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Writer's pictureEngaging Politics

Accessibility, Universal Design, and Remote Teaching

Updated: Aug 4, 2020

Universal Design is a philosophy of architecture that privileges the broad functionality of a constructed space: when designing a building, you need to make it accessible for all who might want to enter it and use it. The same principle holds true for pedagogy--Universal Design for Learning (UDL) is the idea that we should make sure our course "works" to educate all of our students, regardless of their preparation, socioeconomic status, technological access, or ability status. Implementing UDL is, quite frankly, a lot easier than it sounds; it is also, unfortunately, far less utilized than it should be. Nonetheless, as many of us are adapting classes for remote instruction this fall, UDL is more important than ever: remote learning can be even more profound than with face-to-face instruction, but it is also far easier for struggling or disengaged students to fall behind.


Note: You will see that many of the links here could easily have gone in the "Equitable and Anti-Racist Pedagogy" post. That is because Universal Design and foregrounding accessibility are intimately related to equity.


Universal Design


Teaching Remotely and Accessibly





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