Designing for Access
Access is one of the three scaffolds for learner supports introduced in the UDL Guidelines 3.0. Access focuses on reducing entry barriers so that all learners can participate fully in learning. Access includes welcoming learners’ interests and identities (Guideline 7), ensuring content is perceivable across formats (Guideline 1), and offering multiple ways for learners to interact (Guideline 4). When these entry points are designed proactively, learners can bring their whole selves into learning and focus on growth rather than navigating avoidable obstacles. Designing for access also involves making intentional decisions about which options to offer and which to limit—balancing learner variability with clarity, cognitive load, and instructor capacity.
Strategy Library: Designing for Access
This library highlights strategies for designing for access, organized into three categories drawn from the UDL Guidelines 3.0. Each strategy links directly to the UDL considerations while emphasizing small, practical changes you can try right away.
Welcoming Interests and Identities
Affirmation of learner identities, authentic choices, and belonging
Perception
Multiple ways for learners to access, perceive, and process information
Interaction
Flexible options for responding, navigating, and engaging with tools and activities
Welcoming Interests and Identities
Designing options for welcoming interests and identities (UDL Guideline 7) means affirming learner individuality, offering authentic choices, and fostering belonging. When learners see their identities respected and their interests represented, they are more likely to invest in learning. This may include:
- Optimize choice and autonomy (7.1)
- Optimize relevance, value, and authenticity (7.2)
- Nurture joy and play (7.3)
- Address biases, threats, and distractions (7.4)
Here are some ways you might begin to design options for welcoming interests and identities:
Choice and Autonomy
Provide meaningful options while keeping structures clear.
- Offer assignments in multiple formats (text, audio, video, infographic). (7.1, 5.2)
- Provide flexible pathways for participation (discussion posts, chat, collaborative docs, individual or group work). (7.1, 5.1, 8.3)
- Allow choice in pacing and depth through flexible timelines or optional extension activities. (7.1, 6.2, 7.2)
- Use polls or surveys to invite learner input on topics, examples, or activity formats. (7.1, 5.1)
- Give learners opportunities to co-design small elements of an activity (e.g., choosing case studies or examples). (7.1, 7.2)
- Create “menu” assignments where students select from a set of tasks aligned with the same outcome. (7.1, 5.2)
- Encourage goal-setting so students can connect choices to personal learning aims. (7.1, 9.1)
Relevance and Authenticity
Connect learning to students’ lives, communities, and goals.
- Curate diverse readings and media that reflect multiple perspectives. (7.2, 1.3)
- Highlight real-world applications of assignments and activities. (7.2, 8.1)
- Frame tasks around professional, disciplinary, or community contexts. (7.2, 9.2)
- Invite learners to share personal or community-based examples. (7.2, 9.2)
- Incorporate current events or emerging issues into discussions and assignments. (7.2, 8.1)
- Provide optional “dig deeper” resources for students interested in exploring further. (7.2, 3.4)
- Design scenario-based activities that mirror authentic challenges in the field. (7.2, 5.2)
Joy and Play
Spark curiosity and make room for exploration.
- Incorporate low-stakes activities such as polls, games, or creative prompts. (7.3, 5.1)
- Encourage experimentation with multiple attempts on low-stakes tasks. (7.3, 5.3)
- Provide creative formats for practice (storytelling, role play, design challenges). (7.3, 5.2)
- Use discussion boards or class prompts for surprising discoveries or playful connections. (7.3, 7.1)
- Celebrate progress and small wins as part of collective learning. (7.3, 8.3)
- Share your own sense of curiosity or wonder to model joy in learning. (7.3, 8.4)
- Offer “challenge by choice” activities where learners can stretch without penalty. (7.3, 7.1)
Addressing Bias and Building Safety
Foster psychological safety and address exclusionary practices.
- Co-create community agreements to set norms for respectful dialogue. (7.4, 9.4)
- Design class activities so learners can step away for cultural or religious practices and rejoin without penalty (e.g., flexible participation windows, recap notes, or asynchronous alternatives), with instructors proactively normalizing this flexibility. (7.4, 7.1)
- Use anonymous surveys or check-ins to surface issues of bias or exclusion. (7.4, 6.5)
- Build predictability with transparent schedules, deadlines, and reminders. (7.4, 6.2)
- Normalize mistakes as part of learning by modelling revision and reflection. (7.4, 8.2)
- Provide multiple ways to ask questions (anonymous box, office hours, chat). (7.4, 5.1)
- Acknowledge diverse communication styles and reduce pressure for constant verbal participation. (7.4, 5.4)
- Review materials regularly to identify and update biased or outdated content. (7.4, 2.4)
Perception
Designing options for perception (UDL Guideline 1) means ensuring learners can access and process information in multiple ways. Some learners may rely on customizing displays, others may need content in different sensory formats, and all benefit when materials reflect diverse perspectives and identities. This may include:
- Support opportunities to customize the display of information (1.1)
- Support multiple ways to perceive information (1.2)
- Represent a diversity of perspectives and identities in authentic ways (1.3)
Here are some ways you might begin to design options for perception:
Customizing Display
Make materials flexible for different visual and sensory needs.
- Provide documents in formats that allow adjustments (Word, tagged PDF, HTML). (1.1, 4.2)
- Use templates with headings and consistent styles for easier navigation. (1.1, 3.3)
- Encourage learners to use accessibility features like zoom, line focus, or reader modes. (1.1, 2.2)
- Avoid embedding essential text in images. (1.1, 1.2)
- Minimize clutter and keep layouts predictable. (1.1, 7.4)
- Review materials regularly to identify when fewer, clearer resources may reduce cognitive load more effectively than adding additional formats. (1.1, 7.4)
- Use consistent layouts, labels, and weekly structures to reduce the cumulative navigation burden students experience across multiple courses. (1.1, 6.3)
- Share instructions or guides on using accessibility features. (1.1, 6.2)
- Ensure captions and transcripts are provided in editable text formats that learners can adjust. (1.1, 1.2)
Multiple Modalities
Offer key information in more than one format.
- Provide captions and transcripts for all audio and video materials. (1.2, 2.5)
- Use alt text and long descriptions for images, charts, and diagrams. (1.2, 2.1)
- Pair visuals with verbal explanations and key text points. (1.2, 3.2)
- Reinforce explanations with diagrams, flowcharts, or concept maps. (1.2, 3.2)
- Provide low-bandwidth or print-friendly alternatives for media-heavy resources. (1.2, 2.5)
- Allow learners to revisit recordings or slides asynchronously. (1.2, 6.4)
- Avoid using colour alone to convey meaning; pair with labels or patterns. (1.2, 3.2)
Diverse Representation
Reflect a wide range of voices and perspectives in course content.
- Curate readings and media from authors with diverse cultural and lived experiences. (1.3, 2.4)
- Integrate case studies from different communities and contexts. (1.3, 7.2)
- Acknowledge dominant narratives and invite alternative interpretations. (1.3, 2.4)
- Use visuals and stories that represent multiple identities. (1.3, 7.2)
- Invite learners to contribute resources from their own contexts. (1.3, 9.2)
- Refresh course materials regularly to maintain authenticity. (1.3, 3.4)
- Encourage critical reflection on assumptions in course texts or media. (1.3, 6.5)
Interaction
Designing options for interaction (UDL Guideline 4) means ensuring learners have multiple ways to respond, navigate, and engage with tools and activities. Interaction includes both how students demonstrate learning and how they access the technologies and resources that make participation possible. This may include:
- Vary and honour the methods for response, navigation, and movement (4.1)
- Optimize access to accessible materials and assistive and accessible technologies and tools (4.2)
Here are some ways you might begin to design options for interaction:
Multiple Response Pathways
Give learners flexible ways to participate and demonstrate understanding.
- Provide assignments with format options (written, oral, visual, multimedia). (4.1, 5.2)
- Scaffold alternative routes to completing tasks (e.g., reflection, infographic, presentation). (4.1, 5.2)
- Enable participation in multiple modes (speaking, writing, polling, collaborative docs). (4.1, 5.1)
- Offer participation options that allow time for reflection (e.g., post-class discussion threads, written responses after live sessions). (4.1, 6.4)
- Allow learners to choose individual or group participation. (4.1, 7.1, 8.3)
- Provide anonymous contribution options to reduce pressure. (4.1, 7.4)
- Design course navigation with clear menus, headings, and pathways. (4.1, 6.3)
- Offer practice opportunities with interactive tools before high-stakes use. (4.1, 5.3)
Accessible Tools and Technologies
Ensure tools support equitable participation.
- Select platforms and materials compatible with assistive technologies. (4.2, 1.2)
- Check accessibility features such as captions, contrast, and alt text. (4.2, 1.2)
- Be mindful that some commonly used features (e.g., visual effects, animations, or virtual backgrounds) can create processing barriers for some learners. (4.2, 7.4)
- Share documents in editable formats rather than PDFs alone. (4.2, 1.1)
- Provide instructions for using accessibility features. (4.2, 6.2)
- Encourage learners to adjust settings (captions, font, layout) that meet their needs. (4.2, 1.1)
- Provide alternatives if a tool is not fully accessible (e.g., a text version of a simulation). (4.2, 6.5)
- Invite learner feedback on tool usability and make adjustments. (4.2, 9.3)
- Regularly review digital tools for accessibility updates or new features. (4.2, 6.5)
Try One Thing
UDL doesn’t mean redesigning everything at once. Start small: pick one strategy from the lists above and try it out, keeping clarity, cognitive load, and sustainability in mind. Even a single simplification, intentional choice, or reduced barrier can have meaningful impact.
Need support? CTSI offers consultations to help you adapt strategies for your context. Reach out to us to start a conversation.
U Design Learning | Teaching with Universal Design for Learning at U of T