The law requires that our courses are accessible. This means we have to build courses that are usable for people with disabilities. Universal Design focuses on design that is the most useful to the most different types of people.
In NCSU's Introduction to Universal Design, NCSU defines the term as "a design concept that recognizes, respects, values and attempts to accommodate the broadest possible spectrum of human ability in the design of all products, environments and information systems." They identify seven components of Universal Design:
Equitable — the design is equally useful to people with diverse abilities.
Flexible — he design supports differing abilities.
Simple — the design is intuitive.
Perceptible — the design offers material in multiple modalities.
Tolerance for error — the design minimizes possibilities for predictable errors.
Effortless — the design minimizes repetitive actions.
Spacious — the design includes appropriate room for users.
Educators took the principles behind Universal Design and applied them to learning. So, we consider disabilities but also primary language, learning preferences, and how students may be accessing our content. Using this framework will make our courses more user-friendly to all students.
There are three dimensions to UDL, and they are all about giving students options:
Universal Design for Learning Guidelines Text Only Version
Universal Design for Learning Guidelines graphic PDF
Graphic provided by UDL on Campus
UDL 101: What is Universal Design for Learning (UDL)? Join us for an overview of UDL principles and how UDL can positively impact teaching and learning.
UDL, SLO, OEP — the alphabet soup of good course design. How can we design courses that engage diverse students and provide mechanisms for students to accurately demonstrate their learning?
Attributions:
This content was pulled from ASCCC OERI Canvas Course Unit 5: Universal Design for Learning UDL and Open Educational Practices OEP by Suzanne Wakim, under CC BY license