Universal Design in Higher Education: An Approach for Inclusion

Universal Design (UD) is designing an environment or space which is user

friendly to everyone, including disabled persons, elderly people and young children. UD
may include wheelchair ramps, lowered water fountains, automatic doors, elevators and
other architectural designs. UD is also used in academia to accommodate a larger
variation of individuals.
Universal Instructional Design (UID) is when UD is applied to educational
environments. Instead of dealing with disability requirements case-by-case, making
accessibility part of the course planning is more efficient. Implementing
accommodations, such as multiple teaching techniques, class note accessibility,
interactive activities, discussion groups and varied testing methods, are also beneficial
to non-disabled people.
A study was done with a group faculty members from a diverse range of majors.
The study was asked what their ideas on UID were, as well as how UID can be
facilitated or hindered on campus. Their ideas were as follows:
1. Facilitation - UID could be implemented through social/group learning, computer-
simulated learning, extended time for exams and assignments, testing material in
the same way it was taught as well as having flexibility with overall instruction.
2. Hindrance - though UID would save time in the long run, it would take a lot of time to
set up the routine. There may be resistance to UID by other faculty members; there
is also likely a lack of awareness by most faculty of the difference in learning needs
for each student.
Though the “how” is unknown for implementation of UID, faculty felt that there
needed to be a full university transformation for UID to be effective long term. As a start,
they could bring awareness for this need to accommodate a diversity of learning
requirements . To make this change within the classroom, faculty need support from the
university. More research needs to be done to have a better idea of how to implement
UID within the university as a whole.