1. GimpGirl Community's Best
Practices in Designing Second Life
Learning to Include People
with Disabilities
● Models of Access to
Virtual Worlds
● Universal Design for
Learning
● Practical Tips for
Incorporating UDL
into SL Education
Design
● How GimpGirls Do It

2. Models of Access to Virtual Worlds
● Access to Virtual Worlds as Accommodation for
Individual Users
● Access to Virtual Worlds as Architectural
Access
● Access to Virtual Worlds as Universal Design

3. Universal Design for Learning
● Universal design is "the design of . . . environments to be
usable by all people, to the greatest extent possible,
without the need for adaptation or specialized design."
Educators must understand how to use appropriate
technological supports to make conversations accessible
to not only people with disabilities, but people who may
have difficulty with communication for other reasons.
● UDL advocates "providing multiple and flexible methods of
presentation, means of expression, and means of
engagement for diverse learners." Other studies have
shown web-based learning and learning in virtual worlds
allow for constructivist learning and diverse ways to
express learning; close attention to accessibility and
universal design is an alternative approach to online
learning that allows it to include a range of learners.

4. UDL in SLED Design
● Provide information on where to access disability
accommodations
● Provide an architectural facility which is welcoming to
people with disabilities
● Communicate the same information in multiple modalities
(visual & linguistic, oral and written)
● Integrate other platforms (web 2.0, IRC) for people who
may struggle with retaining information communicated
within SL
● Use SL's unique capacities to give people multiple
methods of communicating and expressing their
knowledge, but give them the choice to engage with you
outside of Second Life where possible

5. How GimpGirls Do It
● Adult co-learning & support community focused on women
with disabilities issues
● Weekly SL support meeting for women with disabilities
only, mix of focused and open topics, focusing on good
community facilitation practices, piped to web for members
unable to use SL using IRC.
● Open programming related to monthly topics with guest
speakers.
● More info? Check out our website, www.gimpgirl.com.
Visit us at the GimpGirl parcel in 3DE, IM Muse Carmona,
Ofelia Pevensey or JennyLin Arashi.
● Connect with us on Facebook, Twitter, LiveJournal, Flickr