Equity & Universal
Design
EDER 677
Dr. Qing Li
Internet is everywhere…
Next generation – digital natives
 Equity, accessibility becomes more
important
 Equity:
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Have & have not’s
Gender
Age
Access
Accessibility
making products and services
available to, and usable by,
everyone
Moulton, G., Huyler, L., Hertz, J., & Levenson, M. (2002).
Accessible technology in today’s business: Case studies for
success. Redmond, Washington: Microsoft.
Website access
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50%
76%
population overall uses the Web
persons with disabilities
i.e. “76 percent of American with disabilities are
online compared to 50% of the American
population overall”
But….
98%
of existing Websites are inaccessible
McGrane, S. (2000). CNET Special reports: Is the Web truly
accessible to the disabled? Available online at:
http://www.cnet.com/specialreports/0-6014-7-1530073.html
Accessibility meets usability
technology for most of us makes
things easier,
but for the disabled, makes things
possible
Cardinali, R., & Gordon, Z. (2002). Technology:
Making things easier for all of us - for the
disabled making things possible. Equal
Opportunities International, 21(1), 65-79.
Universal Design
A new paradigm
 Rooted in architecture – Dr. Ron Mace
from North Carolina State University, an
architect and wheelchair user, wanted to
incorporate universal accessibility into all
structures.

Universal Design
Greater usability/accessibility, particularly
for people with disabilities
 Also yields great rewards to typical user

E.g. curb cuts – wheelchair
- People with luggage,
stroller, inline skaters
From these beginnings, the idea of Universal
Design for Instruction has evolved.

Mainstream technology originally
designed for disabilities
Typewriter
 1808
 the first typewriter was
built by Pellegrino Turri for
his blind friend Countess
Carolina Fantoni da
Fivizzono.
 He wanted her to be able
to write love letters
legibly. For more
information please access
Example 2
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Alexander Graham Bell (1847 - 1922 )
Bell was born into a family specialising in elocution: both his
father and his grandfather were authorities on the subject, and
before long he himself was teaching people how to speak.
1872: Alexander Graham Bell, at age 25,
seeks to make speech visible to people who
are deaf (try to transmitting speech electronically, with
the intention of teaching the deaf to speak by putting these
sounds together ).
This led to the invention of the microphone, speaker,
telephone, speech recognition, speech synthesis,
stereophonic recording…
Example 3 (necessity is the mother of
invention)…
Computer
 American Census

predict 1890 more than 62 million
Americans
 Herman Hollerith, a man with a
learning disability, designed a system
that processed information so that
human beings would not have to.
 punched cards - first computer to
process information.
 allow the 1890 census to be tabulated.
 Twenty-eight years after Hollerith
[1896] founded the Tabulating
Machine Company it becomes known
as International Business Machines
(IBM).
Example 4
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1972: E-Mail
Vinton Cerf developed the host level
protocols for the ARPANET. ARPANET was
the first large-scale packet network.
Cerf, hard-of-hearing since birth, invented
email to communicate with his deaf wife via
text messaging.
He integrated e-mail as part of the
functionality of ARPANET, the precursor to
Internet.
Example 5 (1972)
Personal Digital Assistant (PDA): The
first "Personal Digital Assistant" was
developed in support of enabling persons
who are deaf to send and receive
messages through the use a SMALL handheld, alphanumeric communications
device attached to a modem and a
telephone.
 Scanner: Ray Kurzweil invented the first
flatbed scanner for the blind.

More examples…
Electronic curbcuts
 http://ideal-group.org/ecc/

Universal Design for Learning
Universal Design for Learning
calls for
 Multiple means of representation,
to give learners various ways of
acquiring information and
knowledge,
 Multiple means of expression, to
provide learners alternatives for
demonstrating what they know,
 Multiple means of engagement, to
tap into learners' interests, offer
appropriate challenges, and
increase motivation.
Kinash, 2006
Digital curb-cuts
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Metaphor – used by researchers
(e.g. Coombs and Banks (2000))
Opitz’ Examples:
Images:
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effective in providing alternative
examples or explanations of content.
adding text tag to the image enables
a visually disabled person to read the
textual description to the learner,
describing the attributes of the
image.
Also allows us a more detailed
explanation of the image.
More Examples
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Sounds can also be used, but captions or alternative text
benefit the deaf and those with hearing by providing a
written script to follow and to refer back to at a later date.
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Easy-to-read content benefits all learners by ‘chunking’ the
information into blocks of important information that can be
easily read and understood by any audience. (p. 12)
Opitz, C. (2002). Online course accessibility: A call for responsibility and necessity.
Educational Technology Review, 10(1). Retrieved May 8, 2003, from, http://
www.aace.org/pubs/etr/issue2/optiz-x1.cfm
Principles for Universal Design
Instruction
Equitable Use
 Flexibility in Use
 Simple and intuitive
 Perceptible information
 Tolerance for error
 Low physical effort
 Size and space for approach and use
 A community of learners
 Instructional Climate (newly added)
(Scott, McGuire, Shaw, 2001)

Assistive Technology
any item, piece of equipment, or product
system whether acquired commercially off
the shelf, modified or customized, that is
used to increase, maintain, or improve
functional capabilities of individuals with
disabilities
Individuals with Disabilities Education ACT (IDEA)
20, USC, Chapter 33, Section 1401 (25) US
Assistive Technology for Learning
(ATL)
ATL ranges from ‘low-tech’ such as a
pencil grip to ‘high-tech’ such as a
screen-reading program.
Task
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Assuming that your institution needs to change
one course to encompass the principles of
Universal Design or consider your final project
(focus solely on the online content)
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What are some design changes you will implement?
What types of disabilities would be the most difficult to
accommodate?
How can the existing online communities aid in
universal design?
How would these principles have changed your rubric
for the “ideal” website?
What other considerations need to be made for these
types of learners?
How can these principles help everyone?
Resources:
Universal Design Education Online
 CAST-Universal Design for Living
 Facultyware-U of Connecticut
 Do-It-U of Washington
 EASI
 Ideal Group
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