Case study · Yamagata (Japan)

A braille library you can also listen to.

The 山形県立点字図書館 (Yamagata Prefectural Braille Library), a public library of Yamagata Prefecture specialising in braille books and audiobooks, installs NaviLens codes at the entrance and above the lintels of its rooms so that any blind or low-vision visitor can scan them from several metres away and hear out loud where they are and where each door leads.

Main entrance of the Yamagata Prefectural Braille Library in Yamagata City, with a large carved wooden vertical sign with the kanji ‘山形県立点字図書館’, yellow tactile paving on the floor and a worker in a white polo shirt opening the automatic glass door with a square colored NaviLens code with the slogan ‘Empowering visually impaired’

山形市

Yamagata, Yamagata Prefecture (Tōhoku, Japan)

館長室 · 貸出室 · 会議室

Rooms signposted with NaviLens codes on the lintel

山形県身体障害者福祉協会

Operator: Welfare Association for People with Disabilities

NaviLens GO

Free app to scan without aiming and hear the content

Client

山形県立点字図書館
Yamagata Prefectural Braille Library

The 山形県立点字図書館 (Yamagata Prefectural Braille Library) is a public library of Yamagata Prefecture, in the Tōhoku region, specialising in braille literature and audiobooks for blind and low-vision residents of the whole prefecture.

Its operation is delegated to the 山形県身体障害者福祉協会 (Yamagata Prefecture Welfare Association for People with Physical Disabilities), a non-profit running lending, recorded reading and training services for visually impaired users.

Since 1 April 2025 the institution has been officially renamed 山形県視覚障がい者情報センター (Yamagata Prefectural Visually Impaired Information Center), reflecting an expanded mission beyond braille (DAISY audiobooks, advice, digital training). The NaviLens pilot is part of that transition.

As a prefectural reference in accessibility, the library promotes the testing of technologies such as NaviLens in its own building, alongside traditional braille and kanji signage, to validate the experience with its own users and share it with other braille libraries in Japan.

§ Challenge

Letting every door say its name out loud.

01
A library designed for those who cannot read visual signage
The 山形県立点字図書館 (Yamagata Prefectural Braille Library) is a public library of Yamagata Prefecture specialising in braille books and audiobooks for blind and low-vision people. Until now, room signage relied on kanji plates and braille on handrails, but anyone entering for the first time without a companion struggled to locate the lending desk, the director's office or the meeting room.
02
Short corridors crowded with identical doors
The building shares its floor with lockers, fire extinguishers and admin offices: a narrow corridor with several doors that feel almost identical to the touch. Traditional signs (館長室 «director's office», 貸出室 «lending room», 会議室 «meeting room») are inaccessible to a blind person who does not read kanji or cannot reach the braille.
03
Testing NaviLens inside an accessibility-expert environment
As a library specialising in visual disability, the institution needed to evaluate NaviLens in a real scenario, validate the experience with its own users and serve as a reference for other braille libraries and centres in the Japanese network of welfare services for people with disabilities.

View of the lending room (貸出室) of the Yamagata Prefectural Braille Library with tables full of stacked braille books, metal shelving with reading materials, and above the lintel of the entrance door, a square colored NaviLens code next to the white sign with the kanji ‘貸出室’; on the side wall, a program sign explains that the NaviLens app allows reading the content of the code aloud

§ Solution

One code above every key door.

The library team placed NaviLens codes at the decision points along the route: the entrance door (next to the vertical wooden sign), the director's office (館長室), the lending room (貸出室) and the meeting room (会議室). All share the same square colour format with the slogan «Empowering visually impaired».

With the free NaviLens GO app, a blind or low-vision visitor scans without aiming and from several metres away. The phone announces out loud the name and function of each room —in Japanese or in their own language— and also gives instructions to reach the next safe door down the corridor.

The codes coexist with the traditional kanji signs and the tactile paving on the floor: NaviLens does not replace braille or the white cane, it complements them with an immediate audio layer the visitor can activate from the entrance.

§ Room by room

The same grammar across the whole library.

Main entrance of the Yamagata Prefectural Braille Library with the carved wooden vertical sign ‘山形県立点字図書館’, yellow tactile paving and a worker opening the automatic glass door with a square colored NaviLens code

Interior corridor next to numbered lockers (21–24) and a red fire extinguisher, with the open door of the director's office (館長室) of the Yamagata Prefectural Braille Library; above the lintel is the white sign with the kanji ‘館長室’ and, just above it, a square colored NaviLens code with the slogan ‘Empowering visually impaired’

View of the lending room (貸出室) of the Yamagata Prefectural Braille Library with tables covered with braille books and metal shelving; above the sliding door, the white sign ‘貸出室’ and a colorful NaviLens code; on the left wall, a sign in Japanese explains that with the NaviLens app the content of the code can be listened to aloud

Access to the meeting room (会議室) of the Yamagata Prefectural Braille Library, with two square colored NaviLens codes: one above the ‘会議室’ sign on the glazed partition and another above the lintel of the inner door; in the foreground, brown courtesy slippers and yellow tactile paving on the floor

Same codes at the entrance, the director's office, the lending room and the meeting room: a single app —NaviLens GO— and a single grammar to walk through the full library, without depending on sight or staff escorts.

§ Why it matters

A braille library validating the visual standard.

点字 + 音声

braille and voice coexist: NaviLens adds an immediate audio layer on top of the kanji signage and tactile paving already present at the library.

Tōhoku

Yamagata joins other NaviLens pilots in Japan —such as the mana-vi centre (Yamagata Civic Activity Support Center) or the Abe Eye Clinic in Ōita— in the bet for everyday accessibility, building by building.

福祉協会

the 山形県身体障害者福祉協会 validates the experience with real blind users and turns it into a reference for the Japanese network of braille libraries and welfare services for people with disabilities.

§ Sources