The DOTSRPG Project, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, started with a few friends looking to improve accessibility in tabletop gaming. From their Patreon:
While DOTS started with a focus on accessibility for those who are fully blind, we have since branched out to start addressing many different topics. Once we became known for the work we were doing for the visually impaired, people with other disabilities started to reach out and ask for help. Now, we're working on educating ourselves so we can better cater to those who have problems with low vision, color blindness, limited hearing, limited mobility, reading comprehension, mental illness, and whatever other things people may need. We are happy to take the time to learn whatever we can so we can work towards improving accessibility in gaming for all individuals.
Some their recent projects include a collection of 3D-printer designs for Braille Polyhedral and Fate dice. They explain:
Our current 7 set polyhedral design each feature braille numbering. The four-sided and six-sided dice feature the number sign plus the number (associated braille letter). The rest of the dice have a continuous, ridged edge that will make them feel less busy while providing proper orientation to the bottom of each braille cell. In order to keep the dice reasonably sized, the numbers 11 – 20 are the braille letters K – T. The 12-sided dice is a unique design in that the numbers 1 and 12 are surrounded with the ridged edge. What this does is provide a bottom orientation edge for each of the other faces and still sets the 1 and 12 apart as they can be deciphered without orientation.
As an able-bodied person, this seems like it should be the easiest, most obvious point of accessibility. Yet, as DOTS notes, "There are hundreds of thousands of styles available for sighted individuals, but less than 10 different styles of braille dice ever created." That alone speaks volumes about the problem with accessibility: more often than not, the lack of accessible options, even the ones that should seem simple and obvious, are due to the fact that the people designing these things just aren't thinking about it. We don't know what we don't know, and unfortunately, that makes it easier to exclude people, even if we don't mean to.
So it's a good thing there are groups like DOTS to remind us to stop and consider the needs of all kinds of people.
You can download the Braille dice schematics, or any of the other projects, which are free with a coupon code. The DOTS community has more perks available via Patreon as well.
