Table 1.

Characteristics of white literature audit tools.

Tool #*	Author (Year)	Country (province/state/region)	Disability Types Considered	Tool Employed	Environment Assessed	Measure of conceptualization/operationalization	Components Assessed	Grounding Evidence	Tool Strengths	Tool Weaknesses
1	Brennan et al. (2016)	United States (Nebraska)	Not specified	Playground Accessibility Checklist (developed by authors)	2 outdoor playgrounds	Accessibility	Playground features, environmental space demands, playground development/improvement, regulation guidelines, safety	Focus Groups, ADA Standards1, Occupational Therapy Practice Framework (2014)	Provides a score of overall accessibility on a number of playground components, allowing for comparison between sites. Tool is easily implemented by auditors using typically available materials. Can be complemented by follow up focus groups.	Evaluates accessibility only. Evaluates 8/14 recommendations and promising practice from Brown et al. Psychometric properties not currently assessed. Tool is not conducted with stakeholders present.
2	Lynch et al. (2020)	Ireland (NA2)	Mental, physical, emotional	PlayAUDIT	5 parks containing playgrounds	Usability, accessibility, playability	Play value and universal design components of play structure	Guided by Centre of Excellence in Universal Design (Ireland)	Evaluates 10/14 recommendations and promising practice from Brown et al., the most of white literature tools. Tool is used to determine play value and universal design components of play structure. Authors followed up with walk and talk audits with playground users. Checklist is easily implemented by multiple auditors using typically available materials.	Psychometric properties not currently assessed. Tool is not conducted with stakeholders present.
3	Olsen & Dieser (2012)	United States (NA)	Physical	ADA Standards Accessibility Checklist	57 parks containing playgrounds	Accessibility	Accessible routes, shade, surface materials, and equipment	ADA Standards	Provides 12 questions to assess accessibility that directly relevant to ADA Guidelines. Checklist is easily implemented by auditors using typically available materials.	Evaluates 5/14 recommendations and promising practice from Brown et al. including only 1/7 features to foster inclusive play. Does not consider user involvement in audit. Psychometric properties not currently assessed.
4	Parker & Al-Maiyah (2022)	England (East Midlands Village)	Mental, physical, emotional	Play Park Evaluation Tool (PPET: III & IV)	20-site pilot study, 1 case study, at parks containing playgrounds	Usability, accessibility, playability	Access, entrances to play park, internal access, non-play equipment, and play equipment	Literature Review, European Safety Standards (EN1176), ADA Guidelines, “BTG-COMP Park observation tool”, ‘Me2 Checklist’ (Playcore), ‘Plan Inclusive Play Checklist’ (InclusivePlay.com)	Measures usability, accessibility, playability. Indicates to be adapted for use by a stakeholders (including children) in the future. Checklist is easily implemented by multiple auditors using typically available materials.	Evaluates 6/14 recommendations and promising practice from Brown et al. Psychometric properties not currently assessed.
5	Perry et al. (2017)	New Zealand (Wellington)	Not specified	PARCs	21 parks containing playgrounds	Accessibility, playability	Surfaces/approachability, play areas and equipment usability/accessibility and play richness, rest areas	Consultation with two disability-focused organizations and officials of three city councils, AIMFREE tool, ADA Standards	Measures accessibility and playability. Checklist is easily implemented by multiple auditors using typically available materials.	Evaluates 7/14 recommendations and promising practice from Brown et al. Does not consider user involvement in audit. Psychometric properties not currently assessed.
6	Rocha et al. (2018)	Brazil (São Paulo)	Physical	Protocol for the evaluation of physical accessibility in schools of Early Childhood Education (Spanish)	4 schoolyard playgrounds at one early years centre	Accessibility	Access to playground, equipment suitability and safety	Brazilian Association of Technical Standards (NBR9050)	Tool is easily implemented by multiple auditors using typically available materials.	Evaluates accessibility only. Evaluates 4/14 recommendations and promising practice from Brown et al. Does not consider user involvement in audit. Psychometric properties not currently assessed.
7	Talay et al. (2010)	Turkey (Ankara)	Physical	Site Surveys	355 outdoor playgrounds	Accessibility	Playground entirely, location, security	Consultation with one disability-focused organization, Convention on the Rights of the Child, the Turkish Constitution and Disability Act	Opinions and observations of parks, including verbal contact with park users are recorded.	Evaluates accessibility only. Evaluates 5/14 recommendations and promising practice from Brown et al. Does not consider user involvement in audit. Psychometric properties not currently assessed.
8	Yantzi et al. (2010)	Canada (Ontario)	Physical	Modified version of the Playability Audit (Ontario Parks Association) compared against ADA Standards	5 schoolyard playgrounds	Accessibility	Access to playground equipment	ADA Standards, ‘Playability Toolkit’ (Ontario Parks Association)	Tool is easily implemented by multiple auditors using typically available materials.	Evaluates accessibility only. Evaluates 3/14 recommendations and promising practice Brown et al. Does not consider user involvement in audit. Psychometric properties not currently assessed.

^*Article # corresponds with synthesis of tools in Table 3.

¹ ADA Standards: Americans with Disabilities Act Standards for Accessible Design.