On 25 August 2021, the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications (MIC) held the first meeting of the Study Group on the Promotion of Disability-Friendly ICT Equipment.

Chaired by Masayoshi Shintani, Vice Minister of Internal Affairs and Communications, and Hiroshi Yamamoto, Vice Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare, the study group aims to obtain advice from experts on how to effectively implement measures to promote the use of ICT equipment friendly to people with disabilities to realize an inclusive society using digital technology. It also takes into account the purpose of "people-friendly digitalization that leaves no one behind," which was presented in the "Basic Policy on Reforms for the Realization of a Digital Society" (decided by the Cabinet on 25 December 2020).

The content of the study will include how to ensure the accessibility of ICT equipment and how to proceed with specific measures (e.g., "Japanese version of Voluntary Product Accessibility Templates (VPAT)" and "disability-related information database").

In the first study group meeting, the secretariat explained the efforts to promote ICT equipment to improve information accessibility and promote an inclusive society using digital technology. Professor Jun Ishikawa of the Faculty of International Relations, University of Shizuoka, and Professor Emeritus Hajime Yamada, Toyo University, made presentations.

For more information, please visit the website below(Japanese only).
https://www.soumu.go.jp/main_sosiki/kenkyu/digital_utilization/02ryutsu02_04000373.html