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Read Universal Design for Learning: Theory and Practice for Free in Clusive! - CAST

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Our flagship publication is now available at no cost on our flexible and customizable digital reading tool.

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This was referenced in a answer to a question

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Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching

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Learning to Improve: How America's Schools Can Get Better at Getting Better | Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching

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Using ideas borrowed from improvement science, Learning to Improve presents a process of disciplined inquiry that can be combined with the use of networks to

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NOTE: We made some last minute changes, accessibility feature will be updated soon.

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Interact: What are some issues you’re dealing with as it comes to use of technology and students with disabilities? 

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Interact: What are some issues you’re dealing with as it comes to use of technology and students with disabilities? 

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National Center on Accessible Educational Materials

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National Center on Accessible Educational Materials

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AEM Center - National Center on Accessible Educational Materials at CAST

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The National Center on Accessible Educational Materials for Learning at CAST provides technical assistance, coaching, and resources to increase the availability and use of accessible educational materials and technologies for learners with disabilities across the lifespan.

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Announcing the release of the podcast: UDL in 15 Minutes with Loui Lord Nelson.

Cengage is hiring an Accessibility/UDL Specialist. Please email deb.castiglione@cengage.com if you have any questions and/or would like to know more about the...

Learn about a team of college students at Miami University that designed and implemented a UDL classroom.

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Announcing the release of the podcast: UDL in 15 Minutes with Loui Lord Nelson. Cengage is hiring an Accessibility/UDL Specialist. Please email deb.castiglione@cengage.com if you have any questions and/or would like to know more about the... Learn about a team of college students at Miami University that designed and implemented a UDL classroom.

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Personalized Learning and Students with Disabilities

Educators, parents, and others have struggled for decades to find the best ways to teach and support students with disabilities. These students can achieve at high levels if they receive specialized instruction, supports that build on their strengths and mitigate their challenges, and an environment that is engaging and sparks their desire to learn. Personalized learning systems can help educators provide these things when implemented appropriately. As personalized learning efforts expand across the nation, now is the time for educators, parents, and others to understand what personalized learning is, how it works, and how it can help students with disabilities succeed.

Now, more than ever, schools, districts and states are exploring and using personalized learning in classrooms all over the country. Learning aligns with interests, needs and skills, and takes place in an engaging environment where students gain a better understanding of their strengths.

Personalized Learning Defined

As the personalized learning movement is growing, the knowledge base supporting it continues to expand and become more refined. However, there is no single common definition of personalized learning used across the field. Instead, the definition varies across districts, states, and organizations who are involved in the implementation of personalized learning. To ground this work and focus our efforts, NCLD chose this definition of personalized learning:

Students' learning experiences - what they learn, and how, when, and where they learn it - are tailored to their individual needs, skills, and interests, and enable them to take ownership of their learning. Although where, when, and how they learn might vary according to their needs, students also develop deep connections to each other, their teachers and other adults.
[Students at the Center Overview: Engaging All students in College, Career, and Civic Success (Boston, MA: Jobs for the Future, 2013)]

In addition, we asked our consulting experts to reflect on four specific approaches to personalized learning described by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation: learner profiles; personal learning paths; competency-based progressions; and flexible learning environments ( see glossary, page 33). When we refer to personalized learning generally, any of these approaches can be utilized to fit the type of personalized learning a school or district is implementing. Where any of these approaches have unique implications, we specifically address that approach and use the corresponding terminology.

Benefits and Challenges of Personalized Learning

Considering the needs of students with disabilities in the design of the system requires honest conversations and dedicated action, not only about the benefits personalized learning can offer these students but also about the inherent challenges. The benefits and challenges often end up being two sides of the same coin-the potential of personalized learning and the work necessary to achieve that potential. In interviews expert practitioners, researchers, policy leaders, parents, and others, NCLD identified the following benefits and associated challenges for students with disabilities in these new systems:

A strengths-based, student-focused approach to education ...

... if we can prepare teachers to shift their practice and mindsets.

A more positive, engaging experience for parents ...

...if they are included as partners from the beginning.

Increased engagement and development of skills critical to 21 st century success ...

... if we don't lose sight of accountability

Continuous, ongoing support for students...

...if we invest in creating a sustainable system.

Multiple ways to access content...

...if accessibility is included in the initial strategic development.

Fuller inclusion...

...if we don't lose sight of real student needs.

The value of special education principles...

...if we overcome rigidity.

Our Process

Over the last two years, NCLD set out to bring the voice of students with disabilities and their families into the discussion and determine how personalized learning systems can meet their needs. NCLD spoke with advocates, parents, educators, experts and policymakers at both the state and federal levels to explore ways to ensure that personalized learning systems benefit students with disabilities.

In this section, you will find resources for parents, educators, district leaders and states as they work to integrate personalized learning systems in their schools.

The Road Ahead

Through this work, NCLD aims to bridge the gap between knowledge and action so that educators are more prepared, parents are more informed, and policymakers are ready to design personalized learning systems where students with disabilities are able to fully participate, learn, and thrive.

NCLD's work on personalized learning and students with disabilities will continue. To see more of what we've done, you can see our Personalized Learning blog series. And be sure to follow our Policy & Advocacy blog, where we will continue to share our ongoing work in several states.

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Personalized Learning and Students with Disabilities

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Educators, parents, and others have struggled for decades to find the best ways to teach and support students with disabilities. These students can achieve at high levels if they receive specialized instruction, supports that build on their strengths and mitigate their challenges, and an environment that is engaging and sparks their desire to learn.

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Learn about Self-Advocacy

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OUR RESEARCH

As more education reform efforts prioritize student voice and choice, it is essential to ensure that all learners have the opportunity to practice agency, especially within personalized learning systems. For this reason, the National Center for Learning Disabilities (NCLD) is proud to release the report, Agents of Their Own Success: Self-Advocacy Skills and Self-Determination for Students with Disabilities in the Era of Personalized Learning.

The report, which was made possible by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, highlights research-based steps students, families, educators, policy makers, and other key stakeholders in our education system can take to ensure all students are equipped with self-advocacy skills and the capacity for self-determination: elements we know are critical to their success in personalized learning settings .

NCLD developed resources to ensure that every stakeholder knows the important role they can play in helping students develop essential self-advocacy skills and the capacity for self-determination. Here are some of the activities each stakeholder can engage in to make a difference:

Students: Learn about strategies that can help you take ownership of the process, like using a personalized learning plan, engaging in IEP and transition meetings, and learning more about your disabilities and rights.

Families: Find out how you can be engaged in supporting your student's development of self-advocacy skills, like participating in school meetings and advocating for instruction that helps students develop self-advocacy skills and self-determination.

Educators (Teachers and Leaders): Learn about strategies to foster self-advocacy skills in the classroom and throughout the school, like using explicit instruction and assessments to measure students' progress or encouraging participation in mentoring programs.

School Counselors: Find out how you can integrate a focus on self-advocacy skills into your work through personalized learning plans and focusing on student experiences that can lead to developing self-advocacy skills and self-determination.

Higher Education Faculty: Learn about actions faculty at institutions of higher education can take to help students with disabilities develop the self-advocacy skills and self-determination they need to be successful.

Postsecondary Leaders: Find out what actions postsecondary leaders at colleges and universities can take to empower every student to achieve their potential by enabling students with disabilities to practice greater self-advocacy skills and self-determination.

Policymakers (State and Federal): Understand how policies can offer opportunities for schools to focus on or students to develop self-advocacy skills, like policies that support out-of-school learning opportunities or changes in federal education laws.

NCLD believes the future of education is one where all children play an active role in their own education, whether they have a disability or not. We look forward to continuing this important work and strengthening partnerships with organizations and stakeholders across the field to ensure innovative approaches to learning fully include students with disabilities.

Download Report

To access the full report, please provide your information

Tell Congress: Pass the RISE Act

We need your help! Ask your member of Congress to support students with learning and attention issues.

Support NCLD

Thanks to support from generous partners like you, we are able to create programs and resources to support the 1 in 5 individuals with learning and attention issues nationwide.

$20$50$100$250$500 Other amount

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Self-Advocacy Skills and Self-Determination for Students with Disabilities - NCLD

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OUR RESEARCH As more education reform efforts prioritize student voice and choice, it is essential to ensure that all learners have the opportunity to practice agency, especially within personalized learning systems. For this reason, the National Center for Learning Disabilities (NCLD) is proud to release the report, Agents of Their Own Success: Self-Advocacy Skills and Self-Determination for Students with Disabilities in the Era of Personalized Learning .

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Procuring Accessible Digital Materials and Technologies for Teaching and Learning: The What, Why, Who, and How

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Procuring Accessible Digital Materials and Technologies for Teaching and Learning: The What, Why, Who, and How

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By Cynthia Curry, M.S.Ed., Diana Carl, M.A., and Luis Pérez, Ph.D.

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The WCAG guidelines are written in technical language that can be confusing to even veteran developers. Fortunately, they can be distilled into a set of simpler principles, as captured by the acronym POUR, that define four qualities of an accessible user experience.

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AEM: Designing for Accessibility with POUR

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The contents of this website were developed under a cooperative agreement with the US Department of Education, #H327Z140001. However, those contents do not necessarily represent the policy of the US Department of Education and you should not assume endorsement by the Federal Government. Project Officer, Tara Courchaine, Ed.D.

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Open registration is 5/8/18 – 2/5/19

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AEM: Making Everyday Curriculum Materials Accessible for All Learners

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Making Everyday Curriculum Materials Accessible for All Learners is a pre-approved course for the IAAP Certified Professional in Accessibility Core Competencies (CPACC) credential. If you currently hold IAAP Certification, you can submit the completion of the module series as a pre-approved CAEC program. Please inform us if you plan to use the online series for CAECs.

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Handbook of Research on k-12 Online and Blended Learning (2nd Edition)

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Handbook of Research on k-12 Online and Blended Learning (2nd Edition)

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Quality Indicators for the Provision of Accessible Educational Materials and Technologies

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Quality Indicators for the Provision of Accessible Educational Materials and Technologies

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AEM: Quality Indicators for the Provision of Accessible Educational Materials and Technologies

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In general, "timely manner" means that learners who require accessible materials and technologies receive them at the same time that non-disabled peers receive materials and technologies. Appropriate consideration is given to factors that could delay timely delivery. Agencies have clearly defined policies and procedures to identify and address sources of delay.

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Considerations for Designing Digital Backpacks

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Considerations for Designing Digital Backpacks

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OET guidance for developers.

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Invited In: Measuring UDL in Online Systems

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Invited In: Measuring UDL in Online Systems

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by S. Smith

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One of the challenges undertaken by the Center is assessing learner variability in blended and fully online K-12 education. Center researchers strive to ensure that online learning-as it continues to grow at a rapid pace and reach consistently larger numbers of students-is accessible and effective for students with disabilities. This research includes evaluations of some of the most widely used online learning products in schools across the United States. K-12 online education holds promise in providing students with disabilities with personalized learning experiences and supports designed to enhance learning accessibility of the materials. But is online learning truly effective for students with disabilities?

On January 28, 2016, the Center released Invited In: Measuring UDL Design in Online Learning. This report on K-12 blended and fully online lessons employs the Universal Design for Learning (UDL) framework to explore and evaluate the appropriateness of online content and instruction, especially for the struggling learner and those with disabilities. Invited In seeks to offer information to administrators, teachers, and parents to help them understand the online materials used by K-12 students and be able to determine how to foster optimal K-12 online learning options for struggling learners and students with disabilities.

Download the full report, Invited In: Measuring UDL in Online Learning. Report sections are available individually below.

Considering Online Learning

This introductory section discusses the need to better understand K-12 digital content and its appropriateness for struggling learners and those with disabilities. Because the development and design of K-12 online materials can often be too cumbersome for districts and teachers to undertake, most products are developed and delivered by external vendors. While this development and delivery method may be time and cost efficient for schools, the pre-packaged lessons may not fully address the learning needs of all students. Download Section 1: Considering Online Learning

Determining Content Accessibility

While the Volunteer Product Accessibility Template (VPAT) is a widely used measure to determine the accessibility of digital materials, the Universal Design for Learning framework can further expand understanding of accessibility issues for all learners. This section provides an overview of the VPAT and the UDL, as well as the UDL Scan Tool employed in this study.
Download Section 2: Determining Content Accessibility

The Study

Six free and for profit K-12 online learning product providers, representing all K-12 grade levels and content areas, were selected for review. This section discusses the design of the study, how the vendors were selected, and how researchers scored each vendor using the UDL Scan Tool.
Download Section 3: The Study

Vendor Profiles

Each vendor studied has certain elements in common with the other vendors (blended and fully online, across grade levels and content areas), yet each also has unique characteristics. Profiles of each vendor were created to provide an overview of the vendor and its products, with specific information on how each vendor scored in relation to the UDL principles and guidelines.
Download Section 4: Vendor Profiles

Vendor 1 Profile

This section provides an overview of Vendor 1 which offers free, fully online, primarily video-based products for learners of any age with extensive content in mathematics and science. Grades K-8 are the primary audience and the products are often used as a supplementary online resource for teachers and students, supporting face-to-face instruction. Reviewing more than 400 lessons across grade and content areas, findings suggest limited alignment to the core UDL principles and guidelines.

Vendor 2 Profile

Designed as a resource to supplement fully online lessons or to complete face-to-face instruction, this product address all grades and content areas. This product focuses on reading and mathematics and offers specific instructional resources that foster review and test preparation for standard-based curriculum across all grade areas (grades 3-8 content offers the most comprehensive resources). Vendor 2 showed the most alignment with UDL principle 1 (provide multiple means of representation), but did not score strongly in any principle area.

Vendor 3 Profile

One of the widely used K-12 online content providers, Vendor 3 features fully standards-based lessons for grades K-12 across the four primary content areas. Developed for credit recovery as well as fully online learning, this product is used in schools in all 50 states in public school districts, charter schools, and, in some locations, operating as a independent, fully online school for statewide access. Vendor 3's scores are most strongly aligned with UDL principle 1 (provide multiple means of representation), with some alignment with principle 2 (provide multiple means of action and expression).

Vendor 4 Profile

Primarily a math and science supplemental program for grades 3-12, this product features a number of games, manipulatives, and simulations meant to extend face-to-face learning. Although the lessons align to curriculum standards, the digital materials are meant to support-not replace-classroom-based instruction. Vendor 4 scored some alignment with principle 1 (provide multiple means of representation), with principle 3 (provide multiple means of engagement) alignment being negligible.

Vendor 5 Profile

Vendor 5 offers a suite of products for grades K-8 in four primary content areas. For grades 9-12, products are geared toward blended and credit recovery needs. With concentrations in social studies, science, mathematics, and English language arts, the vendor also offers online curriculum for music, art, and world languages at the K-8 and high school levels. Vendor 5's score were highest in principle 1 (provide multiple means of representation), but low in all principles.

Vendor 6 Profile

A comprehensive K-12 curriculum in blended and fully online formats, this developer seeks to offer a complete fully online program across grades and content areas. The pre-packaged lessons are meant to replace face-to-face instruction, aligning to state standards and including the necessary assessments to ensure competency. Initially targeting the K-8 classroom, this vendor now offers a 9-12 program for blended and fully online needs. As with the other vendors, Vendor 6 scored highest when rated against principle 1 (provide multiple means of representation). Scores in principles 2 (provide multiple means of action and expression) and 3 (provide multiple means of engagement) were poor.

Conclusion and References

Each learning product developed has specific features, advantages, and disadvantages that influence personalized learning experiences. The structure of the lessons is critical to meeting user expectations and fulfilling their individual needs within the learning experience. Understanding both the learners' needs and the products' potential to provide accessibility and personalization options for all learners plays a critical role in selecting the best product for all learners.
Download Section 5: Conclusion and References

The Center wishes to thank the Office of Special Education Programs for its generous support, and the many researchers involved whose time, expertise and interest made this publication possible. This publication was developed under a grant from the U.S. Department of Education (#H327U110011). Its contents do not necessarily represent the policy of the U.S. Department of Education, nor should endorsement by the Federal Government be assumed.

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Invited In: Measuring UDL in Online Learning

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One of the challenges undertaken by the Center is assessing learner variability in blended and fully online K-12 education. Center researchers strive to ensure that online learning-as it continues to grow at a rapid pace and reach consistently larger numbers of students-is accessible and effective for students with disabilities.

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Designing Online Learning Opportunities (Paper)

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Designing Online Learning Opportunities (Paper)

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Educator focused paper on Designing Online Experiences

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The framework supports an understanding of variability

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The UDL Guidelines are a tool used in the implementation of Universal Design for Learning, a framework to improve and optimize teaching and learning for all people based on scientific insights into how humans learn. Learn more about the Universal Design for Learning framework from CAST. The UDL Guidelines can be used by educators, curriculum developers, researchers, parents, and anyone else who wants to implement the UDL framework in a learning environment. These guidelines offer a set of concrete suggestions that can be applied to any discipline or domain to ensure that all learners can access and participate in meaningful, challenging learning opportunities.

Coming soon! UDL Guidelines 3.0

The UDL Guidelines are a living, dynamic tool that is continuously developed based on new research and feedback from practitioners. In 2020, CAST launched our most recent effort to update the UDL Guidelines, with a specific focus on equity. There has been a strong call from the field-both practitioners and researchers alike-to more fully develop the Guidelines to address critical barriers rooted in biases and systems of oppression. The current update aims to respond to this call and to work toward fulfilling the promise of the Guidelines as a tool to guide the design of learning environments that more fully honor and value every learner.

Since our launch in 2020, we have been committed to a community-driven, inclusive, and transparent updating process. As part of this effort, we are:

Collaborating with an Advisory Board, a UDL Guidelines Collaborative, and a Young Adult Advisory Board to guide our work

Conducting focus groups with a diversity of participants to learn from their perspectives, lived experiences, and feedback

Reviewing the research on the UDL Guidelines research pages to understand the balance of different research fields, methodological approaches, epistemological approaches, and author positionalities

Conducting literature reviews of equity-oriented research that connect to and extend the Guidelines, such as disability studies and critical pedagogy studies

We are excited to share this next iteration of the UDL Guidelines in 2024. If you are interested in receiving our UDL Guidelines 3.0 newsletter to stay updated on our progress and to share your ideas and perspectives, please complete this brief form.

Review the Summary

Explore the Full Draft

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The UDL Guidelines are a tool used in the implementation of Universal Design for Learning, a framework to improve and optimize teaching and learning for all people based on scientific insights into how humans learn. Learn more about the Universal Design for Learning framework from CAST.

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Considerations for Choosing Software (paper)

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Considerations for Choosing Software (paper)

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Educator focused paper with some considerations for choosing software.

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Research paper on measuring UDL in digital systems

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Research paper on measuring UDL in digital systems

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Focused on Measurement

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UDL Implementation and Research Network. 

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UDL Implementation and Research Network. 

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Universal Design for Learning Implementation and Research Network

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With the U.S. Department of Education conducting digital accessibility compliance reviews, our partners at Texthelp created this useful webinar to shed more light on why the audits are taking place and the importance of constantly improving when it comes to accessibility in K-12 and Higher Education.

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Home - Universal Design for Learning Implementation and Research Network

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With the U.S. Department of Education conducting digital accessibility compliance reviews, our partners at Texthelp created this useful webinar to shed more light on why the audits are taking place and the importance of constantly improving when it comes to accessibility in K-12 and Higher Education.

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Supports considerations around use of technology