40 Big Ideas

Clear Language Summary

Universal design for learning takes the idea of making buildings accessible for everyone and applies it to education. We know that making accommodations for students with specific disabilities often helps other learners. An important key is creating lessons that offer choices, so students take the pathway that suits them best.

Universal Design for Learning (UDL) emerged from a powerful convergence of civil rights advocacy, educational research, and technological innovation in the late 20th century. UDL transformed the broader universal design movement in architecture for use in educational environments. Developed by researchers and practitioners at the Center for Applied Special Technology (CAST) in the 1990s, the UDL framework was built on decades of work with students with learning differences and disabilities.

How it began

The genesis of UDL can be traced to the recognition that traditional "one-size-fits-all" educational approaches systematically excluded learners with diverse needs. Early advocates, many working directly with students with intellectual and other developmental disabilities (IDD), observed that accommodations designed for specific disabilities often benefited all learners. This insight challenged the prevailing medical model of disability, which viewed learning differences as deficits to be remediated. Instead, it proposed that the curricula (what was being taught and how it was being taught) were inherently exclusionary.

For individuals with IDD, UDL represents a shift from segregation to inclusion. Rather than being relegated to separate classrooms with watered-down content, students with IDD can access the same rich curriculum as their peers.

The purpose of UDL

The goal of UDL is for all learners to gain greater agency. This is done through lessons and learning environments designed to emphasize student choice versus students being told which options to use. These choices provide students with IDD pathways within the curriculum.

The ripple effects of UDL extend far beyond supporting learners with IDD. As educators implement UDL principles, they discover that flexible teaching methods benefit all students. English language learners thrive when content is presented through multiple modalities. Students from differing cultural backgrounds engage more deeply when offered various ways to express their knowledge. When students are provided choices in how they access and demonstrate learning, they experience improved outcomes.

Shifting perceptions

UDL has fundamentally altered how educators perceive disability and difference. The framework refocuses learning challenges from individual deficits to mismatches between learner needs and curricular design. Teachers view students with disabilities as capable learners requiring different pathways rather than remedial interventions. This shift fosters higher expectations and more inclusive practices, moving beyond mere compliance with disability laws toward genuine educational equity.

The broader community impact of UDL extends into workplace design, public policy, and social attitudes. Employers now recognize that differences are the norm, and design training and workflow accordingly to improve overall productivity. Digital accessibility standards, influenced by UDL principles, have made technology more usable for everyone. Accommodations like curb cuts and how they benefit the broader population also became widely understood through UDL advocacy.

Individual lives have been transformed through UDL implementation. Students who once struggled in traditional classrooms now pursue higher education and meaningful careers. Families report increased confidence and self-advocacy skills in their children with disabilities. Educators describe renewed passion for teaching as they witness the success of previously marginalized learners.

Today, UDL represents more than an educational framework; it embodies a philosophy of inclusive design that recognizes human diversity as natural and valuable. By starting with the needs of students with IDD, UDL has created educational environments that truly serve all learners, fundamentally changing not just how we teach, but how we understand human potential itself.