.g. Dark Souls, Elden Ring, Remnant, Monster Hunter World, etc.) But outside of that and multiplayer games (which comes with the territory), people should focus on games that cater to their lifestyle more. My friend has kids and he tends to play more turn based strategy games, RPGs, and smaller games you can play in smaller play sessions. You can be a parent and still play games without every gaming company catering to you.

I honestly dislike this idea that every game or every piece of media needs to accommodate everyone and be inclusive for everyone. No it doesn't. Games can be niche. They can cater only to specific fans of certain genres without compromising the good things about said genre. But it's perfectly fine for some games to strive to have more accessibility features. I have nothing against that. I just hate this one size fits all approach and this need by some to trash any game that doesn't jump on accessibility trends.
 

Topher

Identifies as young
I would argue that those who are up in arms about the term are similar to those who push to change terms like "homeless" to "unhoused".

I disagree with this. This isn't a word or phrase that has been in use by the general public for a long time that some group suddenly found offensive and decided it shouldn't be used any longer. This is jargon that the public is not familiar with and are suddenly becoming aware of and, in this instance, it is being used in a context that describes parenting as a "disability". It should not be surprising that people, particularly parents, are going to push back on such a characterization.
 

near

Gold Member
Hmmm.... I'm going to have to agree with Alanah on this one. I don't see anything wrong with the term 'situational disability', her example isn't great, but it does fit the meaning.
 
1. Yes. By her definition, you can mark everything that prevents you from progressing further as disability:

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Take me for example. I have to work some extra hours these days, so I can't progress that much in Shadow of the Erdtree. Therefore, my job is a disability.

2. Yes, but you can just wear a diaper, which is technically an accessibility feature.
Same. This makes me want to apply for Social Security, that way I can at least play Shadow of the Erdtree and get paid off the backs of hard working people while doing so!

Biggest reason I never join voice is when my Dobermans are wide awake and wrestling, no one wants to hear that in the background not to mention like you said when they have to go out.
To be fair, dobermans going at it in the background sounds more endearing and educational than what, Alanah Pearce has to impart, here.
 
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soulbait

Member
I disagree with this. This isn't a word or phrase that has been in use by the general public for a long time that some group suddenly found offensive and decided it shouldn't be used any longer. This is jargon that the public is not familiar with and are suddenly becoming aware of and, in this instance, it is being used in a context that describes parenting as a "disability". It should not be surprising that people, particularly parents, are going to push back on such a characterization.

I can see your perspective on that, and yes the term came across as jarring. Maybe if someone else used the term or it was explained differently it would have not had such a strong reaction.

We do agree that a better term should be used.
 

Topher

Identifies as young
I can see your perspective on that, and yes the term came across as jarring. Maybe if someone else used the term or it was explained differently it would have not had such a strong reaction.

We do agree that a better term should be used.

Yeah....the example in which the term was introduced wasn't the best.
 

Allandor

Member
Well stop playing something like this when your kid is around. Play something with your kid instead (best without electronic devices).
Just play when you really have some free time. That's the real parents burden.
 

Xenon

Member
Situational limitations would be a much better term.

True, but sadly, we live in a world where some people simultaneously want to virtue signal their empathy by protecting people who are actually disabled from being labeled by the word while simultaneously applying it to unrelated "challenges" in the own lives to gain the sympathy and accommodations that have been ingrained into society as it progresses.


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50 Cent Smh GIF


AAA game developers/industry folks, please, restrain yourselves. Think things like this through thoroughly before you act upon them. You waste time on pointless touchpoints like this and just stumble over yourselves on how "inclusive" you are trying to be. Its getting really silly.
 
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So anything (everything) can be used as a crutch these days? Ok, so why even discuss it then? Everybody has problems of some sort, but not everyone complains about it and looks for sympathy. Back in the old days that was called character building.
 
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