Universal Design

Universal Design for Learning (UDL) Principles operate under the premise that instructors/designers consider the widest array of users/learners when creating curriculum. 

Understanding Student Needs

To consider the widest array of users is to understand the diversity of cognitive profiles and how each learner is unique in how one receives, perceives, processes, and produces information. One shortcut towards ensuring that your course is accessible by all learners is to design with the extreme ends of the user continuum in mind. SAS recommends learning about accessible and usable design practices, perhaps by starting with Microsoft Office tutorials, and employing and highlighting the use of accessible materials in your courses and other work.

Accessible Dartmouth Initiative

The Accessible Dartmouth Iniative is a pilot program that seeks to build cohorts of faculty implementing UDL into their courses, and, in so doing, better meet the needs of all students. To further these goals, stipends will be awarded to encourage engagement with UDL institutes and other trainings that support the development and implementation of UDL in Dartmouth undergraduate courses. For details, please visit DCAL's Accessible Dartmouth Initiative webpage. To view relevant events, visit DCAL's events page.

Learning More

If you would like to learn more about Universal Design for Learning/Instruction and the cognitive and learning research behind its principles and practices, there are many helpful resources: