Designing for Expression and Communication (Guideline 5)
No single medium of expression works for all learners or all communication tasks. A format that supports one student may create barriers for another. In many educational contexts, text is emphasized as the “rigorous” mode, while other forms of communication—oral, visual, multimodal, or signed—are less recognized. Designing for multiple and flexible modes of communication benefits all learners, expands creative capacity, and helps challenge inequities in how expression is valued.
Strategy Library: Designing for Expression and Communication
This strategy library focuses on expression and communication, with four key areas that reduce barriers and support learner variability. Each strategy comes from the UDL Guidelines 3.0 and is paired with practical approaches you can apply right away using U of T’s Academic Toolbox.
Use multiple media for communication (5.1)
CAST 5.1 definition: Unless a particular medium is essential to the learning outcome, learners benefit from being able to communicate in multiple media (e.g., text, audio, visuals, video). This flexibility reduces barriers, validates historically devalued forms, and prepares students for communication in a media-rich world.
Examples using U of T's Academic Toolbox
- Hypothesis: Foster collaborative annotation using text, images, and hyperlinks.
- Microsoft Clipchamp and Stream: Create, edit, and share video projects as alternatives to written work, with captions and transcripts for accessibility.
- Microsoft OneDrive Collaborations: Support collaborative documents that integrate text, visuals, and embedded media.
- Microsoft Whiteboard: Facilitate visual and collaborative communication that complements text, audio, or video.
- Quercus Assignments: Accept submissions in text, audio, or video formats.
- Quercus Discussions: Invite students to contribute using written, audio, or video posts.
- Quercus SpeedGrader: Provide feedback in text, audio, or video so students can access comments in multiple ways.
Use multiple tools for construction, composition, and creativity (5.2)
CAST 5.2 definition: Relying only on traditional tools can create barriers. Learners benefit from flexible options that support construction, composition, and creativity in ways that reflect current contexts and practices.
Examples using U of T's Academic Toolbox
- Hypothesis: Annotate collaboratively using text, images, and links to co-construct meaning.
- Microsoft Clipchamp and Stream: Create, edit, and share video projects with captions and transcripts for accessibility.
- Microsoft Copilot Chat: Provide ideation support for multimodal compositions.
- Microsoft OneDrive Collaborations: Build shared documents, presentations, or spreadsheets that combine text, visuals, and embedded media.
- Microsoft OneNote: Support multimodal composition, including handwriting, drawing, typing, and audio.
- Microsoft Whiteboard: Co-create diagrams, brainstorms, and visual maps to explore ideas collaboratively.
- Microsoft Word: Use speech-to-text to compose written work.
- peerScholar: Guide students through structured, peer-supported cycles of drafting and feedback to strengthen creative outputs.
- Quercus ePortfolios: Support construction of multimodal projects that combine text, visuals, media, and reflection.
- Quercus Rich Content Editor: Embed images, media, and interactive content in Announcements, Assignments, Discussions, Pages, and Quizzes.
Build fluencies with graduated support for practice and performance (5.3)
CAST 5.3 definition: Learners build fluency through scaffolded practice, experimentation, and authentic performance. Valuable learning often happens during the process itself, not only in the final product.
Examples using U of T's Academic Toolbox
- Microsoft Forms: Provide low-stakes quizzes and surveys with feedback for practice and self-checks.
- peerScholar: Enable iterative peer review and revision cycles to support gradual improvement.
- Quercus Announcements: Schedule reminders or practice prompts at key points to scaffold ongoing skill development.
- Quercus Calendar and To-Do List: Help students manage practice tasks, track milestones, and space out performance opportunities.
- Quercus Modules: Scaffold content using prerequisites, requirements, and lock until features to gradually release new material as fluency develops.
- Quercus Quizzes: Offer low-stakes practice opportunities with automatic or instructor feedback.
- Quercus SpeedGrader: Provide formative feedback in text, audio, or video formats, with support gradually reduced as students gain fluency.
- Quizzical: Provide low-stakes quizzes with varied question types to support iterative practice.
- WeBWorK: Scaffold mathematical fluency through repeated problem-solving practice with feedback.
Address biases related to modes of expression and communication (5.4)
CAST 5.4 definition: In many educational contexts, non-text modes of expression (such as oral traditions or signed languages) are less recognized, while dominant forms are emphasized. Inclusive design can help counter these biases by valuing multiple ways of communicating and representing knowledge.
Examples using U of T's Academic Toolbox
- Hypothesis: Support collaborative annotation that validates diverse interpretations and voices.
- Library Reading List: Curate materials that foreground oral traditions, multimodal scholarship, and marginalized voices.
- Microsoft Teams and Zoom: Offer office hours or student meetings in multiple modalities (in person, chat, audio, video) to accommodate diverse preferences.
- Quercus Announcements: Share information using multimodal formats (text, images, audio, video) so that no single form is emphasized.
- Quercus Assignments: Accept and value multimodal submissions alongside text, where and when appropriate.
- Quercus Discussions (Liking): Validate contributions in varied modes through peer recognition.
- Quercus Profile Settings: Invite learners to represent their identities authentically in communication spaces.
- Quercus Rich Content Editor: Integrate authentic media sources beyond traditional text.
- Quercus Rubrics: Establish transparent criteria that value multimodal and diverse forms of communication equally.
Try One Thing
UDL doesn’t mean redesigning everything at once. Start small: pick one strategy from the lists above and try it out in your teaching or staff-facing context. Even a single simplification, added option, 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