Design
To Consider: Universal Design for Instruction (UDI)
When designing courses, technologies or services, the designer usually targets the “average” user, and then additional accommodations for differently abled students are added subsequently. Universal Instructional Design (UID) takes a different approach to the many variables facing the course designer.
UID places high value on diversity and inclusiveness. Under this philosophy, designers work from a set of seven inclusive principles that consider the design of products and environments to be usable to the greatest extent by people from all ages and abilities.
| Universal instructional design principles | Application of UID |
| 1. Equitable use | All students should be able to participate fully in their classes and be given equal opportunity to meet the learning outcomes. Print materials that are posted online should be useful to and accessible by a larger, more diverse set of students. Instead of posting a scanned image of an article, which can only be used by sighted readers, locate the original document and link to this work. If the print material is unavailable in a digital form, then digitise the resource, but ensure that the format is accessible. For example, convert the document using optimal character recognition (OCR) and post this version of the chapter. A student can then choose to read the document or listen to it being read by a screen reader. |
| 2. Flexibility in use | Inclusive teaching includes a diversity of teaching and learning strategies. Choice is key, and offering students variety or flexibility with the same format allows the student to experience the same content or contact in different ways. Methods of instruction, whether lectures, discussions, interviews, projects, case studies or others, do not have to be locked down to one format. A lecture could take place with a presentation outline. Discussions can be synchronous or asynchronous. Interviews can be heard or read. There are many ways of learning and constructing knowledge. With flexibility comes a host of different ways of interaction between students and the lecturer. |
| 3. Simple and Intuitive | Eliminating unnecessary complexity in the materials that students use is important. Poorly designed textbooks affect ease of access and use. The resources that are selected must be straightforward and consistent. For example, check to see whether the webpage that you are about to link to is responsive to changes in screen width. If it is, then the site is probably mobile friendly and should render well on a variety of devices, window or screen sizes. You should notice that the fonts, images and other elements scale according to the width of the screen and that other techniques (hidden menus, icons instead of titles) are deployed to ensure that the interface remains clear and intuitive. |
| 4. Perceptible information | Students differ in the ways they perceive and comprehend information that is presented to them. Think about how to maximise the “legibility” of essential information. This does not only apply to font size in a presentation. Providing options for representation could include contrasts in colour, brightness and texture. If using important diagrams, make sure that the hidden alt text effectively communicates all necessary information about the diagram to the user. Although the student may not be able to see the image, they can still understand the meaning as conveyed through alternative text. |
| 5. Tolerance for error | Students come to class with different levels of experience and resources and there isn’t necessarily a set of core skills. If the design of the learning environment offers support for memory, generalisation and transfer, and minimises the adverse consequences of accidental or unintended actions, then students may access prior learning and transfer and apply what they learned into a new context. Think about using checklists, graphic organisers, concept and mind maps. If there are opportunities for review and practice, then the focus shifts from avoiding error towards growth and development. |
| 6. Low physical effort | Maximum efforts must be focussed on learning activities or achieving learning outcomes. Not on positioning a mouse to a desired target, repetitive cut and paste actions or sustained physical effort that taxes one’s body. This principle advocates for a design that encourages physical, onscreen and mental efficiencies and minimises fatigue. Minimise the amount of clicking, use keyboard short cuts, make sure that reading materials can be accessed remotely and reduce unnecessary journeys across campus to access the library. See if you can assist with reducing the cognitive load that goes into decoding tasks. |
| 7. Size and pace for approach and use | Think beyond your own screen and consider the users’ environment that they have available to them, both on and off campus. The interactions should be designed with consideration for the devices that students use. If the lecturer includes group work, is the venue suitable for such an approach? Or if small group activities are a part of off-campus learning, what measures have been taken to accommodate these meetings? On a desktop, the user uses a mouse to precisely point to a certain interaction. But on a touch screen, a small target area is much more difficult to select. Think also about barriers to entry, movement or activity and consider the needs of students who may have challenges. |