.png?fit=crop&w=1280&h=560&fm=avif)
We conducted an automated web accessibility survey of the homepages of official websites for a total of 90 municipalities: 47 prefectures, 20 designated cities, and Tokyo's 23 special wards. The survey used the automated web accessibility diagnostic tool Lente Scan.
As a result, accessibility issues within the scope detectable by automated testing were found on the homepages of 87 municipalities (96.7%). The median number of issues detected per page was 18.5, and the municipality with the most had 146.
Key Findings
- Over 90% of municipalities in every category had issues detected.
Issues were found on 97.9% of prefectural sites, 100% of designated city sites, and 91.3% of Tokyo special ward sites. Several municipalities showed the same types of implementation issues repeatedly, suggesting that implementation patterns widely used in web production contributed to these results. - The most common issue was WCAG 4.1.2 (Name, Role, Value), at 92.2%.
This criterion addresses whether the names and roles of UI elements such as buttons and links are properly conveyed to assistive technologies, including screen readers. The next most common was 1.3.1 (Info and Relationships), at 63.3%. Note that 4.1.2 covers a broad scope and tends to show high detection rates. - The most frequent individual item was "javascript:" in link destinations.
It was detected in 74 municipalities (82.2%), with 724 instances in total. This survey classifies this item as "minor," the lowest severity level. The high count reflects how widely this implementation is used, not its severity.
Limitations of This Survey
Automated testing can only evaluate roughly 30 to 40% of WCAG success criteria. The figures in this survey are limited to that scope and do not evaluate the overall accessibility of any individual municipal website. Only aggregate results are published; individual municipality diagnostic results are not disclosed. Remaining areas and items that cannot be judged by automated testing alone require manual review.
Survey Methodology
- Scope: 90 municipalities in total — 47 prefectures, 20 government-designated cities, and the 23 special wards of Tokyo — homepage only (one page per site)
- Date conducted: September 11, 2026
- Evaluation criteria: WCAG 2.2 Level AA
- Testing engines: axe-core 4.11.4 and Lente Detect 1.6.5 (tested at 1280px, equivalent to desktop, and 320px, equivalent to smartphone)
Survey Report
The following report details the survey results, including totals by success criterion and by issue type, as well as the survey conditions.
https://www.liberogic.jp/survey/municipality/2026-09-11/report-public.html
The Lente Scan tool used in this survey automatically checks web accessibility simply by entering a URL. It is free and requires no registration, and lets you check your own website using the same testing engines and evaluation criteria as this survey. (The free version tests only the desktop-equivalent screen width; testing that includes the smartphone-equivalent screen width is available on the Pro plan.)
https://lente-scan.liberogic.jp/
Areas that require human review can be assessed through expert manual testing.
For areas that automated testing cannot evaluate, we provide manual web accessibility testing services led by a team centered on IAAP Certified Professionals in Web Accessibility (WAS). Testing is conducted in Lente Audit, our proprietary dedicated workspace, which handles issue sharing, correspondence on fixes, and report delivery in one place.
