1. Universal Design in
Curriculum
Promoting Universal Design
Content in University
Curriculum
Howard Kramer
University of Colorado-Boulder
hkramer@colorado.edu, 303-492-8672
CSUN 2013

2. Presentation posted at
slideshare
http://slideshare.com/hkramer99/
UD in Curriculum – CSUN
2013.pptx

3. Today’s Outline
“This session will talk about integrating Universal Design into Web design,
Environmental design and other curriculum at the University of Colorado-
Boulder.”
 What do we/I mean by Universal Design
 UDUC project info | some preliminary findings
 Examples & models for including UD content in
curriculum
 How this can intersect/promote accessibility &
UD on campus
 UDE example / model
 Initiatives/plans of UDUC project
 Your input & feedback

4. Today’s Objective(s)
 Acquire an inventory of examples
of UD in curriculum that you may
replicate or build on

5. NEA 2-year Grant
Promoting the Integration of
Universal Design Content into
University Curriculum (UDUC)

6. Promoting the Integration of UD
into University Curriculum
 Determining current inclusion of UD content on
campus
 Increasing the amount of classes that address UD
(content) on campus (and beyond)
 Determining resource needs for teaching UD
 Developing resources for teaching UD – syllabi,
curriculum, teaching resources, etc.
 Developing a network of interested faculty – sharing
resources

7. Universal Design – What do I
mean?
 Universal Design (Origins)
 Universal Design is the design of products and
environments to be usable by all people, to
the greatest extent possible, without the need
for adaptation or specialized design – Ron
Mace, Architect
Universal Design for the built environment

8. UD Defined – variations on a theme
 …[T]he practice of designing products or
environments that can be effectively and efficiently
used by people with a wide range of abilities
operating in a wide range of situations
(Vanderheiden, 1997, p. 2014).
 …[B]uilding products that are robust and
accommodating. Universal designs take account of
differences in sight, hearing, mobility, speech, and
cognition. Universal design helps not only people
with disabilities, but also any of us when we’re
tired, busy, or juggling many tasks (Francik, 1996).

9.  “Universal design implies a process that
goes beyond minimum access codes and
standards, to design environments that
are comfortably usable by people from
childhood into their oldest years.”
- Nasar & Evans-Cowley, eds. 2007. Universal
Design & Visitability.

10. 7 Principles of Universal Design

11. 7 Principles of Universal Design
 Equitable Use
 Flexibility in Use
 Simple and Intuitive Use
 Perceptible Information
 Tolerance for Error
 Low Physical Effort
 Size and Space for Approach and Use
Copyright © 1997 NC State University, The Center for Universal Design.

12. Universal Design – What do I
mean?
 Universal Design for
the digital
environment
 Universal Design in
Education (UDE)
 Universal Design for
 Universal
Instruction (UDI)
Instructional
 Universal Design for Design (UID)
Learning (UDL)

13. Universal Design
 Universal Design
Universal Design for the built
UDE environment
Universal Design for
UD
UDE UD
Universal Design Learnin
Universal Design
UDE
Universal Design for
UDWA Education UDE
Content in University 
Universal Designv
Universal Design for
Curriculum
Learning UDL
Universal DeUDL
Universal Design sign
for
Universal Design for
Instruction Instruction

14. Universal Design
 What does Universal Design mean in the
context of today’s talk?

15. Campus & Faculty Conceptions of
Universal Design
 “[F]ew postsecondary administrators, faculty, and staff
are even marginally acquainted with Universal Design or
Universal Instructional Design” (Higbee & Goff, eds.
2008)
 Faculty at CU – may not have the definitive definition or
understanding of UD
 Confusion on the distinction of “UD content”.

16. Examples of UD content

17. Examples of UD content
Survey tool adapted by Meredith Banasiak, CU-Boulder

18. Student Projects

19. Arts & Humanities
Beyond the Sciences & Built Environment
http://digitalwriting101.net/teaching/content/an-example-
of-the-power-of-digital-storytelling/

20. Arts & Humanities
Beyond the Sciences & Built Environment

21. Arts & Humanities
Beyond the Sciences & Built Environment

22. Arts & Humanities
Wayfinding – Multidisciplinary UD Project
http://www.colorado.edu/news/features/students-create-new-cu-boulder-maps-
%E2%80%98universal-design%E2%80%99-expand-access

23. Beyond the
Sciences & Built
Environment
Designed for
different
audiences &
needs
http://www.colorado.edu/campuswayfinding

24. Arts & Humanities
Beyond the Sciences & Built Environment

25. Wayfinding
Beyond the Sciences & Built Environment

26. Wayfinding
Beyond the Sciences & Built Environment

27. Other Communication & Design
Projects
Beyond the Sciences & Built Environment
 Usability Study of Disability Services
Website

28. Other Communication & Design
Projects
Planned for Future
 Analyzing the D2L according to UD
principles

29. Universal Design for Course Outline
Digital Media (text version on next
slide)

30. Course Outline
 Week 1 (Introduction to  Week 7 (Structure,
Universal Design: for whom xhtml...)
are we designing and why?)
 Week 8 (Presentation w a
 Week 2 (Learning the dash of Behavior, CSS)
language of design...)
 Week 9 (Presentation
 Week 3 (General design continued…, behavior)
principles, introduction to
web design)  Week 10 (Accessibility)
 Week 4 (Interaction Design  Week 11 - Break
& Information architecture)  Week 12 (The Mobile Web
 Week 5 (The Case for Web & Accessibility)
Standards)  Week 13 (Rich Internet
 Week 6 (Structure & Applications)
Semantics: Document  Week 14 (HTML 5)
Object Model )-

31. Universal Design vs. Web
Standards vs. Accessibility

32. Curriculum  Chisholm, Wendy; May, Matt.
Materials Universal Design for Web
Applications
 Zeldman, Jeffrey. Designing with
Web Standards (3rd Edition)
 Anderson, Featherstone, Sims, et al.
Interact with Web Standards
 Norman, David A. The Design of
Everyday Things (2002).
 Cooper, Alan; Reimann Robert M.
About Face 2.0: The Essentials of
Interaction Design (2003)

33. Other Developments
 Self-paced version of ATLAS 3518
 Development of Universal Design for
Content Management Systems – focus
on Drupal & WordPress (fall 2013)
 UD in curriculum track at COLTT – June
6 & 7, 2013
 UD in curriculum track at AHG 2013
 AHEAD 2014

34. Universal Design in University
Curriculum
 Sharing of Resources
 E-text book – looking for collaborators
 Your feedback
 Tomorrow (Saturday), 9:00 a.m. in Harbor
Lobby area

35. Projects/Resources at CU,
AHEAD, ATHEN
 3-credit class: Universal Design for Digital Media
 http://accessinghigherground.org/wp/udclass/
 ATHEN – Access Tech. Higher Ed. Network
 Athenpro.org
 AHEAD Conference – Baltimore (July 8-13)
 Accessing Higher Ground Conference (Nov. 4 –
13)
 Videos from AHG 2012 –
 http://accessinghigherground.org/recordedAHG2012.
html

36. Other Curriculum Resources
 A List Apart - Link-Rodrigue, The Inclusion
Principle,
 http://www.alistapart.com/articles/the-inclusion-
principle/
 Dev.opera.com
 http://dev.opera.com/articles/view/1-introduction-
to-the-web-standards-cur/
 Usability.gov
 http://usability.gov/methods/test_refine/heuristic.h
tml
 Sitepoint.com
 http://articles.sitepoint.com/article/information-
architecture

37. Other Curriculum Resources
 First Principles of Interaction Design”
 (http://www.asktog.com/basics/firstPrinciples.html
);
 “Personas”
 http://wiki.fluidproject.org/display/fluid/Personas
 WebAIM.org – The Legend of the Typical …
 http://webaim.org/presentations/2010/csun/screen
readersurvey.pdf
 W3C Web Standards Cirruculim
 http://www.w3.org/community/webed/wiki/Main_P
age

38. Other Resources
 Web Design Awards & Training at CU
 http://www.colorado.edu/ODECE/UDAC/webcomp
2012.html
 WAVE - WebAIM.org
 http://wave.webaim.org/
 W3C Web Standards Cirruculim
 http://www.w3.org/community/webed/wiki/Main_P
age
 Physics Example page
 http://www.colorado.edu/ODECE/UDAC/physics%2
0page-2.htm