Assessment of Mosques Accessibility for Prayers with Disabilities

Purpose: To assess the accessibility in mosques for prayers with disabilities including wheelchair users. We also aimed to provide recommendations for the development of an implementation plan specifying what improvements we can make to remove barriers to make existing mosques more accessible. Methods: The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) Checklist for Readily Achievable Barrier Removal "Checklist for Existing Facilities-Version 2.1" was used to measure accessibility in mosque buildings. Results: Accessibility of 45 mosques within the city of Jeddah in Saudi Arabia was assessed. Of the 45 mosques, 20 mosques met the inclusion criteria and were included in the final analysis. In the accessible approach and entrance, the highest compliance score was (86%) which is in the route of travel section. The lowest score was (49.45%) which is in the parking and drop-off section. In the access to goods and services, the highest score was (94%) which is in the horizontal circulation. The lowest score was (55%) which is in the signage of goods and services. In the access to rest rooms, the highest score was (84%) which is in the lavatories. The lowest score was (45.54%) which is in getting to the rest rooms. Conclusions: Some items on the ADA checklist had low compliance scores such as getting to the rest rooms, parking and drop- off areas, and entrance indicating poor accessibility. This study has provided useful baseline data for future studies in mosques buildings. Collective efforts are needed to make mosques more accessible for prayers with disabilities in our community.