What is Universal Design for Learning?

​​Education has borrowed the concept of “universal design” from architecture. This approach to design believes that removing features that present barriers for some will likely benefit many others as well.

What is necessary for some is good for others.

Universal Design for Learning (UDL) is a research-based framework for designing curricula - that is, educational goals, methods, materials, and assessments - that enable all individuals to gain knowledge, skills, and enthusiasm for learning. This is accomplished by simultaneously providing rich supports for learning and reducing barriers to the curriculum, while maintaining high achievement standards for all students [2].

From K-12, classrooms typically include learners with diverse abilities and backgrounds, including students with physical, sensory, communication and learning disabilities, differing cultural and linguistic backgrounds, varied learning styles, developmental disabilities, ASD, and so on. Essentially, UDL is integrated into regular instructional planning as a means to make diversity the norm. UDL provides learning activities that expand students’ opportunities for acquiring information and demonstrating learning; additionally, UDL provides enhanced opportunities for social participation and inclusion.

Watch the following video, created by the National Center of UDL, for a brief introduction to

According to Learning for All [3], “the aim of UDL … is to provide access to the curriculum for all students, and to assist educators in designing products and environments to make them accessible to everyone, regardless of age, skills, or situation.”

Learning for All highlights the following principles of UDL:

  • Universal: Give all students access to rich learning experiences that suit their learning needs and maximize their ability to progress
  • Equitable: Accommodate differences and give students opportunities to extend their learning, regardless of their background knowledge, understanding, or skill level
  • Flexible: Give students access to a variety of teaching strategies, materials, tools, and assessments
    Inclusive: Make sure the teaching strategies, materials, tools, and assessments students can choose from are responsive to their learning needs
  • Accessible: The classroom should be designed appropriately for students, so they can access all learning materials and assistive devices
  • Simple: Make sure information, instructions, expectations, and feedback are easy for students to understand and consistently communicated
  • Safe: A classroom must be a safe place, both physically and emotionally, for learning to take place

[1] (Giangreco, M., 2002)

[2] (www.CAST.org)

[3] (Ontario Ministry of Education, 2013)