What Is Universal Design for Learning?
Universal Design for Learning (UDL) is an approach to course and learning-environment design that anticipates student differences rather than reacting to it. Instead of creating a “standard” version of a course and then retrofitting individual accommodations, UDL encourages instructors to embed accessibility and flexibility from the start—so more learners can access, engage with, and demonstrate learning in meaningful ways.
Why UDL Matters
Across higher education, UDL is increasingly used to create accessible learning environments that support diverse learners: students with varied academic backgrounds, different disciplinary preparation, neurodiversity, multiple languages, and competing personal and work responsibilities. In sum:
- UDL promotes equity by removing barriers to learning and helping all students access and engage with the material.
- It encourages instructors to proactively design courses that consider variability in students' backgrounds, abilities, and interests.
- UDL fosters a more flexible learning environment where students can choose from various resources and methods to understand and demonstrate their knowledge.
The UDL Guidelines
The Center for Applied Special Technology (CAST), created the UDL framework and guidelines and launched UDL Guidelines 3.0 in July 2024. The guidelines are organized into the following three principles:
This principle focuses on purpose, motivation, and sustained effort. Students learn more effectively when they understand why work matters and when they have opportunities for meaningful autonomy. Engagement strategies help learners connect new ideas to existing knowledge and manage the challenges that come with complex learning.
Examples: short check-ins that normalize productive struggle; options for selecting among several discussion prompts; pacing guides that clarify workload expectations.
Because students perceive and process information in different ways, representation encourages instructors to offer content in more than one format or perspective. These options reinforce comprehension, reduce barriers related to modality, and strengthen learners’ ability to transfer concepts.
Examples: diagrams paired with brief text explanations; captioned videos; accessible slide decks; step-by-step worked examples; optional 3-5-minute overviews that orient students before they dive into detail.
Students benefit from practicing and demonstrating what they know in flexible and appropriately scaffolded ways. This principle supports learners’ strategic skills—planning, organizing, problem-solving—while ensuring they still meet the expectations of the discipline.
Examples: allowing small-stakes responses to be submitted in text or audio; providing models of successful problem sets, lab reports, or critiques; offering rehearsal opportunities before a high-stakes assessment.
Together, these three principles offer a structured yet adaptable way to design courses that welcome student diversity and reinforce disciplinary rigor.
Getting Started with the "Plus-One" Approach
UDL becomes more manageable when implemented incrementally. The “plus-one” strategy (Tobin & Behling, 2018), encourages instructors to identify one common bottleneck in their course—an assignment students frequently misunderstand, a concept that consistently generates confusion, or a transition in the course where engagement dips—and then add one additional pathway.
Examples of plus-one changes include:
- Access: Provide a short text summary alongside a complex diagram or offer a brief narrated walkthrough of a major assignment.
- Navigation: Break a multi-step task into milestones with estimated time commitments.
- Engagement: Offer a choice between two reflection prompts, each aligned with the same learning outcome.
- Expression: Allow students to complete a low-stakes assignment in text or audio without changing the requirements of major assessments.
Start with the area that would save you the most time in the long run. The goal is to decrease bottlenecks, not increase workload.
Resources:
- CAST, Universal Design for Learning Guidelines
- Tobin, J.T. and Behling, K. T., 2018. Reach Everyone, Teach Everyone: UDL in Higher Education
- Queen’s University Centre for Teaching and Learning, Universal Design for Learning