Click here to see a concept map of the Nine Principles
The Center on Postsecondary Education and Disability at the University of Connecticut promotes nine principles of UDI that include seven principles identified by the Center for Universal Design at the NCSU College of Design as well as two additional principles that speak specifically to the learning environment as opposed to the design of products and environments more generally.
Principle One – Equitable Use
The design should be appealing, and should allow for the same means of use for all users whenever possible, or equivalent means without segregation when identical means are not possible.
Automatic doors and curb cuts are both examples of design features that allow for equitable use. A person in a wheelchair benefits but so does an individual with a stroller or delivery trolley.
The idea that good design allows for equitable use is vital. Students can successfully compete in academic environments only if they receive equal access to all course materials and activities. The use of assistive technology and adaptive computing can provide students with disabilities with the tools and techniques they need for full access but only if the design of the learning experience affords such use.
Consider a distance delivery course that relies on CDs to deliver instructional material. All students receive the same CDs. The material could be accessed on a standard computer or on a computer that has been modified with adaptive computing hardware/software to make it more accessible. It is possible for the same design to work well whether or not students are using magnification, synthesized speech, or other assistive technology, assuming the proper adaptations are in place, and the design supports such means of access.
Principle Two – Flexibility in Use
The design should provide choice in method of use. As an example consider the distribution of lecture notes on blackboard. By using electronic text students are allowed to access the content in whatever means are most efficient. Electronic text can be printed in a variety of font sizes, viewed on screen at magnified levels, read out loud by a screenreader or filereader, or converted to an alternate format such as Braille or digital audio, all without the need for special accommodation assuming learners have the appropriate technology.
Principle Three – Simple and Intuitive Use
The design should allow for ease of use regardless of the user’s experience, knowledge, language skills, or current concentration level. It is important for content to be presented so the most important information is clearly identifiable as such, so that even with limited experience or language barriers a user can effectively navigate. For example, in a syllabus, there should be clear expectations without any unnecessary clutter.
As another example consider two different ways to design a website. One designer uses headings appropriately, designating the format of the content so that main ideas are coded as heading 1, subtopics receive a heading 2 designation, etc., then a blind user who relies on a screenreader such as JAWS to navigate on the web can use keyboard commands to bring up a list of all headings for a given page and have them read out loud, hitting the enter key when the topic that the user wants to read about is read. Because the information has been well organized and labeled appropriately, the user can skip from main ideas to main ideas, then from subtopic to subtopic, finding the information that is needed with ease.
In the second case, the designer has not used headings, simply changing the font size to display organization visually. For the blind user accessing this site there is no way to quickly identify the main ideas and navigate to subtopics of interest. Instead, the user has to listen to all the text, tabbing from section to section without knowing how the information is organized, a process that takes much more time and is much more difficult.
Principle Four – Perceptible Information
The design should allow for effective communication of ideas regardless of conditions in the surroundings or the user’s ability to sense through given modalities. Consider the use of captions for televised presentations. Those who are Deaf or Hard of Hearing will benefit, but so will those in a noisy room, or those who learned English as a second language, or those who learn best when information is presented in a bimodal fashion.
As a basic rule, anything that is not text should have a text equivalent, whenever possible. This means that sound should have captions or a transcript and images should have text labels or “alt tags”. More information on how to create appropriate alt tags can be found on the web. Contact DSS at aydss@uaa.alaska.edu for tutorials.
Principle Five – Tolerance for Error
The design minimizes hazards and the adverse consequences of accidental or unintended actions. As an example consider an individual with low vision or limited fine motor control who can interact with a keyboard more efficiently with options such as StickyKeys (which allows for key combinations even when hitting one key at a time), BounceKeys (which ignores repeated key strokes) and ToggleKeys (which uses sound to alert a user when Caps Lock, Scroll Lock, or Num Lock are pressed), minimizing the impact of accidental keystrokes.
Another example is the standard dialogue box that pops up when a user goes to close a document before saving changes, or a guard rail that keeps someone who stumbles from falling off a ledge.
A last example that is tied to course design has to do with the frequency with which students receive feedback. If a student has to wait until the midterm exam to find out he or she has not been “getting” the information presented in class, it will be harder to correct the situation than if he or she had smaller stake quizzes or assignments all along that could serve as indicators that more study time was needed.
Principle Six – Low Physical Effort
The design eliminates nonessential physical effort so the focus can stay on essential aspects of the learning environment. It is important to note that the reference here is to nonessential physical effort. If the learning outcomes include mastery of certain physical skills then it is not appropriate to modify the learning environment to remove those challenges.
For example, in an EMT program the ability to physically lift another individual or perform CPR is a requirement. The physical effort is essential. On the other hand, in a classroom setting, the effort of hand writing a paper rather than typing it with a word processor may not be essential.
Principle Seven – Size and Shape
The design should allow for a clear line of sight to important elements, the ability to reach, manipulate, and use important components regardless of body size or mobility. For classes that are small, sitting in a circle instead of in rows can allow for learners to see each other, helping students with attention deficit to stay focused, helping learners with hearing impairments to benefit from being able to read lips and use body posture.
More generally, having adjustable height tables, ergonomic chairs, a variety of laboratory and computer equipment, operating systems with built-in accessibility features and the ability to set up roaming profiles so users can set their preferences and find them intact at whatever computer they log onto in the network, buildings with automatic door openers, elevators that function well, fire alarms that use lights in conjunction with sound and Braille labeled doors are all important ideas.
Principle Eight – Community of Learners
The instructional environment promotes interaction and communication among students and between students and faculty. This is a concept that finds much discussion within many institutions of higher education. Important features can include physical space for gathering comfortably in open access portions of a campus, encouragement and incentives to organize and maintain study groups, as well as availability of faculty during office hours.
Principle Nine –Instructional Environment
The instruction is designed to be welcoming and inclusive while encouraging high standards for all learners (Scott 2002). This is critical. Implementing principles of universal design must not be equated with a lowering of standards. The idea is to remove barriers not to remove appropriate challenges. By designing an environment to be inclusive and challenging at the same time, learners are allowed to compete fairly. By removing barriers at the design stage, qualified learners can focus on accessing content, engaging with it effectively, and demonstrating mastery. Students with unique needs can focus on learning through the same basic design as their peers instead of focusing on issues of access that arise from a poor design.
