Web Accessibility in Japan

Japan is one of the most technologically advanced and accessible countries in the world. Most major cities have the infrastructure to support accessibility for people with disabilities. In Japan there are elevators in almost every train station, busses with passenger lifts, and electronic signboards. There is also Braille everywhere--on the sidewalk, signboards, money, and even on beer cans.

Japan is also starting to build infrastructure for making information--particularly digital information--accessible to people with disabilities. This is best shown through the standards and policies that Japan has instituted to make its sites accessible.

JIS X 8341

Japan has no legislation that governs web accessibility. However, it has specified its policies for the accessibility of web and electronic infrastructure through the Japanese Industrial Standard (JIS) X 8341 or “Guidelines for older persons and persons with disabilities—Information and communications equipment, software and services”.

JIS X 8341 currently has five components:

1. Common Guidelines (JIS X 8341-1: 2004)
2. Information Processing Equipment (JIS X 8341-2: 2004)
3. Web Content (JIS X 8341-3: 2004)
4. Telecommunications Equipment (JIS X 8341-4: 2005)
5. Office Equipment (JIS X 8341-5: 2006)

JIS X 8341-3 provides the guidelines for web content accessibility. It is more commonly known as Web Content JIS.

What is Web Content JIS?

Web Content JIS is an industry standard developed by the Japanese Standards Association (JSA) Information barrier-free committee and its working groups. It was developed to provide more applicable guidelines for web content accessibility.

The international standard for web accessibility is set by the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.0 (WCAG 2.0). It was prepared by the Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI) of the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C).

However, WCAG 2.0 is not suited to work with the Japanese language as WCAG is oriented towards alphabet-based languages like English. As such, WCAG could not provide sufficient guidelines for the Japanese language because it has more characters than most other alphabets.

Applicability of Web Content JIS

Though the Web Content JIS is not legally binding, national and local government agencies are mandated to abide by this policy to ensure that all government websites are accessible. These are Japan’s initial steps in establishing an electronic government in order to enhance access to government information as well as improvement in the delivery of services.

Private companies are not mandated to use it, but they are encouraged to abide by it.

Components of Web Content JIS

Web Content JIS is made up of three sections:

1. General Principles
2. Specific Requirements for Development and Production
3. General Requirements for Assurance and Improvement of Information Accessibility

The first specifies the points that ought to be considered in developing web content. The necessary requirements for upholding these principles are set out in the second section. The third section specifies the standards and procedures for managing web content.

Features of Web Content JIS

Web Content JIS has the following features:

• built upon ISO/IEC Guide 71 or the “Guidelines for standards developers to address the needs of older persons and persons with disabilities.”
• developed based on WCAG 2.0 and other guidelines in an effort to harmonize international web accessibility standards
• technology independent like WCAG 2.0
• involves a lot of technology specific examples
• developed mainly for public websites
• Takes into consideration Japanese specific issues
• Incorporates usability aspects, such as an end-user centered design and mentions the process of its lifecycle, development, evaluation, and maintenance

Conclusion

Realizing that the international standards for web accessibility do not entirely apply to Japanese web sites, experts in this country have created their own industry standard known as Web Content JIS. Nevertheless, the international standards such as WCAG have played a major role in the development of Web Content JIS and the overall improvement of web accessibility in Japan.