ARCHIVED - Aguilas launches tourist tool for people with visual impairments
The NaviLens initiative will support people with visual impairments to independently access all of the tourism hotspots in Águilas
In a pioneering step towards making the sites and attractions of Águilas more accessible for people with visual impairments, the City Council has launched a system of NaviLens codes at the main tourist hotspots of the municipality.
One of the main obstacles faced by people with impaired visibility in cities is navigating public transport independently and sourcing details about local places of interest, but NaviLens provides a unique kind of QR code that can be scanned by blind people up to 12 metres away, without the need to focus in.
The main objective, the mayor of Tourism, Ginés Desiderio Navarro stressed, “is to facilitate tourist accessibility, especially for people with visual disabilities.” Users who download the NaviLens app on their mobile devices will be able to locate the main tourist resources, as well as all of their information.
In Águilas, visitors and locals can download two different apps for free:
- NaviLens: This app is for visually impaired people and verbally gives the codes and information in real time.
- NaviLens Go: Here, users can find visual information about the various tourist attractions the city has to offer.
At the launch of the initiative, the councillor for Social Policy, María Dolores García, pointed out that the new system is in line with the Local Plan for Attention to People with Disabilities, whose objective it is to promote “full inclusion by developing coordinated and transversal actions”.
The NaviLens project, with a cost of 18,400 euros, has been co-financed by the General Directorate of Tourism Competitiveness and the Águilas City Council.
President of the ONCE Territorial Council in the Region of Murcia, Teresa Lajarín, added that it is “very important that the Águilas City Council has taken this step, using new technologies to make our resources more inclusive.”
For more local news, events and visiting information go to the home page of Águilas Today
Image: Ayuntamiento de Aguilas
