In #Japan, the concept of accessible phones has been known since the early 00's and has its own term, "Raku Raku Phones" and means simplified phones. Those are adapted for the needs of elderly users and those who don't feel as familiar with modern technology so a lot of concepts are, well, simplified. This is especially important given that the 00's saw the emergence of Japanese mobile phones with capacities comparable to today's smartphones. Sending emails, taking photos, mobile payments, music recognition and downloads; even TV watched on a phone were all there by 2005 and formed an important part of how the Japanese society accessed information. This is why the Raku Raku phones manufactured jointly by Fujitsu and NTT Docomo, the leading Japanese mobile carrier, were so important. Fujitsu called to the corporate social responsibility of other companies to follow suit and also formed the basis for accessibility guidelines for I-Mode, the gateway to all of Japan's mobile internet services. Apparently, 80% of Japan's blind population used these phones as they were equipped with a screen reader and allowed accessing I-Mode this way. fujitsu.com/global/documents/a…
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