On Sunday, December 5, 2021, our company was selected as a presenter and delivered a presentation at the “Art Meets Care Society 2021 General Assembly and Annual Conference.”
Date: Sunday, December 5, 2021
Venue: Sendai Mediatheque
Presentation Title:
“Challenges and Proposed Improvements for an Art Viewing Website Aimed at Enhancing Accessibility to Art”
Presenter:
Hiroyuki Shindo (Representative Director)
Abstract:
In recent years, there has been an increasing trend in art appreciation websites aimed at enhancing accessibility to art. The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has further raised social awareness and demand for such initiatives.
However, when focusing on people with disabilities and elderly users who rely on screen readers and audio narration tools, many challenges remain evident in the implementation of these websites.
This presentation will address the issues found in several case studies and propose improvement measures to overcome them.
Furthermore, from the perspective of reasonable accommodation as stipulated by the Act on the Elimination of Disability Discrimination and its amendments, this presentation will examine the ideal approach for art appreciation websites.
Representative’s Note:
This presentation was originally planned to propose improvement measures based on several case studies of art appreciation websites with insufficient web accessibility guarantees.
However, to avoid focusing too heavily on technical aspects, we decided first to share our company’s initiatives and perspectives regarding web accessibility, thereby inviting the conference participants to consider its significance.
Additionally, we addressed the concept of “reasonable accommodation” as defined in the amended Act on the Promotion of Elimination of Discrimination on the Basis of Disability, enacted in May 2021, and outlined our company’s future outlook on how we will engage with web accessibility moving forward.
During the Q&A session, we received valuable questions such as:
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Are there initiatives in place to support individuals with intellectual disabilities?
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Is it possible to create an art website that everyone can enjoy equally?
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Besides text readers, are there other tools available to assist people with disabilities?
These discussions provided our company with invaluable insights as we plan our future activities.
We would like to sincerely thank everyone who supported and cooperated with us.