Inclusive design by Sony and Kokuyo in collaboration with users

The Achivements through Sony and Kokuyo's Collaborative Inclusive Design Efforts

Designers from Sony and Kokuyo, along with employees with disabilities from their respective subsidiaries—Sony Taiyo and Kokuyo K Heart—formed teams. They conducted several inclusive design workshops at Sony Taiyo's base in Oita and Kokuyo K Heart's base in Osaka, creating prototypes.

Ahead of the “CROSSING VIEWS” exhibition showcasing these outcomes, we’ll share the story behind this collaboration, along with episodes from the workshops and creation process.

We’ll also offer a preview of the “CROSSING VIEWS” exhibition before the Meetup, so please come to Shinagawa and join us!

Accessible, Hybrid, Multilingual Meetup
The meetup on 17 Feb Tuesday is 100% online this time, but we'd like to let you know that A11yTokyo Meetup is a unique meetup that features various genres of 'accessibility', conducted in a hybrid format of on-site and online broadcasting, primarily in Japanese and English.

Many foreigners participate in the on-site venue in Tokyo, building networks through socialization sessions. We use the voice recognition technology app 'UD Talk' to provide real-time captions, and its automatic translation feature allows for multi-language subtitle translation.

In past Tokyo venues, many Japanese and foreigners have participated. The post-session networking opportunity is a chance to build a global network! Additionally, people from various countries participate online from both within Japan and abroad.

Time Schedule
19:20 Zoom meeting room Open
19:30 - 19:45 Introduction
19:45 - 20:30 Presentation, Q&A (in English)
20:30 - 21:00 Networking (Zoom breakout rooms)

Speaker Profile

Takeshi Fujiki
Employed in the Creative Development Division 2 at Kokuyo Co., Ltd. Since graduating from Kanazawa College of Art in 1988, he has been involved in office furniture and stationery design at Kokuyo Co., Ltd., where he continues to work as an expert designer. Served as a director of the International Universal Design Council since 2008. To expand his activities further, he established the NPO Inclusive Design Network in 2018, which continues to this day. He is currently leading and executing a project to make 50% of Kokuyo's new products inclusive designs.

Junpei Ohta
Kokuyo K Heart Co., Ltd. Sales Management Division, DTP Design Department Primarily responsible for graphic design. Graduated from Osaka University of Arts Affiliated Osaka College of Fine Arts in 2024. Lives and works using only his left hand due to spinal cord injury and upper limb impairment from an accident. Since 2024, has participated as a lead user in Kokuyo Co., Ltd.'s inclusive design initiatives. Currently supporting product development with positive contributions, including suggestions for one-handed operability and affordance-based scalability.

Yasuo Yuyama
Joined Sony Group Corporation in 1991. Responsible for product design in the audio domain, including headphones and the Walkman®️. Subsequently, in addition to this domain, engaged in design management for the camera domain, including the α (Alpha), Handycam, and Cyber-shot. Promoted initiatives to draw out team creativity through planning and executing workshops aimed at creating new products. Currently, as a Design Producer, oversees design for the entire group while also taking charge of design production in the sustainable domain.

Sponsors
Infoaxia, Inc.