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Universal Design

Diversity has become a fact of life in post-secondary institutions. More frequently than ever instructors and staff are interacting, teaching and supporting individuals who are diverse in many dimensions. Universal Design is a paradigm that can help to address the needs of students with a broad range of characteristics, abilities, disabilities and learning styles. It is a process as well as a set of guidelines and strategies that can be applied to instruction, services, information, technology and physical spaces.

If you would like to find out more about Universal Design, check out the following links:

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a a Universal Course Design
Equity and Excellence in Higher Education

E&E is a site developed by the Institute for Community Inclusion at the University of Massachusetts/Boston, in partnership with the Institute on Disability at the University of New Hampshire. At this site you will find information about incorporating UD strategies for designing a course syllabus, UCD tutorials, videos and a large variety of practical ideas and suggestions.  
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a a The Center for Universal Design in Education
University of Washington
The Center for Universal Design in Education (CUDE) develops and collects Web-based resources to help educators apply universal design to all aspects of the educational experience.

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FacultyWare

University of Connecticut

This site is the product of the Universal Design for Instruction project at the University of Connecticut, and it is designed to provide a broad range of information to enhance the design and delivery of instruction for diverse college students.

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Universal Design in Education: Teaching Non-traditional students


Frank Bowe

An excerpt from the book by Frank Bowe, Reprinted with permission from the publisher, Greenwood Press, © Greenwood Press; gives an overview and some examples of UD in education.
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a a Curriculum Transformation and Disability (CTAD): Implementing Universal Design in Higher Education
Jeanne L. Higbee (editor)

This book has multiple chapters on the following:

  • Understanding Universal Design and Universal Instructional Design
  • Classroom Strategies
  • Universal Design of Student Development Programs and Services
  • Resources and Future Directions
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a a Access to Postsecondary Education through Universal Design for Learning
Colorado State University

A Colorado State University website devoted to UD with videos, print resources and tutorials. Tutorial topics include:

Module: Microsoft Word, Universally Designed

  • Adding Alternative Text to Images
  • Specifying Table Headings
  • Saving in the Rich Text Format (RTF)
  • Preparing for Conversion to Accessible HTML and PDF

Module: Microsoft PowerPoint, Universally Designed

Module: Adobe PDF, Universally Designed

Module: HTML, Universally Designed

  • Creating Accessible Web Pages with Dreamweaver
  • Web Accessibility Tests using Firefox and WAVE

Module: E-Text: An Introduction to Alternative Format