Trends in Information Accessibility Policy in Japan

Abstract

In Japan, policies for people with disabilities has been strengthened step by step by the amendment to the Basic Act for Persons with Disabilities in 2011, the establishment of the Act for Eliminating Discrimination against Persons with Disabilities in 2013, and the ratification of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities in 2014. These legislations call for public and private sectors to respond to information accessibility and can especially be interpreted as mandatory for public institutions. However, information accessibility has not actually progressed in practice. Other countries are enforcing obligations for information accessibility to both public and private sectors and the enforcement power is stronger than in Japan. It is appropriate for Japan to mandate information accessibility since new technologies of information and communications equipment and services can solve accessibility issues easily.