Case study · Universidad de Navarra
A university campus you read with your phone.
In 2021, the University of Navarra rolled out an inclusive signage with 30 NaviLens markers at the entrances of the Pamplona Campus buildings and inside the Central Building, together with Tantaka, the IDDEAS Foundation and Design Degree students. Voice, text and image for anyone — in their own language.
30 markers
NaviLens codes planned at entrances and Central Building
2021
Year the inclusive signage was rolled out
42 languages
Automatic translation of the voiced content
10 m
Maximum detection distance with the phone camera
The client
University of Navarra Pamplona Campus · Tantaka
The University of Navarra is one of Spain's leading private universities, with a campus in Pamplona that brings together most of its schools and institutes — Education and Psychology, Institute for Culture and Society, Central Library, Tecnun, etc. — around a wooded park of several square kilometres.
The accessibility project is coordinated by the Campus Planning office and Tantaka, the University's solidarity time bank, together with the Disability Support Unit (UAPD) and the IDDEAS Foundation.
unav.edu · Tecnun · Tantaka — As stated by the University itself on its Pamplona Campus Accessibility page and on the Tecnun Campus (San Sebastián) page, «NAVILENS codes are being progressively placed to signpost spaces for people with vision impairments».
§ The challenge
Anyone should find their building without having to ask.
- 01
A campus of many buildings and many languages
The Pamplona Campus of the University of Navarra brings together schools, institutes, the central library, cafeterias and services spread across dozens of buildings. For a low-vision student, an international researcher or a relative visiting for the first time, reading the traditional signage — stone plaques, glass vinyls, metal totems — is not always possible.
- 02
A university alliance with Tantaka and IDDEAS
The project was born from an agreement between Campus Planning, Tantaka (the University's solidarity time bank), the IDDEAS Foundation and two Design Degree students — Itsaso Iriondo and Cristina Francés — with NaviLens. A participatory process that brought accessibility to the official signage.
- 03
Same surface for façade, cafeteria and access turnstile
We needed a layer that worked equally well on the building's official sign, on the cafeteria glass, on a column of the Central Library or stuck to the access turnstile machine. The NaviLens Public Kit adhesive plate covered all those surfaces with no works and at very low cost.
§ The solution
A plate at every entrance, a sticker at every service.
The University started from the official sign of each building — labelled in Spanish, English and Basque — and added the NaviLens code on the upper right corner, integrated into the design of the campus's sign family.
In indoor spaces — cafeteria, library, access turnstiles — the Design Degree students and Tantaka used the NaviLens Public Kit: a white sticker with the code and the University of Navarra and NaviLens GO logos, ready to be placed on glass, metal or wall with no works.
The user opens NaviLens GO, sweeps the phone and hears aloud — in up to 42 languages — which building or service is in front of them, which school or institute it hosts and how to reach the accessible entrance.
§ The rollout
From the official sign to the cafeteria turnstile.
The rollout mixes codes integrated in the campus's official signage — Ismael Sánchez Bella Building and another 30 markers planned at entrances and the Central Building — with Public Kit stickers indoors: Central Library lettering, cafeteria glass and access turnstile machines. Everything is managed from the same NaviLens CMS.
§ Why it matters
A truly international university.
Inclusion
Students with low vision, blindness or reduced mobility reach the classroom, the library or the dining hall without depending on a companion. Autonomy stops being an exception.
42 languages
International students and faculty — and visitors — get the information in their phone's language without reprinting a single campus sign.
Low cost
The Public Kit are stickers: they cost little, are printed at the University itself and managed from a CMS. Tantaka and the Design students rolled them out with no works.
Sources: OkDiario Navarra (16/09/2021), unav.edu — Campus Pamplona, unav.edu — Campus Tecnun, Tantaka.
§ And your centre?
Every classroom and clinic can be guided by voice.
Tell us about your centre, your journeys and your users. We’ll show you how NaviLens would make wayfinding easier.
