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Lorca is installing more than 100 digital accessibility codes across its historic centre to help blind and visually impaired tourists navigate the city's museums, monuments and heritage sites.

 

The €26,540 project involves placing 125 NaviLens universal codes at key locations including museums, information centres and bus and taxi stops. Through a mobile app, blind or visually impaired users can access real-time multimedia information about their surroundings, even when they're moving around the city.

 

Santiago Parra, Councillor for Tourism, explained the benefits of the technology:

 

"This new accessible and universal digital signage will allow people with visual impairments to orient themselves in unfamiliar environments, reach the signposted element with great precision, and obtain accessible contextual information, all with their mobile devices.

 

"People with visual impairments do not need to know exactly where the NaviLens codes are placed to read them (unlike Braille or QR codes), nor do they need to focus on them since the NaviLens code does not need to be framed on the screen."

 

The system works differently from traditional QR codes or Braille because users don't need to know exactly where the codes are located or frame them precisely on their phone screens. The technology detects the codes automatically and provides information about nearby points of interest, monuments and the history of the area.

 

According to a Town Hall source, the information is currently only available in Spanish, although this may change down the line as the system develops.

 

Councillor Parra said the initiative would benefit both tourists and residents.

 

"This innovative and inclusive initiative will allow us to open up the city's history and culture to everyone. Any tourist or resident strolling through the streets will be able to easily and accessibly learn about the city's culture and details via their mobile phone, allowing them to better understand the roots and significance of their surroundings," he said.

 

The tender process is about to begin and the codes should be operational within a few months, certainly before the end of June. The project forms part of the Regional Government's Tourism Sustainability Plan, developed by the Region of Murcia Tourism Institute (ITREM), and is funded by the European Union's Next Generation EU programme.

 

Mr Parra noted that the scheme also fits into Lorca's broader push to become a Smart Tourist Destination.

 

"The City Council is committed to modernising and promoting the range of tourist, cultural and heritage information services to make them more comprehensive, inclusive and accessible to everyone," he concluded.

 

For more local news, visiting onformation and what's on events go to the home page of Lorca Today.