[Eliminating the Information Gap for People with Disabilities] Ayumi Radically Overhauls Barrier-Free Information Site 'Furatto.'

Background: The 'Information Gap' Faced by Over 40 Million People with Disabilities In Japan, more than 45 million people—including 9.65 million people with disabilities and over 36 million elderly people—require barrier-free information. However, even when trying to research barrier-free accommodations at destinations or travel spots in advance, there are still many cases where individuals cannot reach the necessary information.

*Reference: Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, Disabilities Health and Welfare Division 'Recent Trends in the Field of Disability Welfare'; Statistics Bureau of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications 'Elderly Persons in Japan from a Statistical Perspective'; Statistics Bureau of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications 'Number of Children in Japan'

Users of 'Furatto.', operated by Ayumi, have also shared the following feedback:

'Because there is no text-to-speech function, the articles are difficult for me to read as I am visually impaired.'

'I shared the article with my grandmother, but she mentioned that the text was hard to see.'

'Even though I found the information I wanted, the article loaded so slowly that I gave up reading it.'

In order to respond to these voices from the people directly involved, Ayumi decided to implement a radical overhaul of the site.

(Before site overhaul) [Top page before site overhaul]

(After site overhaul) [Top page after site overhaul]

Overview of the Overhaul: Revamped Across Three Axes: Searchability, Accessibility, and Design In this update, the site was completely renewed focusing on the top three areas of improvement requested by users:

1. Drastic Improvement in Searchability - Significantly improved the accuracy of keyword search, category search, and tag search. - Implemented filtered search tailored to user purposes (e.g., Eating, Watching, Staying, Sightseeing).