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Learn About
Universal
Design in
Education

Universal Design in Education Centers

The links on this page direct you to the home pages of organizations that were developed specifically to advance universal design in education.

General UDE Resources
External link

AHEAD

"AHEAD is the premiere professional association committed to full participation of persons with disabilities in postsecondary education. As an international resource, AHEAD:

 

  • values diversity, personal growth and development, and creativity
  • promotes leadership and exemplary practices
  • provides professional development and disseminates information
  • orchestrates resources through partnership and collaboration

AHEAD dynamically addresses current and emerging issues with respect to disability, education, and accessibility to achieve universal access."

External link

CAST: Center for Applied Special Technology

"Founded in 1984 as the Center for Applied Special Technology, CAST has earned international recognition for its development of innovative, technology-based educational resources and strategies based on the principles of Universal Design for Learning (UDL).

 

CAST staff includes specialists in education research and policy, neuropsychology, clinical/school psychology, technology, engineering, curriculum development, K-12 professional development, and more.

 

By defining UDL and exploring its practical applications, CAST is pushing the boundaries of education research, practice, and policymaking."
External link

Equity and Excellence in Higher Education: Universal Course Design

"Providing college faculty with Universal Course Design (UCD) strategies & tools to increase access for all students, including those with disabilities."

A combined project of the Institute for Community Inclusion at the University of Massachusetts/Boston, in partnership with the Institute on Disability at the University of New Hampshire

External link

National Center on Disability & Access to Education

"The National Center on Disability and Access to Education (NCDAE) monitors and promotes electronically-mediated distance education policies and practices that enhance the lives of people with disabilities and their families."

Utah State University Center for Persons with Disabilities

General UDE Resources

It took me several years of struggling with the heavy door to my building, sometimes having to wait until a person stronger came along, to realize that the door was an accessibility problem, not only for me, but for others as well. And I did not notice, until one of my students pointed it out, that the lack of signs that could be read from a distance at my university forced people with mobility impairments to expend a lot of energy unnecessarily, searching for rooms and offices. Although I have encountered this difficulty myself on days when walking was exhausting to me, I interpreted it, automatically, as a problem arising from my illness (as I did with the door), rather than as a problem arising from the built environment having been created for too narrow a range of people and situations.

Susan Wendell, author of
The Rejected Body: Feminist Philosophical Reflections on Disability