History of UD for Information : Japan
In Japan, the movement for the accessibility of IT began in the latter
part of the 1980s. Influenced by Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act
of 1986, in 1988 the Humanity Electronics Research Committee Research
Committee" was established by the Ministry of International Trade and
Industry (MITI) in Japan. The Japan Electronics and Information
Technology Industries Association (JEITA) was offered the position of
executive office.
Although this research committee has changed its name several times
since, it has continued to participate in deciding guidelines for more
accessible machines for the elderly and persons with disabilities. And
in 1990 April 20th, it announced the 'Accessibility Guideline of
Information Processing Technology for Persons with Disabilities'
(Japanese title: Shyougaishyanado Jyouhoushyorikiki Accessibility
Shishin'(Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry , Notification No. 231)
At this stage, the term Universal Design was not used, but since June of
2000, when a revision considering the current development of IT, the
decreased price of technology and progress of technology, it was
restated that the consideration of universal design is its new policy.
Currently there are increased demands for PCs, hardware, software, and
contents that can be used with assistive technology as well as the
Universal Design of the products themselves. Since 2000, the
Jimukikougyou Committee has also heavily debated the UD of office
machinery and tools. Many industries have also begun to consider
Universal Design standards not only for IT products but for every day
products such as ATMs, vending machines and home electronics.
In 1990, the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications also began its
efforts towards creating more barrier free information. As long as
Universal Access is their mission, they will continue to create fair
services for a wide range of users. Regarding the design of machines,
the 'Accessibility Guideline for Electronic Telecommunication Facilities
for Persons with Disabilities' (Japanese Title: Shyougaishyanado
Denkitsushinsetsubi Accessibility Shishin) was published in October of
1998. They are also beginning to consider barrier free forms of
broadcasting such as captioned broadcasting.
Recently, a heavily debated topic has been the accessibility of Internet
content. We must innovate methods to universally design web sites that
offer information that can be read with ease by the persons with a
variety of human-machine interface needs. In May of 1999, two missions
were announced: Plan to ensure human assistance and web accessibility
for the elderly and persons with disabilities using information
technology' and To achieve accessibility of the Internet, and spread the
development of assistive technology. The homepage of new ministry
offices have incorporated UD, yet the government has yet to exercise
more power over the activities of self-governing bodies and industries
regarding these missions. Consequently, there are few accessible
homepages in existence.