• Introducing a function that automatically adapts an easy-to-read text size and layout according to individual particular condition in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA), elderly people, and patients with diseases affecting vision or motor function.

TOKYO, September 9, 2019 -- Chugai Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. (TOKYO: 4519) announced today that it introduced a web accessibility function FACIL’iti into its disease awareness website “Let’s Learn about Rheumatoid Arthritis”  (URL: https://chugai-ra.jp/) (Japanese only) to optimize the website display according to users’ visual, motor, and cognitive symptoms.

FACIL’iti is a tool provided by FACIL’iti Japon which changes the layout and text size of a webpage according to user’s visual, motor, and cognitive symptoms to increase accessibility. Some patients with RA experience difficulty in viewing usual websites due to disability in hands and fingers. With a few clicks, FACIL’iti allows users to change the layout design of a webpage to be more easy-to-read and easy-to-use, making it more accessible for those having troubles with usual webpages including small text size and small buttons that are uneasy to click on and prevent them from viewing contents that they want to explore.

[Example of an adaptation with FACIL’iti]

Chugai will continue to promote disease awareness activities leading to trust and appreciation from all stakeholders including patients, their families, and healthcare professionals, aiming at contributing to the medical community and people’s health around the world.

[References]
How to use FACIL’iti

1. Access personal settings by clicking “Setting for Legibility and Usability” located at the top of “Let’s Learn about Rheumatoid Arthritis” (URL: https://ws.facil-iti.com/).
2. Register your preferable setting from options based on disease, age, and usage environment in the preset list, such as “Rheumatoid Arthritis” or “Senior,” or applying customized settings.
3. If you return to the website, you will find that the changes have been reflected*. Once the personal settings have been set, they will be applied whenever you revisit the website or access other websites where FACIL’iti is installed.
   *Some components including video contents and PDF files may not be customized.

About “Let’s Learn about Rheumatoid Arthritis” (URL: https://www.chugai-ra.jp/) (Japanese only)
“Let’s Learn about Rheumatoid Arthritis” is a website for disease awareness about RA for patients and the general public, aiming at improving patients’ quality of Life (QOL) by encouraging early diagnosis and therapeutic intervention for the disease. Information on symptoms, diagnosis, and treatment of RA and other useful information are viewed by 170,000 site visitors per month.

About rheumatoid arthritis (RA)
RA is an autoimmune disease prevalent in women aged from 30 to 59. The number of patients is estimated to be from 0.6 to 1 million in Japan and 23 million in the world. The disease causes destruction of the joints and bones and deformation of hands and feet, which may significantly affect daily lives^1,2.

Source

1. Report by Rheumatism Control Committee, Disease Control Task Force, Health Sciences Council (November 2018) (https://www.mhlw.go.jp/content/10901000/000377563.pdf) (Japanese only) (Last accessed: September 2019)
2. World Health Organization, The Global Burden of Disease 2004 update (https://www.who.int/healthinfo/global_burden_disease/GBD_report_2004update_full.pdf) (Last accessed: September 2019)