Our Mission

The AbleGamers Foundation is committed in supporting the advancement of accessibility in the digital entertainment space.

The AbleGamers Foundation, Inc was founded in January of 2009 to support the successes that the work at AbleGamers.com was accomplishing in advocating for the disabled in the digital entertainment space.

The night I will never forget.

The AbleGamers mission was born in 2002. Mark Barlet, President and Co-founder says it best, “Like so many people out there, I use games, especially online games to stay connected to friends and family. My best friend in the world, a person that has been on my life from the 7^th grade was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis in 2001. Games for us were a way to still go out and “play” even with 1000 miles between us. We both had families and jobs, but Friday nights we would logon and play as a group, and the diagnoses was not going to change anything, so we thought.

At the time, the game of choose was EQ. Friday night, as I did the Friday before, and countless Fridays before that I logged on my character and waited for the rest of the gang. I waited, thinking maybe they were tied up with dinner or something, I game Stephanie a call. Her husband answered the phone, “Hello?”

I said, “Hey where are you guys…”

There was a long pause.

“I am not sure we are going to be able to play tonight,” he says as he hands the phone over to Stephanie, who is crying.

“Mark, I cannot feel the tips of my fingers, and I can’t move them, I am not going to be able to play tonight…” she hands the phone back to her husband.

And just like that a disability took away something important to someone. Took away her ability to connect with her friends and family. Took away a very important social aspect of her life.

And so AbleGamers mission was born.