Learn About
Universal
Design in
Education

This section of the website serves as an introductory window into information about Universal Design in Education. As is explained in a bit more detail below, this is a broad scope. Success in higher education is not dependent on only curriculum and instruction, but depends on access to the physical environment as well as the electronic and information environments.

This portion of the website also explains about the terminology we use. We have carefully selected UDE as opposed to other terms such as UDL or UDI to reflect the scope of UD applications applied in postsecondary education.

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An Introduction to Universal Design in Higher Education

This presentation by Roger O. Smith, PhD, OT, FAOTA, to a group of faculty at University of Wisconsin-LaCrosse includes an overview of Universal Design in Higher Education (UDE). This is the first video in a series of 4 and coverse the current system of individual accommodations and the A3 Model, a theoretical model of how campuses serve the needs of students with disabilities. The question, “Why universal design in education?” is answered with historical context and perspectives from current research.

R2D2 Center at UW-Milwaukee

"When I had my accident I was told that, if I were to live, I'd live in an institution for the rest of my life... I don't think those people thought that that institution would be the Parliament of Canada"

Steven Fletcher, Member of Canadian Parliament