Applying Universal Design for
Instruction
• Joan Wolforth, McGill University
• Gladys Loewen, Assistive TechnologyBC
History of Disability
• Society has looked at people with
disabilities in different ways at different
times in history
• Beliefs and attitudes towards those who
have a disability have resulted in
different outcomes for them
History of Disability
• 19th century attitudes arose from the
acceptance of science and medicine as
the drivers of society’s attitudes
• Galton and Social Darwinism which
distorted the notion of the survival of the
fittest into the ultimate goals of the
eugenics movement
History of |Disability
• Eugenics strove for the perfection of the
Human Race by restricting the
reproduction of “elements” considered
abnormal
• Common viewpoint until mid 20th
century even in Canada
• Sterilization of sections of population etc
History of Disability
• Medical Model of disability developed
• Emphasized what was wrong/abnormal
with the person
• What the person could not do
• Separate education, employment, living
situations
• Exclusion from society
History of Disability
• 1960’s Rights movements began to
develop
• In Britain theorists began to challenge
the medical model and the exclusion of
the disabled community
• North American groups were inspired by
the Civil Rights movement in the U.S.
History of Disability
•
•
•
•
Social model of Disability promoted
Major proponent Mike Oliver (1990)
Marxist model changed the paradigm
Society not adapted to people with
disabilities.
• Limitations not within person but within
environment designed by an “ablest”
society
WHO Categories
• International Classification of Function,
Disability and Health
• Attitudes & Beliefs
• Natural and Built Environments
• Products & Technology
• Services, Systems, and Policies
• Relationship & Supports
Medical Model
Interactional Model
• Disability is a
deficiency or
abnormality
• Disability is a
difference.
• Being disabled is
negative
• Being disabled, in
itself, is neutral
• Disability resides in
the individual
• Disability derives
from interaction
between individual
and society
Medical Model
Interactional Model
• Remedy for
disability-related
problems is cure or
normalization of the
individual
• Remedy for disabilityrelated problems is a
change in the
interaction between
individual and society
• Agent of remedy is
the professional
• Agent of remedyindividual, advocate, or
anyone who affects
arrangement between
individual and society
Carol Gill, Chicago Institute on
Disability Research
Oliver’s Survey (1990)
• Can you say what • Can you say what
is wrong with
is wrong with
you?
society?
Oliver’s Survey
• What complaint
causes your
difficulty in
holding, gripping
or turning things?
• What defects in
the design of
everyday
equipment such
as jars and
bottles causes
you difficulty in
holding turning or
gripping them?
Oliver’s Survey
• How difficult is it
• What are the
for you to get
environmental
about your
constraints which
immediate
make it difficult for
neighbourhood on
you to get about
your own?
in your immediate
neighbourhood?
Oliver’s Survey
• Does your
disability make it
difficult for you to
travel by bus?
• Do poorly
designed buses
make it difficult for
someone with
your disability to
use them?
Oliver’s Survey
• Did you move
here because of
your disability
problem?
• What
inadequacies in
your housing
caused you to
move here?
Universal Design
• Paradigm shift from designing special
facilities to building for inclusion
• Initially an idea that developed in
Architecture
• Flat entrances, good levels of light,
clear contrast signage, adequate space
allocations, good acoustics
Educational Design
• Preparation of curricula, instructional
materials, and evaluation methods
which can be used easily with a wide
variety of students
• Service Delivery from a universal design
perspective
Principle 1: Equitable Use
Provide the same means of use for all users:
identical whenever possible; equivalent when
not.
Principle 2: Flexibility in Use
Accommodate a wide range of individual
preferences and abilities.
Principle 3: Simple and Intuitive Use
Use of design is easy to understand,
regardless of the user’s experience,
knowledge, language skills, or concentration
level.
Principle 4: Perceptible Information
Communicate necessary information effectively
to the user, regardless of ambient conditions
or the user’s sensory abilities.
Principle 5: Tolerance for Error
The design minimizes hazards and the
adverse consequences of accidental or
unintended actions.
Principle 6: Low Physical Effort
The design can be used efficiently and
comfortably with a minimum of fatigue.
Principle 7: Size and Space for Approach
and Use
A Community of Learners #8
The instructional environment
promotes interaction and
communication among students
and between students and
faculty. (U.Conn)
Instructional Climate #9
Instruction is designed to be
welcoming and inclusive. High
expectations are espoused for
all students. (U.Conn)
What is Universal Design?
The design of environments to
be usable by all people, to the
greatest extent possible, without
the need for adaptation or
specialized design.
Implementation
• The socio-political model of disability
provides a way to operationalize the
principles of Universal Design.
• It provides a framework on how to
approach the paradigm.
Two Approaches to Access
• Accommodation
• Universal Design
Accommodation
Approach
Universal Design
Approach
• Access issues are
disabled individual’s
problem to solve
• Access issues are the
designer’s problem to
solve
• Access achieved
through
accommodations and
retrofitting existing
environments
• Environments are
designed to be
usable by all, to the
greatest extent
possible
Accommodation
Approach
Universal Design
Approach
• Reactive
• Proactive
• Separate
• Inclusive
• Consumable
• Reusable and broadly
applicable
Convictions Adaptive Environments
• Design is powerful and profoundly
influences our daily lives and our sense
of confidence, comfort, and control.
• Design is a tool of social equity and
matters more than ever in a world more
diverse in age and ability than at any
other time in history.
Convictions Continued
• Variation in human ability is ordinary,
not special, and affects most of us for
some part of our lives.
• Human centered design is a way of
thinking about places, things and
communication but also about policies
and practices that are responsive to
human diversity and enhance
everyone's experience.
Working with Faculty
• How do I make suggestions to faculty
on how to make their courses more
usable for all students?
Questions to Consider:
• When I talk to a faculty member,
how can I approach the discussion
from a sustainable perspective?
• How do I focus on the environment
and not one student?
• What challenges to inclusion does
the design and delivery of the course
create the way the instructor is
offering the course?
What can the instructor change to
make the course more universally
designed for all students?
•To minimize the need for
individual accommodations
•To be inclusive for all students
Lecture
• Requires sustained
concentration,
retention of
information, fluency
in spoken language,
and note-taking
• Post notes on an
accessible Website;
provide periodic
breaks, adequate
space, lighting for
communication,
allow time for Q&A
and clarification
during presentation
Group Work
• Requires substantial,
appropriate physical
space; use of printed
materials; sustained
concentration and
interpersonal
communication; writing
skills; may spark
anxiety issues
• Mediate individual
differences through
distribution of
responsibilities,
breaks and accessible
formats; minimize
amount of printed
materials; design
physical space to
minimize noise level
and distraction
PowerPoint or Overhead
• Requires use of
visual information
(clarity, color, size,
and density of
slides); lighting may
be an issue
• Slides solid dark
background, light
text; 24- point font in
Arial, Times New
Roman; describe
slides orally; allow
adequate time to
read each slide;
post slides to an
accessible Website
Videos and Films
• Requires use of
auditory and visual
information; lighting
may be an issue
• Ensure videos are
captioned; prepare a
disk of descriptive
narration or
transcript for
availability of
alternative format
Written Exercises
• Requires reading,
writing, access to
print formats and
English language
fluency
• Offer exercises as
group work; allow
for the use of AT,
reader, scribe, or a
dictated response;
use at least 18-point
font on a solid
background using
simple, intuitive
language
Activities
• Requires physical
• Balance value of the
movement, auditory
activity and individual
and visual information,
differences of
language fluency; may
participants; consider
spark anxiety issues,
options to accomplish
compromise use of
the same goals; plan
accommodations
for ease of movement
(interpreters), and
and communication.
physical environment
Practice variations of
the activity to evaluate
(noise, space, lighting)
inclusiveness
Discussions
• Requires language
• Plan for space and
fluency, listening skills;
lighting for sound
sound barriers; may
barriers and
require note- taking,
alternative
sustained
communication
concentration, and use
(interpreters);
of visual information;
summarize key
may affect
points; design
effectiveness of
seating
accommodations
arrangements that
(interpreter); may spark
provide face-to-face
anxiety issues
contact
Examples of Evaluation Options
• Exam on web site
• Contract for course evaluation and
demonstration of knowledge
• Flexible evaluation methods
• Emailing assignments
Examples of Teaching Options
• Send teaching notes to students ahead
of lecture
• Post notes on web site
• Use PowerPoint along with lecture for
visual and auditory information
• Options for assignments as a group or
individual
Resources
• Oliver, Mike (1990). The Politics of
Disablement. Macmillan:London
• Welch, P.(1995). Strategies for
Teaching Universal Design. Adaptive
Environments Center: Boston
• Bowe, F. (2000). Universal Design in
Education. Bergin and Garvey:Westport
CT.
Resources
• Palmer, J.(2003). Universal Instructional
Design and Learning Disabled Students
www.tss.uoguelph.ca/projects/uid
• CAST Universal Design for Learning
http://www.cast.org/
• Center for Universal design
www.design.ncsu.edu/cud
Resources
• Carol Gill, Chicago Institute on Disability
Research
• www.ahead.org has a list of resources
related to UD as well as Disability
Studies
• Series of brochures on UD