Universal Design is an approach to designing products and environments to be usable by people of all abilities without needing to be adapted. It has seven principles including equitable use, flexible use, simple and intuitive use, perceptible information, tolerance for error, low physical effort, and appropriate size and space. Universal Design should be applied to education by ensuring curriculum, web pages, and assessments are accessible and meet the diverse needs of all students. When implemented properly in classrooms, Universal Design can help every student learn regardless of their individual abilities.

1. Universal Design
Alex Mains

2. What is It?
 Universal Design is designing anything,
whether it be a product or environment, to
be usable by any person without the need
to adapt the product or environment.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6rh6WfSm
9CE

3. The Seven Principles
 Equitable Use: Useful for all people 
 Flexible Use: Preferential to everyone’s abilities 
 Simple Use: Easy to understand for everyone 
 Perceptible Information: The info is effective and
necessary 
 Tolerance for Error: Hazards and mistakes are minimized 
 Low Physical Effort: It is efficient and comfortable 
 Size and Space for Use: Enough space is provided to allow the
product to be used by all 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NIpGfpIDqhI

4. Universal Design in Education
 Curriculum that is used in the classroom must also be
universally designed to meet the needs of every
student, but how?
 We must ask these three questions:
 What are the students learning about?
 What are the different ways to learn this?
 How do they get the information needed to learn?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aaSZqgr2eUM

5. Universal Design in Educational
Web Pages
 The web is accessible to everyone no matter what
disability each person may have and we must keep this
in mind when making educational web pages.
 We must keep in mind those who:
 Have visual impairments
 Have hearing impairments
 Have slow Internet connections
 Speak English as a second language
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4FE1CLS7i3k

6. Universal Design in Assessments
 Assessments are an integral part of education that are
administered to many different students each having
unique abilities, so universal design must be used here
as well.
 Some recommendations are:
 Define what is being assessed on the test itself
 Use assistive technologies during the test
 Create an environment where mistakes are okay

7. Universal Design
 Universal design is a very useful tool when it
comes to education. Students come from many
different backgrounds and each hold many
different abilities; universal design devises a
way to meet the needs of every single one of
these students.
 Universal design should be implemented into
every classroom since every classroom holds
every type of student.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WFgW0SsoEVo

8. Works Cited
 Axelson, Mary. "Maximizing the Effectiveness of Online Accountability Assessments
for Students with Disabilities." University of Washington. Web. 23 Sep 2013.
 Burgstahler, Sheryl. "Universal Design of Instruction (UDI): Definitions, Principles,
Guidelines, and Examples." University of Washington. Web. 23 Sep 2013.
 Burgstahler, Sheryl. "Universal Design of Web Pages in Class Projects." University of
Washington. Web. 23 Sep 2013.
 Howard, K. L. (2004, February). “Universal Design for Learning: Meeting the needs
of all students.” Learning and Leading with Technology, 31(5), 26-29.
 Universal Design Award 2009. YouTube, 2010. Film. 23 Sep 2013.
 Universal Design for Learning (UDL). YouTube, 2011. Film. 23 Sep 2013.
 Universal Design for Learning. YouTube, 2012. Film. 23 Sep 2013.
 Universal Design. YouTube, 2011. Film. 23 Sep 2013.
 Universal Design. YouTube, 2012. Film. 23 Sep 2013.