Accessible Ed & Disability Resources

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 care 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  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

  • The Center for Applied Special Technology (CAST) has done some phenomenal work with Universal Design for Learning, and have done so through a brain science based approach. The UDL on Campus website has a lot of great information, including a section on Accessibility and Policy.
  • Comprehensive Guide to Applying Universal Design for Learning is an openly licensed E-book from BC Campus.
  • DO-IT has contributed a vast number of resources to the field of Universal Design in Education. Their work is anchored on the original 7 principles of Universal Design developed for architecture, complemented with the 3 practices of Universal Design with emphasis on Web Content Accessibility Guidelines. DO-IT has produced webpages, brochures, books, videos, and they have a very robust web presence.
  • Open Accessibility Toolkit from British Columbia features a short video on the rationale for Universal Design as well as web resources that relate to WCAG.
  • PASS IT stands for Pedagogy and Student Services for Institutional Transformation and their book includes chapters focusing on a variety of topics.
  • Refocus is a key resource for professionals working with disabled students to spend time with. The work we do to examine our own internalized ableism is work that will translate directly into readiness to construct and enforce universal design.
  • Ron Mace Universal Design Institute from North Carolina State University, describes the History of UD with information related to changing demographics, legislation, technology, economics, globalization and social climate and outlines the Seven Principles that were originally developed for the field of architecture.
  • UD from NCCSD National Center for College Students with Disabilities
  • Universal Design from DOL from the US Department of Labor

Connection Points

There are many ways to get involved: