Japan

TOTTORI, Japan and ARMONK, N.Y., Aug. 4 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- IBM (NYSE: IBM ) Japan, Tottori Prefecture Information-Center (TIC) and KOA Corporation (KOA) today announced that they have embarked on a groundbreaking project to greatly
improve access to critical public government online services by constructing a first of a kind Web Accessibility Cloud Center.  The effort, adopted by
the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications of Japan as part of its Information and Communication Furusato Genki Project, an effort to re-energize
regions in Japan, will build on Tottori Prefecture's official Website and dramatically increase citizen's access to important public services that have
until now been out of reach.

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.