Acquia Optimize Expands Language Support with Japanese and French Localizations

Despite the fact that 1.3 billion people, or roughly 16% of the global population, experience significant disabilities, websites around the world continue to fall short in terms of meeting accessibility and performance standards. In fact, Acquia’s own survey of website users with disabilities found that 89% of respondents encounter accessibility issues that make it challenging to interact with websites or other digital experiences from brands and, as such, 62% would consider switching to a competitor who offers better accessibility features. 

For this reason, Acquia remains committed to our mission of helping organizations build more accessible and inclusive digital experiences for all users – regardless of their abilities. We are now making it even easier for organizations to improve their web accessibility and governance by expanding language support for the Acquia Optimize platform, by Acquia, to include Japanese and French localizations. Along with full teams in both regions and existing Danish, Dutch, English, Norwegian, and Swedish language capabilities, this enhancement means Acquia is equipped to support regional and multinational businesses in their digital transformations and journeys toward greater inclusivity.

Meeting local, regional, and global accessibility standards

As a comprehensive web governance and accessibility solution, Acquia Optimize helps organizations comply with ever-expanding global accessibility standards, like the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG), as well as local or national legislations.

Accessibility standards in Japan

According to the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, approximately 11.64 million people in Japan live with a disability, representing 9.3% of the country’s population. As such, the Japanese Industrial Standard (JIS) X 8341 was developed in 2004 and specifies information and communication technology (ICT) accessibility guidelines for individuals with disabilities and older individuals. It was later refreshed in 2010 as the JIS X 8341-3, in accordance with WCAG 2.0. While mandatory for national and local government agencies, these guidelines are voluntary but “strongly encouraged” for private businesses. 

Meanwhile, Article 8 of the 2013 Act for Eliminating Discrimination Against Persons with Disabilities calls on companies to endeavor to provide reasonable accommodation to eliminate social barriers (defined as “items, institutions, practices, ideas, or other things in society that stand as obstacles against persons with disabilities engaging in daily or social life”), so that the rights and interests of a person with disabilities are not violated.

Accessibility standards in France

Approximately 12 million people experience disability in France, with 14% of those individuals registered as unemployed – double the national average. Activism for disability rights in the country dates back to the French Revolution, but more recently, in 2005, France passed Law No. 2005-102, prohibiting discrimination against people with disabilities. Based on Article 47 of this law, France established the General Accessibility Reference for Administrations (RGAA) as a set of rules and standards to verify the accessibility of digital content in accordance with WCAG 2.0. RGAA compliance is required for public sector organizations in France, as well as companies with annual revenues exceeding €250 million.

Additionally, as a member state in the European Union, France is expected to comply with the EU Web Accessibility Directive and the European Accessibility Act (EAA). The Directive and the EAA both adhere to the European standard, EN 301 549, which conforms with WCAG 2.1 to set accessibility guidelines for web content, electronic documents, and non-web software, including native mobile apps. The Directive applies to public sector bodies, although private entities are encouraged to comply. Meanwhile, the EAA applies to both public sector and private organizations providing consumer-focused products and services, including foreign companies doing business in the EU. Enforcement of the EAA will begin in June 2025, and noncompliance could lead to penalties, which vary by nation and can be levied separately by each member state in which an organization operates.

How Acquia Optimize can help

For organizations based in these countries or seeking to do business in global markets, compliance with local accessibility standards is not only a legal requirement, but also a potential factor in an organization’s overall brand reputation and bottom line. To help organizations address the imperative that is digital accessibility, the Acquia Optimize platform empowers web, digital, and marketing teams to proactively improve their website user experiences for individuals with disabilities by:

• Automatically scanning websites against different standards and legislations, including WCAG 2.2, to find potential issues that could impact accessibility
• Offering a comprehensive History Center to easily track accessibility progress and document compliance
• Identifying and recommending fixes for quality and technical SEO issues, including misspellings, broken links, and missing images
• Establishing policies across all webpages and domains in order to govern content and maintain compliance with brand, style, and regulatory guidelines
• Managing user and cookie consent on websites in compliance with privacy regulations
   

To see for yourself how Acquia Optimize can keep your organization in compliance with accessibility standards, get started with a free website scan or contact us to meet with a member of the Acquia team for convenient, local support.