Selected Papers: Working towards Universal Design

Working towards Universal Design
Haruhiko Kojima†, Yoko Asano, and Shunichi Yonemura
Abstract
This paper introduces the trend of universal design. It also gives an overview of related work in NTT
Laboratories as an introduction to this set of selected papers. With Japan’s population aging rapidly, thenumber of people with weaker-than-average physical and mental capabilities is sure to increase. In thefuture broadband and ubiquitous society, products, services, and environments must be based on universal design that provides ease of use for everyone.

1. Introduction
NTT Laboratories began full-scale research anddevelopment of human interface designs in the latter
half of the 1980s. The concept of universal design has
been a major focus of attention since the year 2000.
This paper introduces the trend of universal design
within Japan and gives an overview of related work in
NTT Laboratories as an introduction to this set ofselected papers.
2. Universal design
Though the term universal design was introduced inJapan around 1995, it has infiltrated society only relatively recently. The concept of barrier-free is alreadyquite common in society. It refers to environments orproducts where barriers to persons with disabilities
and to senior citizens have been eliminated and thelives of such people are supported. The starting pointof the barrier-free concept is to consider how toincrease the number of people who can use the environment or products used by the standard user. On theother hand, the concept of universal design is todesign services, products, and environments that areeasy to use for as many people as possible, irrespective of age, sex, and physical/mental capabilities. The
concept of universal design was advocated by Ron† NTT Cyber Solutions Laboratories
Yokosuka-shi, 239-0847 Japan
E-mail: ud-center@lab.ntt.co.jp

12

Mace who was the head of The Center for Universal
Design, North Carolina State University. The sevenprinciples of universal design [1] are shown below.
(1) Equitable use: The design is useful and marketable to people with diverse abilities.
(2) Flexibility in use: The design accommodates awide range of individual preferences and abilities.
(3) Simple and intuitive: Use of the design is easy
to understand, regardless of the user’s experience, knowledge, language skills, or current
concentration level.
(4) Perceptible information: The design communicates necessary information effectively to theuser, regardless of ambient conditions or theuser’s sensory abilities.
(5) Tolerance for error: The design minimizes hazards and the adverse consequences of accidental or unintended actions.
(6) Low physical effort: The design can be usedefficiently and comfortably and with a minimum of fatigue.
(7) Size and space for approach and use: Appropriate size and space is provided for approach,reach, manipulation, and use regardless of theuser’s body size, posture, or mobility.
Nowhere in these principles do you see terms suchas senior citizen or person with disabilities. The concept of universal design applies to any reader, including you. It is obvious that any design that is friendly
for less-capable people is friendly for all people ingeneral.
NTT Technical Review

Domestic and foreign activities relevant to universal design became evident just before the year 2000.
In response to the expansion of types of Internet users
accompanying the spread of the Internet, a set ofdesign guidelines called Web Content Accessibility
Guidelines 1.0 [2] was developed by WAI (WebAccessibility Initiative) in 1999. They were intended
to allow anyone to access the information offered on
the Web. WAI is an organization that studies Web
accessibility as part of an international consortium
called W3C (World Wide Web Consortium). Accessibility is a term that describes to what extent information and services are available to various people. It
is almost synonymous with the term universal design.
The Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications ofJapan (at that time) publicly announced in May 2000
“Problems and remedies in securing human supportand ensuring Web accessibility when information
communication is used by senior citizens and persons
with disabilities” [3]. This was aimed at promoting
the use of IT by such people in an environment ofYearNTT business, domestic
and foreign situation

intense IT development and rapid population aging.
Ever since “Article 508 of the rehabilitation law” [4]came into force in the United States in June 2001, IT
equipment and software purchased by any publicorganization in the United States must be usable bypersons with disabilities. In response, the Japan
Industrial Standards Committee released in June
2004 the document “JIS X8341-3:2004 Guidelines
for older persons and persons with disabilities—
Information and communications equipment, software and services—Part 3: Web content” [5].
3. Interface design: research and development
at NTTNTT established the NTT Human Interface Laboratories in 1987 to promote research and development
related to the media communication processing ofvoice and images etc. and terminals. NTT expended
considerable effort on the research of human interface designs, both in name and reality (Fig. 1).

Activities of NTT Laboratories

Business1985

1990

Trouble due to switchboard
operation mistakes

Research into user-friendly network
system design

TV relay accidents due to TV relay
equipment operation mistakes

Research on operation errors

Zero operation mistakes ofTV relay equipment achieved

Error analysis and site QC activity

Guidelines applied to theswitchboard and OpS development
1995

2000

Guidelines on human-interface
designDesign consulting,entrusted with businessanalysis and screen
design(2) Customer support(by person)“Problems and remedies in securing
human support and ensuring Web
accessibility when information communication is used by senior citizens
and persons with disabilities” (Ministryof Posts and Telecommunications)(1) Web design(net space)
Research on operator support at call center
Study of cases ofuniversal design“Article 508 of the rehabilitation law” (US)(3) Information
environment design(real space)

FAQ guidelines
JIS X8341: Information accessibility
2005

Complaint analysis and realtime
display at call centers
Universal design of systems related
to e-Japan/u-JapanWeb contents universal design
guidelines
Reassuring space guidelines

Entrusted with universal
design of the Web
pages of municipalities
and corporations

OpS: operations support system; QC: quality control

Fig. 1. History of R&D of the interface design at NTT.

Vol. 3 No. 11 Nov. 2005

13Selected Papers

One example is the case of communication network
errors or TV relay trouble that occurred in the latter
half of the 1980s due to operation mistakes at switchboards or television relay devices managed by NTT.
In response, NTT Human Interface Laboratories
began research into user-friendly network systemdesigns. The quality concept of “zero operation mistakes” was attained at the television relay center
through error analysis and on-site quality control
activities. Moreover, human interface design guidelines were constructed and used to develop humaninterface systems for telephone switchboards andoperation systems. In addition, a consulting business
was started up that included business analysis as well
as screen design. Along with the guidelines on accessibility to the above-mentioned information and theWeb, research that supports the contacting of center
operators and case studies regarding universal design
have been conducted since 2000 in the NTT Cyber
Solutions Laboratories, which was established in
1999 as an offshoot of the NTT Human Interface
Laboratories.
Through these research activities, the following
three guidelines were developed (Fig. 2).
(1) Universal design for net space: NTT Web Contents Universal Design Guidelines(2) Universal design for customer support: FAQ
Design Guidelines(3) Universal design for real space: Secure SpaceGuidelines(1) Universal design guidelines for Web contents
The first edition of NTT Web Contents Universal
Design Guidelines was developed in 2003 by supplementing WAI’s Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 1.0 with some additional sections that consider(1) NTT Web Contents
Universal Design
Guidelines(2) FAQ Design
Guidelines

usability and the particular problems of the Japanese
language and provide specific explanations and relevant cases. The second edition was released in September 2004 and made available to companies in theNTT Group. It addressed the implementation of JIS
X8341-3 while including sections for the better use ofuniversal design by considering the knowledge andexperience gained through consultations with users
and from the demands of users and through interviews with senior citizens and persons with disabilities. These guidelines are described in more detail in
the next paper in this issue. [6](2) FAQ design guidelines
The first edition of the FAQ design guidelines wasalso developed based on an analysis of the treatmentof customers as established by the contacting centerand an evaluation of existing user support sites (FAQ:frequently asked questions (and answers)). Moreover,new display and navigation methods are being created based on the results of experiments on how to best
handle the trouble so as to more efficiently satisfy
users reading the FAQ as well as ones contacting thecenter. The FAQ design guidelines are being applied
to the communication design of advanced technicalsupport [7].
(3) Secure space guidelines
Cases where highly confidential information ishandled in public spaces, such as public wireless
LAN (local area network) access points and remote
offices, are increasing. Research on designs forsecure information-handling spaces has started fromthe security concern, because if appropriate security
is provided, users will be able to handle private information without concern. The “Pictoral Secure Space
Guidelines” were developed based on psychologicalexperiments, e.g., on what distance people are com-(3) Secure Space
Guidelines

Fig. 2. Three guidelines for universal design.

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Selected Papers

fortable with other people behind them and on theshape and height of partitions between people inoffices. A proof-of-concept experiment was conducted in a real public space at the Marunouchi Buildingin Tokyo in addition to a laboratory experiment. This
topic is discussed in more detail in the fourth paper inthis set of selected papers [8].
4. Universal IT Design Center
The Universal IT Design Center was established tosupport the entire NTT Group to promote and support
universal design technologies for information technology (IT). Its role is shown in Fig. 3. The center
intends to encourage, educate, and convey information to all the organizations and employees belonging
to the NTT Group so that they may well recognize
and appreciate universal design. It provides the “NTTWeb Contents Universal Design Guidelines” to NTT
Group companies. These guidelines are now being
used for Web solutions and the construction of theofficial homepage for each NTT company.

related to universal design were introduced. By usingcase studies, the NTT Group will build up an environment where know-how is accumulated and sharedwithin the group regarding methods of specificdesign and Web accessibility evaluation [9]. For thisenvironment, universal design cases will be collected
and Web universal design checking and support tools,
such as a voice reading browser, will be developed. Inaddition, the research and development of terminal
design and space design will continue.
References
[1]
[2]
[3]
[4]
[5]

[6]

5. Concluding remarks[7]

Trends in Japan and activities of NTT Laboratories[8]

http://www.design.ncsu.edu/cud/univ_design/princ_overview.htm
http://www.w3.org/TR/1999/WAI-WEBCONTENT-TECHS19990505/
http://www.soumu.go.jp/joho_tsusin/pressrelease/japanese/tsusin/000523j501.html (in Japanese).
http://www.section508.gov/
JIS X8341-3:2004 “Guidelines for older persons and persons withdisabilities—Information and communications equipment, softwareand services—Part 3: Web content,” Japanese Standards Association,Tokyo, Japan, 2004.
M. Watanabe, A. Okano, and Y. Asano “Universal Design Guidelines
for Web Contents,” NTT Technical Review, Vol. 3, No. 11, pp. 1722, 2005.
S. Yonemura, M. Miyamoto, and M. Nakatani, “Research focused oncommunication design in technical support,” NTT Technical Review,Vol. 3, No. 11, pp. 33-37, 2005.
S. Iizuka, “Pictorial Guidelines for Secure Spaces,” NTT Technical

External world
NTT businesscorporations
Information offering
Information gathering

Customer site construction
In-house site construction

SupportBackup
Universal IT Design Center

Accessibility evaluation

EducationConsulting

Site design

Checking tools
Support tools

NTT Group Companies

Fig. 3. Role of the Universal IT Design Center.

Vol. 3 No. 11 Nov. 2005

15

Selected Papers[9]

Review, Vol. 3, No. 11, pp. 28-32, 2005.
Y. Asano, M. Watanabe, and A. Okano, “Design of Web Pages
Accessible by Voice Browsers,” NTT Technical Review, Vol. 3, No.
11, pp. 23-27, 2005.

Haruhiko Kojima
General Manager, Research Planning Department, NTT Cyber Solutions Laboratories.
He received the B.S. degree in mathematics
from Waseda University, Tokyo in 1982. In1982, he joined the Yokosuka Electrical Communications Laboratories, Nippon Telegraph andTelephone Public Corporation (now NTT),
Yokosuka. Since then, he has been engaged in
R&D of character and document structure recognition, ISDN terminals and systems, video handling, and universal design. He is a member of
the Institute of Electronics, Information andCommunication Engineers (IEICE) of Japan andthe Information Processing Society of Japan(IPSJ).

Yoko AsanoSenior Research Engineer, Human Interaction
Project, NTT Cyber Solutions Laboratories.
She received the B.E. degree in administrationengineering from Keio University, Yokohama,Kanagawa in 1988 and joined NTT Human Interface Laboratories the same year. She moved toNTT Cyber Solutions Laboratories in 1999.
Since then, she has been conducting research on
human interfaces. She is a member of the HumanInterface Society, the Japan Ergonomics Society,and IPSJ.

Shunichi Yonemura
Senior Research Engineer, NTT Cyber Solutions Laboratories.
He received the B.E. and M.E. degrees in electrical engineering from Niigata University,Niigata in 1983 and 1985, respectively. Hejoined NTT Electrical Communication Laboratories in 1985 and moved to NTT Cyber Solutions
Laboratories in 2004. He is a member of the
Human Interface Society and IEICE.

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