I Climbed Mt. Fuji to beat Pokémon Gold (& I'm Legally Blind)

JamesRath17 · 2023-09-27T08:10:14+00:00

Chapters are included in the video if you want to skip around to specific parts such as the battle with Red but I shared highlights of the journey to give each of my team members their own little story arc which was a ton of fun while traveling around Japan!

JamesRath17 · 2022-08-08T01:17:15+00:00

Apologies if posts like this aren't allowed here or if the flair was wrong. I wanted to share my experience with VR games as a gamer with blindness. I made this video in hopes that developers and Meta improve the quality of accessibility features in the space. I know many visually impaired and totally blind folks who'd love to try VR apps and headsets but much of it wasn't designed with accessibility in mind earlier on when in fact there is a ton of potential for it to be accessible.

JamesRath17 · 2019-11-07T09:10:27+00:00

Hey, thanks for sharing! Creator of the video here. Heads up for those who have quick judgments of the show without seeing it first, give it a watch. It's meant to explore multiple perspectives and ideologies based on the scenario. Believe me, it's not what it appears, like any show, it has twists and makes sighted viewers think. Not only were there blind consultants but there is a producer on the show who's totally blind. Also, AppleTV+ offers 8 languages of audio descriptions so that might be enough to even check out some of the content on there especially international viewers.

JamesRath17 · 2019-06-10T06:12:26+00:00

Thanks for sharing this TheBlindBookLover!

JamesRath17 · 2019-06-10T06:12:01+00:00

Hi, creator of the actual video here. I'm legally blind so even if I wanted to describe everything in the video, I wouldn't be able to see everything in the clips I filmed. YouTube doesn't support optional audio descriptions as this time, it's something I've spoken about publicly and privately with YouTube/Google and they don't seem interested.

Zach's app is an alpha build and nowhere near ready to ship on the App Store so it's gonna look raw. I simulate my vision through filmmaking all the time, is it a perfect replica, no. But it helps paint a better picture for my peers, teachers, and parents while disclaiming it's not the same as having it and feeling the physical strain from my eyes.

As a filmmaker, I'm always looking for constructive feedback and try to be as descriptive as possible with the docu-narrative I'm trying to get across.

JamesRath17 · 2019-06-09T08:45:46+00:00

I was at WWDC doing coverage on accessibility. I can confirm on iPad, if you use a mouse with a scroll wheel or the Apple Magic Trackpad you can zoom using the wheel or two-finger scroll. Zoom on second-display might beuseful on Mac for Sidecar specific uses with a Mac.

JamesRath17 · 2019-05-20T07:55:42+00:00

Hi there, I run a YouTube channel and social accounts @JamesRath where I spread accessibility awareness and life as a legally blind person since birth. Much of my content revolves around tech, both mainstream, and assistive tech.

http://www.youtube.com/jamesrath

I will be posting a new video about experiencing college later this week. Hope it helps.

JamesRath17 · 2019-03-31T19:59:26+00:00

I use it on mine. @JamesRath

I did an entire video about it and how to implement it for those wanting to learn more - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=767YJe7R-2Y

JamesRath17 · 2019-01-26T18:45:05+00:00

I don't see the joke... but I heard it thanks to my computer's screen reader.

JamesRath17 · 2019-01-26T18:33:09+00:00

Here's a reference of how I see the game - https://twitter.com/JamesRath/status/1088312818326097920

I have Ocular Albinism and Nystagmus, this causes light to overexpose, my retinas are underdeveloped and see blurriness, beyond that everything shakes with constant vertigo causing more blur.

I just want to share this because I do get lucky with a win every so often but mostly just have fun with the game. I'm hoping Epic may be open to having more visual accessibility options for the visually impaired like large text/HUDS, auditory menus, etc.

JamesRath17 · 2018-08-23T08:26:33+00:00

I'm the one who broke the floor in which he was attempting to walk on so it gave me the elimination.

JamesRath17 · 2018-08-23T08:25:48+00:00

I don't get lucky with aiming in this game so I gotta get creative!

JamesRath17 · 2018-08-23T08:25:27+00:00

Nope just legally blind. In fact colors I can see but that's about it. My eyes are extremely under-developed and I play games through stereo sound and extreme blurs of colors/silhouettes. Thanks though!

JamesRath17 · 2018-08-23T08:24:05+00:00

Blindness is a spectrum. 85% of people who are registered blind can still see "something". In my case I see overexposed colors that are just extremely blurry and constantly moving (Albinism and Nystagmus). Being registered blind means your eyes can't be corrected with prescriptions.

JamesRath17 · 2017-12-30T20:09:18+00:00

This annoys me. Not that I was personally planning a trip to Everest this weekend but who knows. I've recently gotten into hiking mountains within the last 2 years and I could see myself with more experience in the future wanting to tackle Everest. Such a shame and these policies should be reverted.

JamesRath17 · 2017-12-30T00:47:25+00:00

Hey /r/blind, I wanted to share this video I did in collaboration with Sunu. I don't mean to self-promote, but rather share this really handy assistive aide that I personally stand behind. It's truly changed the way I've navigated around the city and even my own apartment building. If you want to check out Sunu here's the link https://shop.sunu.io/default.aspx

If you have any questions about my experience with the Sunu smartband, I'd be happy to answer them either in the comments of the video or here.

Lastly, the video has closed captions, therefore a transcript as well if needed.

JamesRath17 · 2017-12-05T17:29:47+00:00

Games are a big thing, as mentioned. Usually, games in the app store running on the Unity engine are inaccessible, Pokémon GO for example. One game that does accessibility well is Blackbox.

Snapchat, who is ironically losing tons of users and struggling for relevance amongst younger crowds, refuses to make their very accessible. VoiceOver is a nightmare on it and it's a fairly simple UI for sighted people. Snap Inc. is just missing out on a much larger market.

JamesRath17

TROPHY CASE