Case study · Spain · Las Palmas de Gran Canaria (Canary Islands)
Four supermarkets in Gran Canaria you can hear.
Fundación DinoSol brings NaviLens signage to four HiperDino stores in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria – Miller, Alisios, Luis Doreste Silva and Triana – so blind and low-vision customers can find aisles, sections and checkout lanes without depending on anyone.
4 stores
HiperDino Miller, Alisios, Luis Doreste Silva and Triana · Las Palmas de Gran Canaria
Aisles and checkout
Sections, products, checkout lanes and services announced by voice
12 m
Distance at which the app detects each code (12 m), no need to aim
42
Languages · audio, text and sign language
The client
Fundación DinoSol
— HiperDino, Canary Islands
Fundación DinoSol was created in 2017 to run the corporate social responsibility of HiperDino, the Canary Islands supermarket chain. It supports employees and their families and promotes social well-being across the islands with programmes such as Alimentos conVida, which donates food to social organisations every day, and the Canary Islands Family Support Program.
Store accessibility was already part of its work: more than four years ago HiperDino added signage for people with autism spectrum disorder under its Tienda Accesible (Accessible Store) programme, which today totals 1,122 pictograms in 51 stores across the islands.
With NaviLens, the foundation takes the next step: bringing that same accessible store to blind and low-vision customers, starting with four locations in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria. It is the first grocery chain in the Canary Islands to adopt this signage.
§ The challenge
Shopping without sight should not require a companion.
- 01
A supermarket is navigated by sight
Aisle signs, section labels, prices and checkout lines: every piece of information in a supermarket is written for those who can see it. For a blind or low-vision customer, shopping at HiperDino meant asking for help from the door.
- 02
An archipelago where over 9% of people have a disability
According to Spain's National Disability Observatory, more than 9% of the Canary Islands population has some form of disability. Making a neighbourhood supermarket accessible is not a gesture: it is the weekly shopping of a significant share of its customers.
- 03
And more than 12 million visitors a year
The Canary Islands welcome more than 12 million tourists every year, speaking many different languages. A printed sign fits one or two of them; the store's information had to be audible in the language of whoever is reading it.
§ The solution
A code that guides you to checkout, in the customer's language.
HiperDino places NaviLens codes in the aisles, sections, counters and checkout lanes of the four stores. The app detects them from more than 12 metres away without aiming, and guides customers quickly and safely to the spot they are looking for.
Each code delivers the information as audio, text and sign language, and reads it in 42 languages: the same sign serves the neighbour in Miller and the tourist filling a cart in Triana.
At the entrance, a poster featuring the HiperDino mascot – “Do you know the NaviLens codes?” – explains what they are and points to the free NaviLens GO app, next to the Tienda Accesible badge the chain already displayed for its autism-friendly signage.
§ Timeline
From pictograms to voice.
- 2017
Fundación DinoSol is born
HiperDino creates the foundation to run its corporate social responsibility: support for staff and their families, daily food donations and social, environmental and sports programmes in the Canary Islands.
- Tienda Accesible
Pictograms for people with autism
More than four years ago HiperDino adds pictogram signage for people with autism spectrum disorder to its supermarkets. The programme now reaches 1,122 pictograms in 51 stores across the islands.
- Summer 2026
Four stores signed with NaviLens
The codes are installed at HiperDino Miller, Alisios, Luis Doreste Silva and Triana in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria: aisles, sections, checkout lanes and services in each store.
- Sep 2026
Launch at HiperDino Miller
Patricia Muñoz, director of the foundation, presents the signage alongside Paralympic swimmer Enhamed Enhamed, the project's ambassador, who walks the store testing the codes with his own phone.
§ Walkthrough
From the entrance ramp to the salted-fish counter.
Fish counter
Code next to the salted-fish counter
At the HiperDino Miller fish counter, the NaviLens code sits on the dark tiled column at eye level, a few metres from the counter. Customers detect it from the aisle without aiming and hear which section is in front of them and what is on the salted-fish trays.
Entrance
Moving ramp, pictogram and code
On the pillar of the moving ramp up to the shop floor, the NaviLens code is placed right below the “Rampa mecánica” pictogram from the Tienda Accesible programme. The chain's two signage systems, pictograms and audio, share the same spot.
Lobby
The poster that explains the codes
Patricia Muñoz, director of Fundación DinoSol, and Paralympic swimmer Enhamed Enhamed, the project's ambassador, next to the entrance poster “¿Conoces los códigos NaviLens?”: the HiperDino mascot, a sample code and the download link for the NaviLens GO app, beside the Tienda Accesible badge.
§ Results
The weekly shopping, without asking for help.
4 stores
With aisles, sections and checkout lanes read aloud in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria
42
Languages for local residents and for the 12+ million tourists the Canary Islands welcome each year
1st
Grocery chain in the Canary Islands with NaviLens signage, after 51 stores with autism-friendly pictograms
§ What they said
“Con la incorporación de la señalética NaviLens seguimos dando pasos en incrementar la accesibilidad universal en nuestras tiendas. Hace más de cuatro años, nuestra cadena de supermercados habilitó la señalética para personas con Trastorno del Espectro Autista, TEA, que a día de hoy alcanza 1.122 pictogramas en 51 tiendas de HiperDino en el Archipiélago.”
§ And your stores?
Make your store visible to everyone.
Tell us what your stores look like and which elements you want to make accessible. We’ll design the project with you, launch a pilot in under two months, and can roll it out across the whole network within six months.
