Universal Design

Wk3: Universal design intro

This week, we will look more closely at Universal Design, or UD, and we'll consider how we can build course materials and content that is accessible by all people. Let's get started with a couple of videos:

Wk3: UD and "open"

How can we apply universal design in the context of our course materials and how does it relate to the open education movement? Check out the readings below.

The Intersection of Accessibility and Open Educational Resources - This blog post from our own Kaela Parks, PCC's Director of Disability Services, outlines some of the key challenges with the accommodation model and speaks to ways in which open education can improve options.

Open and Inclusive Education: Connections to Universal Design - This chapter from a text on the evolution of affordable content, shares case studies from PCC to illustrate connections between open educational material development and universal design.

Examples from Colleagues

Wk3: UD tools and resources

These are resources that you should be aware of as you think about designing your courses. Consider bookmarking them, or saving them in some way so that you can come back to them when you need them. For now, take a look, scan over what is available and make note of what you'd like to come back to review.

Accessibility Tutorials and Accessibility Handbook

This is a set of step-by-step instructions, tutorials, and videos - but also a nice print-ready handbook with quick instructions for each of several areas related to online content accessibility.

Academic Ableism: Disability and Higher Education

This openly licensed text from the University of Michigan, written by Timothy Dolmage is an excellent source for unpacking disability and approaching universal design. There is a lot here. We won’t have enough time in this cohort to read it all, but please take a look, review the chapter headings and consider revisiting it as you are thinking about designing your courses.

Wk3: Optional Extras

There is information on the DS Website related to Universal Design, Disability, and Accommodation, but in addition, the videos below were created for this cohort.