'Just Dance' moves to be more accessible

Do you ever play 'Just Dance'? The game company who make it have brought out a version that can be played by people in wheelchairs. Watch the video to find out more.

Instructions

Do the preparation task first. Then watch the video and do the exercises. Remember you can read the transcript at any time.

Presenter: If you like gaming and dancing, chances are you've probably come across a game 'Just Dance'. Well, Ubisoft, who make the game, have just released a new version, which they say will be designed to make it more accessible. So, we asked Seth to try it out for us.

Seth: Hi, I'm Seth and I am in Ubisoft headquarters in Paris, and I'm here to see how accessible their dancing game is. Ubisoft is the game company behind the hit game 'Just Dance'. The latest version features a routine suitable for people in wheelchairs, just like me.

Seth: Stacey, what do you do at Ubisoft?

Stacey: I'm the accessibility design specialist for the Paris studio.

Seth: What does gaming mean to you?

Stacey: I wasn't always disabled. I became disabled around ten years ago. It was very difficult. I wasn't really able to leave my house very much, um, I wasn't able to see my friends, so gaming for me was really my kind of window into the world.

Seth: I love gaming just because I can talk to my friends if I can't see them, like you said. Like, you can play with them and enjoy yourself with your friends without actually having to be there in, like, in front of them. Playing games with people just makes me happy.

Presenter: Floron is a dancer in a wheelchair and he helped Ubisoft develop an accessible dance, so everyone can join in.

Floron: Our choreographer had already created a structure for the choreography. I had to get inside the dance and feel how I could do the movements that he expected of me, to see, too, what was possible.

Seth: Do you think gaming companies are doing enough to make their games accessible or do you think they need more?

Stacey: I think we've still got a long way to go. We've seen some really amazing strides and some really amazing progress being made. We want to hear people telling us how they're playing their games. And if they can't play our games, then what are the issues that they're having? It sometimes seems that it's slow progress, but there's a lot going on in the background.

Seth: We've played through the games on the wheelchair feature and it's coming along really well. It's annoying that it is a bit slow to make it, but they're going in the right direction, so overall it's been a good day.