On August 31, 2023, the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications (MIC) published the report of the “Study Group on the Enhancement of Broadcasting for Persons with Audio-visual Disabilities and the like.”

The study group has been meeting since November 2022 to contribute to the planning and formulation of measures to improve broadcasting for the audio-visually impaired by reviewing the “Information Accessibility Guidelines in the Broadcasting Field” in light of technological trends while discussing and examining the acquisition of information by the audio-visually impaired through broadcasting.

The table of contents of the report is as follows:

• 1. Introduction … 3
• 2. Current situation … 5
• (1) National and international trends regarding the audio-visually impaired … 5
• (2) Current situation of the audio-visually impaired in Japan … 8
• (3) Current situation of broadcasting for the audio-visually impaired in Japan … 11
• (4) Initiatives of MIC … 24
• (5) ICT trends in broadcasting for the audio-visually impaired … 28
• (6) Current situation of broadcasting for the audio-visually impaired in other countries … 30
• 3. Issues … 39
• (1) Enhancement of broadcast subtitling … 39
• (2) Enhancement of broadcast commentary … 41
• (3) Enhancement of sign-language broadcasting … 42
• (4) Other Issues … 43
• 4. Recommendations … 49
• (1) The direction of future efforts … 49
• (2) The direction of review of current guidelines … 58

Drafted updates to the guidelines based on this report are presented separately.

For more information, please visit the website below（Japanese）:
The report：　https://www.soumu.go.jp/main_sosiki/kenkyu/bc-accessibility-2022/index.html
Drafted updates to the guidelines：　https://www.soumu.go.jp/menu_news/s-news/ryutsu_230831000167661.html