3 Approaches to UDL

Design as the Foundation

When we design an online class--whether it is fully online, hybrid, or a companion site for our face-to-face class, we need to keep the lesson of the curb cuts in mind. But there is another lesson to learn from Kalamazoo, and that is that we need strategies not only for designing from scratch but also for retrofitting.

In the next three weeks, we'll walk you through designing accessible HTML pages using the Rich Content Editor in Canvas, designing accessible documents, and designing accessible multi-media. Within each of those weeks, however, we'll start from the foundation of UDL, and work from three approaches: creating resources from scratch, retro-fitting existing material, and curating accessible course material from outside sources.

	Creating Resources When we're designing and building new spaces--whether we're building a brick and mortar building or a virtual classroom!--starting from scratch has unique benefits. The "clean slate" allows us to build in accessibility from the very beginning. Even before we begin the construction process, we can develop a blueprint for our course that allows us to assess why, when, and where students might be using assistive technology, and design accordingly. Just as importantly, we can build in usability, at the same time. If you are migrating a course from one course management system to another, you have a unique opportunity to build from a clean slate. In many ways, this is not simply ensuring your media (visual and audio) are accessible, but rather that you provide opportunities for students who learn differently and prefer different types of assessment, as well. For instance, you may decide to not only make your resources fully accessible but also to redesign a learning unit to support more engagement or to offer options for assessment.
	Retrofitting Existing Materials Even if you are new to teaching, you bring with you a dossier of materials, resources, and activities that are already created--most likely, not with universal design in mind! In order to get your current resources ready for your online class, you'll need to do a little retrofitting, which starts from learning tools for assessing the accessibility of your existing material! We'll explore rubrics, checklist, apps and tools that will allow you to triage your resources and develop a plan of attack for making them more accessible.
	Curating Accessible Content And, unless you have some amazing teaching super-powers, we know you also have material from websites, publishers, textbooks, and Open Educational Resources that needs to be assessed. Each week, we'll provide strategies for evaluating the accessibility of outside material to ensure the resources you integrate within your course follow the same high standards as the material you create for your class.

Creating Resources

When we're designing and building new spaces--whether we're building a brick and mortar building or a virtual classroom!--starting from scratch has unique benefits. The "clean slate" allows us to build in accessibility from the very beginning. Even before we begin the construction process, we can develop a blueprint for our course that allows us to assess why, when, and where students might be using assistive technology, and design accordingly. Just as importantly, we can build in usability, at the same time. If you are migrating a course from one course management system to another, you have a unique opportunity to build from a clean slate. In many ways, this is not simply ensuring your media (visual and audio) are accessible, but rather that you provide opportunities for students who learn differently and prefer different types of assessment, as well. For instance, you may decide to not only make your resources fully accessible but also to redesign a learning unit to support more engagement or to offer options for assessment.

Retrofitting Existing Materials

Even if you are new to teaching, you bring with you a dossier of materials, resources, and activities that are already created--most likely, not with universal design in mind! In order to get your current resources ready for your online class, you'll need to do a little retrofitting, which starts from learning tools for assessing the accessibility of your existing material! We'll explore rubrics, checklist, apps and tools that will allow you to triage your resources and develop a plan of attack for making them more accessible.

Curating Accessible Content

And, unless you have some amazing teaching super-powers, we know you also have material from websites, publishers, textbooks, and Open Educational Resources that needs to be assessed. Each week, we'll provide strategies for evaluating the accessibility of outside material to ensure the resources you integrate within your course follow the same high standards as the material you create for your class.