On November 18, 2004, a symposium titled "New Direction of the Internet: Future for Japan and the U.S. Regarding Universal IT Access" was held under the co-sponsorship with the Japan Society in New York. As the information society is making progress, access to and utilization of information have become indispensable to social activities. Not all people in our society, however, are enjoying these benefits equally. In the United States, efforts to ensure accessibility are making progress in response to the enforcement of Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act. Japan, in the meantime, aims at building an accessible information society according to the Japanese Industrial Standards (JIS). Experts in information accessibility from both Japan and the U.S. took part in this symposium as panelists to discuss the current status of the two countries and the ideal future images.

Mr. Ken Nakata served as a trial lawyer belonging to the Department of Justice until July 2004, and committed himself to the preparation of relevant laws including the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and the Revised Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act to improve the level of information accessibility in the United States. Currently, he is working at BayFirst Solutions LLC to make efforts to enhance information accessibility from the private sector. In his presentation, he pointed out the difference in how Japan and the U.S. make approaches to this area, citing examples such that in regulating the speed of vehicles, the Japanese authorities present safety speed while the American counterparts decide on the speed limit.

Professor Hajime Yamada assumed the role of Chairman of a committee for the preparation of the Japanese industrial standards for information accessibility: X8341-1 "Guidelines for older persons and persons with disabilities - Information communication equipment, software and services." He talked about the move toward the ISO standards that Japan is making as well as the related trend of Japanese companies.

Ms. Sylvia Clark, the head of the NEC Foundation, contributes to NPOs that assist handicapped or elderly people in using IT services. She underlined that the governments, the industrial world, academic societies, and NPOs must cooperate with one another to support the empowerment in this area in the United States.
Ms. Francis West from IBM Worldwide Accessibility Center spoke about how the company coped with the problems with information accessibility.

Speakers
Ms. Sylvia Clark, Executive Director, NEC Foundation of America
Mr. Ken Nakata, Director, Government Compliance With the ADA and the Rehabilitation Act, BayFirst Solutions
Mr. Hajime Yamada, Professor, Faculty of Economics, Toyo University
Ms. Francis West, Director, IBM Worldwide Accessibility Center