Accessibility

“Accessibility” refers to the ease with which anyone can gain information posted on a website. Accessibility is a particularly important concept as it relates to the degree to which the elderly and people with disabilities can freely use a website.

What is Accessibility?

The importance of the internet to society is growing at the same time the population is aging. It is becoming more and more important, therefore, that websites be created so that they can be accessed easily by a diverse range of users, including the elderly and people with disabilities. Text-to-speech (TTS) software and browser-based user-assist functions for enlarging fonts and changing the colors of fonts and backgrounds, are already available to make the internet more accessible to the elderly and people with disabilities. Nevertheless, they have had only limited impact because few websites have been designed to offer these benefits.

In response, Japan’s Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry formulated the “JISX8341-3 Guidelines for older persons and persons with disabilities - Information and communications equipment, software and services - Part 3: Web content” (the “website-accessibility JIS”) in June 2016. The aim of these guidelines is to make consideration for the needs of the elderly and people with disabilities a standard aspect of creating websites. Active compliance with these guidelines is expected not only from national and local governmental bodies but also financial institutions and other large commercial enterprises performing key roles for society.

Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group’s Accessibility Initiatives

For its part, the Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group developed a new website in which it paid close attention to implementing accessibility functions wherever they would be of benefit. In creating this new website, which we unveiled in December 2015, we referred to the website-accessibility JIS and the accessibility guidelines (click to view) prepared by Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation, which had already implemented accessibility functions for its website.

Going forward, we will continue to take steps that enhance accessibility, so that all of our customers can use our website with confidence.

Key Initiatives

  • ●Incorporated procedures to enhance accessibility through all processes, including planning, design, creation, and operation.
  • ●Designed the website so that it does not require the use of any particular device (e.g. A mouse) and all interaction with the website can take place through a keyboard.
  • ●Designed the website so that it either uses no features that would tend to confuse a user, or obstruct the user’s interaction with the website (e.g. The opening of a new window, automatic transfer to another site, use of time limits); or provides the user with a warning or some way to terminate unintended circumstances.
  • ●Designed the website so that it does not disable basic browser functions (e.g. Right mouse clicks), or make changes to address bar, status bar, or other controls.
  • ●Used HTML4.01 or later HTML versions to create the website and complied with their standards.
  • ●Specified an appropriate text structure, using titles, paragraphs, lists, and other formatting elements.
  • ●Designed the website to enable users to change font size and style.
  • ●For video content, specified alternative text judged to be appropriate based on considerations of factors such as preceding and following contexts and images, and voiced-reading environments.
  • ●Ensured that the structures of data tables are correctly described.
  • ●Avoided the use of elements that would have only stylistic purposes and elements that would be discontinued (To the extent possible, stylesheets were used to define page style.)
  • ●Concerning text structure within the website, uniformity was preserved with regard to navigation functions, order of appearance, and expression.
  • ●In consideration of TTS needs, and other factors, access to TTS content has been placed at the beginning of the related text, wherever possible. When text content is preceded by a navigation block, skipping of the text content is possible.
  • ●Avoided the use of fonts (e.g. Foreign-language characters, symbols) that cannot be correctly rendered without the use of a particular computer model.
  • ●Text was created with language that is easily understood and with appropriate use of titles.

Etc.