There’s an invisible problem online. Twenty percent of the world — almost 1.5 billion people — can’t move freely around the Internet as a result of physical and cognitive impairments. So when it came to building a new website to mark Toyota’s historic shift from that of a car company to a mobility company, we knew our vision for Ever Better Mobility for All had to be ingrained in every line of code. We set out to build the world’s most-accessible website — a new standard for accessibility online. We couldn’t just build a site to talk about our mobility products, our site had to be a mobility product.

We set out to create an exceptional web experience where everyone can move freely, both the able-bodied and persons with impairments. To start, we worked closely with the National Center for Accessible Media and with persons with physical and cognitive impairments to build an experience that not only felt modern and responsive, but also upheld the standards set by the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines. To do this, we developed a set of tools to enhance the user’s experience. On both mobile and desktop, users interacted with the tools to change the way content was being displayed. Users adjusted contrast, text size, turned on closed captioning, simplified text, and changed the language. Although the backend was complex, each version of the site was simple and easy to use. That level of customization meant ensuring layout and interactions remained consistent and flexible across over 900 different variations of the site. In the future, these tools will elevate the way users with visual, hearing and cognitive impairments experience the web.

6.7 million people experienced our site after we launched during the 2018 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games. We will continue to bring our message of Ever Better Mobility for All to the masses as we move toward the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games. But our Olympic and Paralympic Partnerships are just the beginning. Our goal is to spark a change in the way everyone approaches the web and create an Internet that’s open to all. We hope others will hear our call and more developers will work on making products that move everyone forward. Our journey toward Ever Better Mobility for All has just begun, and we look forward to a more accessible future.

MobilityForAll.com is the digital home of Toyota’s first-ever global mobility campaign. And in the spirit of Toyota’s new mission for Ever Better Mobility for All, we built the site to be a mobility product in and of itself. To build the site, we worked with the experts who wrote the book on web accessibility. Together, we coded tools from scratch that helped the 1.5 billion users with visual, hearing and cognitive impairments move freely on our site.

Key Global Olympic Development Milestones

May 2017 - After months of ideation, concept approved by all parties

May 2017 - Engaged National Center for Accessible Media (NCAM) at WGBH and continued partnership throughout the year

June 2017 - Design phase began. Wireframes, sketch art, copy development, site design and prototyping.

June 2017 - Asset generation begins, continues through January 2018

July 2017 - IOC/IPC/USOC approve concept and process ongoing approvals

July 2017 - Technical development begins

August 2017 - Athlete selection and approvals begin

October 16, 2017 - Prelaunch of site, single introductory page

October 25, 2017 - Official launch of the website to include six languages and robust accessibility tools

February 8, 2018 - Launch of Impossible Stories, covering inspirational athletes from around the world

Our brief was simple: Create a digital experience for Toyota’s first-ever global campaign. Since Toyota was launching its campaign in partnerships with the International Olympic Committee and the International Paralympic Committee as the Official Mobility Partner, we knew every part of our digital experience would have to follow the rules set by the International Paralympic Committee, the International Olympic Committee and the United States Olympic Committee. For our accessibility tools, we leveraged our partnership with the National Center for Accessible Media (NCAM) at WGBH for guidance and examples of content and websites that met high-accessibility standards. Then we adhered to NCAM’s accessibility guidelines and built tools that emphasized the capabilities on the site. And we did all of this with a development partner on the other side of the Pacific.