Universal Design

This page is designed for you! It is a place to find information and context, but it is also connections and opportunities to partner.

What is Universal Design?

Universal Design is about making things (objects, spaces, events, activities, etc.) more usable to more people. It is about recognizing that decisions we make when planning and offering educational opportunities will have an impact on who can benefit from those opportunities. Universal Design is about recognizing that there are often barriers built into programs, courses, and assignments, and that sometimes students with disabilities will use the formal accommodation process as a way to get around the barriers, but that other times students are hitting those barriers without support. Thus, Universal Design is about taking the affirmative stance to identify and reduce barriers at the design stage.

There are many ways to learn more about Universal Design. Below is an annotated listing of videos and websites.

Videos

Here are a collection of? really short videos from CAST:

Here are some additional options:

Websites

The list below is not exhaustive, but hopefully it serves a good entry point to some of the different approaches

Connection Points

There are many ways to get involved: