Top Picks || Arts & Entertainment || Business & Economy || Education & Society || Science & Technology || Sports & Fashion || Search || Back Numbers SOMETHING FOR EVERYBODY: Universal Design Products Gain International Attention, Market Share November 25, 1998 Shampoo bottles can easily be told apart from rinse bottles by the markings on the side. A movement is underway to provide international standards for what are called "universal design" (UD) goods--daily products that are designed for easy use by as wide a range of people as possible, including those with handicaps. Japan's success in developing UD goods, such as a shampoo container with raised markings to distinguish it from hair rinse, has gained it an international reputation. The first step in the globalization of UD standards was an International Organization for Standardization (ISO) meeting held in October 1998 in Tokyo. Gearing Products for Everyone A lot of people nowadays reach for their shampoo while taking a shower and know they have the right container, even with their eyes shut, because of the raised markings along its side. The hair rinse next to it does not have these marks. This design, which also makes it easy for people with impaired vision to distinguish between shampoo and rinse just by touching the containers, is one embodiment of the UD principle that says people with differing levels of ability should be able to use a product in the same way. Similar UD products are found increasingly in all aspects of our daily lives. In Japan, the various little notches cut out of telephone cards, railway passes, and other prepaid cards are a case in point. These notches have helped people with impaired vision take advantage of these convenient cards in their daily lives. Braille on the tops of beer cans and raised markings on boxes of plastic wrap, to distinguish them from similarly packaged products, are other such examples found in Japan. The variety of UD goods in Japan is skyrocketing. A 20% year-on-year increase in the number of these items brought the total number of UD products in Japan to over 2,000 in 1996. While standards for shampoo containers and many of the most common UD goods are unified among manufacturers in their respective industries, there are no overall standards as of yet. This, along with the tremendous speed at which the number of products is growing, is leading to fears of a loss of ground already gained in making products easier to use. Japan's Ministry of International Trade and Industry had been studying the formulation of domestic standards for UD goods, but after considering the large number of imported UD products, decided that for the time being the creation of international standards should take precedence. ISO member countries lent their approval to the establishment of global standards after MITI made a proposal to the ISO's Committee on Consumer Policy (COPOLCO). The high marks Japan's UD goods receive around the world are seen as one reason for the rapid approval of this proposal. Japan Taking the Lead The COPOLCO Working Committee, which Japan chairs, gathered in October 1998 in Tokyo. The committee worked on design guidelines to help make everything from household electric appliances and automobiles to public facilities like train stations, roads, and department stores easier for the elderly and handicapped to use. These guidelines are very broad, covering such items as "buses that enable easy boarding and deboarding" and "easy-to-distinguish switches on household electric appliances." Specific standards for each product are to be decided by a committee of experts for each industry based on these guidelines. Among the guidelines being considered by the E&C (Enjoyment and Creation) Project, a nonprofit Japanese organization promoting universal design, are the standardization of "on" and "off" switches and the electronic sounds produced by household electric appliances. "If international standards are established," hopes one representative of the group, "the peculiarities of specific products that limit their use to a particular country or region will disappear, and prices will drop, too." It appears that Japan, with its growing proportion of elderly people, will be doing much to create a society in which handicapped and non-handicapped people can live more comfortably side by side. Back to Main Index Edited by Japan Echo Inc. based on domestic Japanese news sources. Articles presented here are offered for reference purposes and do not necessarily represent the policy or views of the Japanese Government. Ministry of Foreign Affairs   Japan Information Network