Riyadh: Sign language, Braille Qurans and electric wheelchairs are some of the new features in Mecca and Medina to help pilgrims with disabilities to execute the religious rites of Hajj and Umrah.
The new services have been established to aid them, providing them with ease and comfort and avoiding complications, even during peak times.
Special entrances have been designated to ease access to prayer areas, including the ones on the ground and first floors of the King Fahd expansion at the Grand Mosque in Mecca.
Other provisions include a pen that serves as a Quran reader, and help for holding and carrying Qurans for people who are unable to hold them.
Copies of the Quran in Braille along with other religious booklets are available, as are on-site specialists to help pilgrims during prayer times and guide them through the mosque sites.
Other special services at the holy mosques include: wheelchairs transported in golf carts to prayer areas; designated entrances; sign language interpreters for those with hearing or speech impairments; canes for the blind and visually impaired; and electric wheelchairs to perform key religious rites such as tawaf.