2. According to the Center for Universal
Design, it is the design and creation of
products and environments to be accessed by
ALL people to the greatest extent possible.
For instance, in the girls’ bathroom in the
recreational center at Miami University, there
are blow-dryers of three various heights to
accommodate for women of all heights.
3. There are eight suggestive steps that can be used
to apply to universal design.
1. Identify the application: choose a
product/environment that you wish to apply
universal design.
2. Define the universe: describe the users of the
product.
3. Involve consumers: involve others with diverse
characteristics in the entire process of
developing and implementing your product.
4. Adopt guidelines or standards: create or select
existing universal design standards/guidelines.
4. 1. Apply guidelines or standards: use the
guidelines/standards that you created or chose.
2. Plan for accommodations: develop processes to
address accommodation requests.
3. Train and support: train and support
stakeholders, which are the individuals that will
be helping you with the distribution of the
product.
4. Evaluate: evaluate the product, test it out, and
make modifications based on the feedback.
5. As educators, we should present the
information that we are teaching in a
comprehensible manner.
In addition, we should keep the students
engaged because once we lose their attention
the information that is meaning taught will
not be retained.
Educators’ lesson plans should be hands-
on, interactive, and engaging.
◦ For example, learning about sugar molecules
through hands-on activities instead of lectures all
the time.
6. The goal of Universal Design Instruction for educators
according to the article by the University of
Washington, is to maximize the learning of students
with diverse characteristics and apply universal
design principles to all aspects of instruction.
As educators, we should be able to present our
lesson plans in a manner that all students can learn
with ease because everyone has different ways of
retaining information.