Accessibility Won’t Be Achieved in a Day

I am fairly sure that many readers are aware of the phrase "Rome wasn't built in a day” – for those who aren’t, it’s a metaphor implying that in order to accomplish something great, it takes many years of hard work. I believe the same can be said about high-level accessibility.

However, just as Rome, on its way to greatness, had intermediate steps, so too does the attainment of high-level accessibility. Therefore, in this Column, while appreciating that accessibility cannot be achieved in a day, I’d like to share how to proceed in the right direction and what measures can be progressively implemented.

Nowadays, many who are seeking “accessibility” investigations have concerns in relation to Japan’s revised Act for Eliminating Discrimination Against Persons with Disabilities.” Regarding the revised law, which came into effect on April 1, 2024, much inaccurate information has been circulating, such as that web accessibility will become mandatory for private businesses. Such misinformation has led to us receiving numerous requests for website accessibility checks and, if required, any corrections completed by a certain date. Results would then be published on corporate websites.

As mentioned above, much information spreading online was “inaccurate” and, even now that the revised law is in effect, such content requirements are not mandated. Though, of course, its good practice to seek out any issues and remedy them. However, in general, for websites that haven’t been mindful of, nor proactively addressing accessibility, its often difficult to ensure high-level measures in a short time. Therefore, when we receive such inquiries, we suggest taking a step-by-step approach and addressing issues one by one.

When seeking to proceed in a step-by-step manner, the first items to be confirmed are the project objectives. While it’s of course important to respond to the revision of the “Law for the Elimination of Discrimination against Persons with Disabilities,” it’s also important to be aware of the general benefits of improved accessibility. In terms of the Act, of course, it is important that users with disabilities are able to use the website, that it be accessible. There are many different types of disabilities and taking just a short moment to investigate them and afflicted persons’ needs can change mindsets about accessibility. I believe that if we consider, even if just a little, the essence of accessibility in such a manner, we’ll identify the kind of policy and technological approach that we should best pursue. For solutions known as “accessibility overlays”, for example, many have been criticized by disabled users as contributing to make websites unusable. Consequently, it's important to consider that they may not be appropriate.

The above content centered on the “Law for the Elimination of Discrimination against Persons with Disabilities,” of which has been the subject of many recent inquiries. However, ensuring high-level accessibility is important for a diverse range of users in various situations and use environments – in other words, improving accessibility will essentially improve the value, and quality of a website.

Furthermore, while accessibility is becoming increasingly necessary from societal perspectives, such as complying with laws and in relation to lawsuit avoidance etc., it’s also becoming increasingly important in a more fundamental, technological sense, for example due to device diversification. Therefore, I would recommend, with goals in mind, the implementation of accessibility measures one step at a time. A good starting point is knowing what can be done now for instant improvements.

At Mitsue-Links, we offer a wide extent of measures to support all phases of accessibility improvement - including advice and planning support etc. for those who are unsure how to best proceed. Please contact us if you have any questions or concerns. We will be happy to provide you with step-by-step suggestions for enhanced accessibility, because, as mentioned above, it won’t be achieved in a day.