Universal instructional design (UID) or universal design for instruction (UDI) is an educational framework for applying universal design principles to learning environments with a goal toward greater accessibility for all students, including students with disabilities. UDI involves considering the potential needs of all learners when designing and delivering instruction by identifying and eliminating unnecessary barriers to teaching and learning while maintaining academic rigor. UDI is thus proactive and benefits all students, in contrast to providing accommodations for a specific student (e.g., providing a sign language interpreter for a student who is deaf).

Background

Universal Design for Instruction (UDI) applies and adapts universal design principles and the Principles of Universal Design to learning environments and learning products, with a goal toward maximizing learning for all students. Universal design (UD), a concept pioneered by architect Ronald Mace at North Carolina State University (NCSU), refers to buildings, products, and environments that are inherently accessible to both people without disabilities and people with disabilities. The Center for Universal Design at NCSU established a set of Principles of Universal Design based on UD to guide and evaluate the design process, with a goal toward creating more accessible products and environments. Universal Design for Instruction is an educational framework and set of strategies that applies both UD and the Principles of Universal Design to academic and teaching environments, learning products, and learning materials. Specific UDI frameworks and educational initiatives vary between academic and policy institutions. The Center for Universal Design in Education (CUDE) at the DO-IT Center (University of Washington) combines UD, the Principles of Universal Design and Universal Design for Learning (UDL) to create UDI strategies for applying universal design to educational products and environments. Each CUDE strategy is linked with relevant principles of UD and UDL. Using a different approach, the Center on Postsecondary Education and Disability at the University of Connecticut developed a set of UDI principles that draws on the work of Chickering and Gamson, who had originally published a set of principles for more inclusive postsecondary education, as well as the Principles of Universal Design.

Principles

The original seven Principles of Universal Design for products and environments established by the Center for Universal Design at NCSU follow; UDI applies these principles to learning environments. The DO-IT Center's Center for Universal Design in Education (CUDE) combines UDI strategies and UD principles with the more specific Universal Design for Learning (UDL) framework. Universal Design for Learning (UDL) is "a set of principles for curriculum development that give all individuals equal opportunities to learn." UDL guidelines encourage curriculum designers to provide the student with options with respect to the following: The University of Connecticut researchers and practitioners propose nine principles that describe a successful implementation of Universal Design for Instruction. Four of them state that materials and activities should be: Three principles for universal design for instruction state that the learning environment should: Universal design for instruction includes two more principles related to the delivery environment:

Examples of application to instruction

Ways of applying UD to instruction, developed through University of Washington Universal Design in Higher Education Initiative, include those listed below.

The process

The Center for Universal Design in Education (CUDE) at the DO-IT Center at the University of Washington describes Universal Design of Instruction (UDI) as "a goal, a process, and a set of practices." According to CUDE, the UDI process is described as the following series of steps: