Universal Design for Learning | Office of Student Accessibility Services

Establishing a culture that consistently welcomes, promotes, and encourages diversity, equity and inclusion is part of the RUSH commitment to excellence. The Universal Design for Learning (UDL) approach is a newer educational concept that refers to the creation of curricula and/or services which inherently minimize or eliminate the need for special accommodations. The principle objective of universal design is to be an assistive framework for faculty that addresses various learning styles and needs of students with or without disability in efforts to maintain equity in education.

The implementation of UDL principles incurs a call to action on part of the faculty and relevant departmental professionals to incorporate accommodative and inclusive strategies that support student learning regardless of their individual needs or disability.
UDL strategies that are proactively put into practice will serve to support all students' learning needs and promote an educational culture that embraces the many aspects of the human condition.

UDL Workshop Series

To learn more about Universal Design for Learning and how to efficiently incorporate this into your learning content, please review our 3-Part Workshop Series below. Recorded presentations will provide:

Introduction to Universal Design for Learning
UDL in Canvas
UDL in Office 365 Applications
Faculty members and students may refer to our library of UDL Resource Guides to review step-by-step instructions on how to use different accessibility features within commonly used applications.

Introduction to UDL Principles

View the first installment of our 3-part Workshop Series to acquire a basic understanding of Universal Design for Learning and it’s importance within the context of providing accessible learning content.

Creating Accessible Content in Canvas

The second installment of the 3-part Workshop Series introduces how to implement UDL strategies while building learning content in Canvas, utilizing tools such as Accessibility Checker and Immersive Reader. For additional resources, please review the library of Canvas Accessibility Guides.

Creating Accessible Content in Office 365 Programs

The final installment of the 3-part Workshop Series discusses how to implement UDL strategies while building learning content in Office 365 Programs, and how to use the Accessibility Checker. For additional resources, please review the library of Office 365 Accessibility Guides.

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