Universal Design for Learning: The Guidelines

Offer ways to customize the display of information. Allow students to alter and move teaching resources. Offer information in multiple formats such as written, verbal, and visual.  

Guideline in Practice: 

• Create content as HTML pages in the Learning Management System rather than uploading Word docs and PDFs. 
  •  Avenue to Learn tutorial: Using the HTML editor 
• Consult the World Wide Web Consortium Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) when creating digital content to algin with international standards for accessibility.  
• Provide instructions for assignments verbally and in writing.  
• Include captions and transcripts on video and audio media. 
• Choose class texts that are available in multiple formats, such as audiobooks.  
• Consider audio or video recording your lectures or lessons.  
• Give options for participation where possible. For example, accept submission of written comments at the end of class as an alternative to speaking in class.  

Clarify vocabulary and symbols. Clarify syntax and structures used in the discipline. Promote understanding across languages by avoiding idioms or explaining them. Illustrate examples using media or other formats. 

Guideline in Practice:  

• Create a glossary of commonly used terms, acronyms, and symbols. 
• Contextualize examples if they rely on particular cultural or temporal knowledge. 
• Invite class to share examples – they may resonate with students of similar age and background.

Provide adequate background knowledge. Highlight patterns, explain things relationally, create connections with content. 

Guideline in Practice:  

• Reference back to previous topics, lesson and courses.  
• Remind students where they’ve encountered these examples before. 
• Scaffold content by breaking it down into smaller components that build on each other.  
• Anchor ideas in the bigger picture or broader context.  
• Help visualize graphics through narration.   
• Provide real world examples. 
• Give demonstrations.  
• Face learners when speaking and be aware of lighting. 
• Turn on captioning when using PowerPoint or virtual teaching platforms and spaces.  

Allow students to respond and demonstrate their learning in a variety of ways. Provide multiple paths to find and engage with learning materials. Optimize access to tools and assistive technologies. 

 Guideline in Practice: 

• In the Learning Management System, link directly to applicable content when posting announcements and reminders. 
• Turn on the ‘Read Aloud’ feature in Windows to hear how screen reading software might interpret your document.
• Choose course materials that are known to work well with assistive technologies. 
• Offer multiple ways of navigating course content (i.e. link directly to content).  
• Considering using audio or video feedback tools available in the Learning Management System. 
  • Carleton University – Grading and Providing Feedback in BrightSpace 
  • Avenue to Learn tutorial: Assessment Feedback  

Communicate important information in multiple formats. Use multiple tools for construction and composition. Build aptitude and confidence by gradually decreasing support. Give learners opportunity to practice prior in an environment where trial and error is okay or prior to high-stakes assessments.  

Guideline in Practice: 

• Provide instructions for activities verbally and in writing.  
• Have visual accompaniment such as slides or illustrations for auditory presentations.  
• Provide manipulatives to add a tactile component to lessons. 
• Consider having students submit drafts or works-in-progress for feedback prior to the final submission.  
• Articulate process by demonstration or communal effort such as solving an example problem together. 
• Consider adding media-rich content and assessments such as videos, podcasts, animations and infographics. 
• Add diverse voices and perspectives by inviting guest speakers to your classroom.  
• Contemplate mentorship opportunities for students.  
• Unpack the multiple pathways when there is more than one approach or solution.  
• Where appropriate promote the use of calculators, read-aloud software, spell check, grammar apps and text-to-speech tools.  
• Provide individualized feedback to learners where possible.  Use ‘release conditional’ content in the Learning Management System to progress students through progressive content or offer extra content when students are struggling.  
  • Avenue to Learn tutorial: How to Add Release Conditions to Content Items 

Guide learners to set appropriate goals and encourage planning. Encourage students to not only learn the content but understand their own learning process. Allow opportunities to develop systems of information management, resource organization. Encourage reflection and monitoring one’s progress.  

Guideline in Practice: 

• Have learners set goals and create work plans as part of larger assignments. 
• Break down long-term goals into short-term objectives.  
• Share helpful tools such as a reference managers, note taking tools and templates. 
• Encourage students to document their process with a portfolio.  
• Have students write and reflect on what they’re hoping to get out of a learning opportunity. 
• Prompt students to reflect by encouraging them to stop and think, show their work or explain their reasoning.  
• Share supports available through McMaster’s Student Success Centre and highlight the offerings that might be of particular interest to your students such as the First-Year Experience program, the Writing and Academic Skills workshops or the annual Exam Prep and Self-Care sessions. 

Allow learners choice and autonomy where possible. Optimize relevance, value, and authenticity. Take effort to reduce distractions. Proactively identify and remove or reduce barriers to learning, for example a lack of foundational or assumed knowledge. 

  Guideline in Practice: 

• Give options on how to submit work such as offering the option to do a written paper or a presentation. 
• Allow learners to participate in the design of assessments. 
• Provide flexible deadlines where possible.  
• Remove time limits where possible. 
• Remind learners of upcoming deadlines. 
• Allow students some choice regarding topic. 
• Student input on grading scheme or rubric such as the type of rewards or recognition available. 
• Consider use contract-based or specifications-based grading.  
• Share anti-distraction techniques such as putting phones in airplane mode, using a timer or the Pomodoro method(work for a period of time, break for a period of time). 
• Offer protected work time in tutorials or as an integrated part of the curriculum.  
• Involve learners in setting goals. 
• Vary activities and sources of information so that they can be personalized, culturally relevant, responsive, inclusive and ability appropriate.  
• Allow exploration and experimentation. 
• Encourage students to solve problems in novel ways or make sense of complex ideas creatively. 
• Break down large assessments into stages or steps. 
• Offer opportunities for practice, especially prior to major assessments. 
• Create and share rubrics to communicate expectations clearly. 
• If there is a lack foundational knowledge, consider providing optional resources. These could be curated from existing Open Educational Resources (OERs), such as the eCampus Open Library. 

Learning is challenging. Endeavour to build student’s ability to persist and navigate these challenges.  

Guideline in Practice: 

• Share intended learning outcomes on the course syllabus.  
• State the goals and objectives as you begin a lesson or at the start of a module or piece of content. 
• Give a ‘why’ – why are we learning this? Why is this content important? 
• Thoughtfully approach workload and demands on the student – avoid having multiple assessments due at the same time. Consider where in term difficult content is introduced.  
• Create a space where learners can interact and support each other such as a discussion board. 
• Encourage collaborative work where appropriate.  
• Encourage students to develop and share resources among themselves.  
• Set group work up for success by clearly defining roles or responsibilities and establishing a group agreement. This could be instructor facilitated or the students in the group negotiating. There are many examples in the chapter, ‘The Collaborator’ of the Liberated Learners eBook.
• Give feedback on how learners can improve. Ideally feedback is frequent, timely, and specific. 
• Provide feedback that is substantive and informative rather than comparative or competitive 
• Emphasize process, effort and improvement in meeting standards as alternatives to external evaluation and competition. 

Encourage students to take responsibility for their own learning and provide multiple options for how they might take on this responsibility. Facilitate personal coping skills and strategies. Develop opportunities for self-assessment and reflection. 

Guideline in Practice: 

• Provide prompts, reminders, guides, rubrics, checklists to help increase length of time on-task and elevate frequency of self-reflection. 
• Provide tools that promote and achieve goal-setting. 
• Support activities that encourage self-reflection and identification of personal goals. 
• Provide supports for developing coping skills. 
• Appropriately handling judgements of “natural” aptitudes. 
• Offer tools that help learners to track their progress.