Category: Learning about universal design

How to make a Universal Design Toolkit

How do you universally design a universal design guide or toolkit? Living the message is a key factor – if designing something to be inclusive, the process and outputs must be inclusive too. If not, key sections of your intended audience could be missing out on your information. After all, learners come in all shapes and sizes and different frames of reference. 

When devising a customer engagement toolkit, the Centre for Excellence in Universal Design in Ireland also documented their process and lessons learned. The document is focused on tourism, but the method and principles are relevant to any field of practice.

The title of the report is Lessons from Good Practices to Guide Universal Design Toolkits. However, with the update of the website this document is not readily found. Nevertheless, some of the content is mentioned below. 

At 100 pages this is a lengthy document. You might want to skip the first part and go directly to the section on Guidelines to Toolkit Authors, which is at the end. Each of the headings and subheadings form a guide to developing and designing instructional toolkits and guidelines for practice.  

Key points

Here are some of the key points from this section about the structure of the toolkit:

Step 1: ‘Perception’, the ability to understand information regardless of the user’s ability to see, hear or touch
Step 2: ‘Discoverability’, providing flexibility in use so that the user can find the information they want
Step 3: ‘Understanding’, how easy it is for the customer to interpret and understands how to use the content; regardless of the user’s experience, knowledge, language skills, or current concentration level
Step 4: ‘Use’, the design prevents from accidental or inadvertent actions, forms, controls and navigation are usable and the customer decides on how to use and act on the content presented

Living the message is an important point in the universal design world. Anyone who writes, educates or speaks about universal design and inclusive practice should live the message. For example, a slideshow presentation about universal design with tiny font is contrary to the message. 

 

An occupational therapist’s view of UDL

A young woman is sitting with piles of books and is frowning. Special arrangements for university students who identify as having a disability is not an inclusive response. Hence many will try to manage without the assistance available to them. But taking a Universal Design for Learning (UDL) approach can provide both assistance and inclusion. A thoughtful article by Bethan Collins provides an occupational therapist’s view of UDL and the benefits for all. 

Collins writes from her experience as a disability officer with a university.  Students struggle for a variety of reasons such an inaccessibility of classrooms and reading material. The social aspects are essential for group work and discussion sessions but often disregarded. And of course, if one aspect of learning is a struggle it reflects on other aspects. 

Occupational therapists understand the importance of meaningful activity, not just doing the task. Collins makes the point that the three tenets of UDL are a good start, but the importance of the activities around learning are not discussed. 

UDL fits well with occupational therapy philosophy. Each client is treated as an individual with personal goals. Choice in how to do something is key. 

As a disabled student, occupational therapist and lecturer, Collins concludes with,

“… that there is a very important place for an inclusive curriculum (based on UDL) and also that we, occupational therapists, are in an excellent position to promote this approach.

The title of the short article is, Universal design for learning: What occupational therapy can contribute. The article shows how UDL and occupational therapy work hand in hand. The Universal Design for Learning section of this website has more on the topic. 

Inclusive online meetings: Preparation is key

two laptops are open on a desk and one has several faces of people who are online.There’s been a few articles about working remotely and participating in online meetings. But there are a few nuances, little things, that need attention so that meetings are inclusive. An article from the Commons Library says it is not about the technical details. Rather, it’s about the culture and processes particularly for mixed face to face and online participation. The article covers: – Meeting preparation – Collaboration tools – Meeting process – After the meeting Some of this is basic, but the transitions in and out of lockdowns means more hybrid meetings – some face to face and some online participants. This is not easy for participants. Internet dropouts and other tech problems such as poor sound add to the mix of issues. This is where the chair’s role is very important because body language and facial expression are all helpful in making sure everyone gets to contribute. Hosting hybrid online meetings is also covered by Blueprints for Change.  It has some Tips and Tricks. For hybrid meetings, everyone in the room should be on camera. This can mean a rearrangement of the room and careful placement of the camera.  “In a hybrid meeting environment people who are on screen should be assigned a buddy who is in the physical room. Their buddy regularly checks in with them, talks to them on breaks, makes sure they can see and hear at all times. Buddies might even bring them to break/snack conversations so they don’t miss the in-room side conversations.”  

Local Government Universal Design Network

Header for the sign up form for joining the local government universal design network.Virginia Richardson has set up a new universal design interest group for local government staff. This new Local Government Universal Design Network enables like-minded people to share experiences and skills in universal design and inclusive practice. Local government staff and others with an interest in local government are invited to join this new network. If you are interested in joining, Virginia asks that you complete the online form.  The objectives of the Network are:
      • Greater understanding of how UD is being applied in a Local Government setting
      • Support for UD policies to be adopted by more Councils
      • Opportunities for shared professional development and capacity building
      • Potential for joint advocacy to improve State and Federal legislation
This is a great initiative by Virginia Richardson who works for the Mornington Peninsular Shire Council in Victoria. The acronym works too – LGUDN (elgood’n).  

Co-design is another skill set

A page of tiles with faces of many different people.How can we get design educators and students to think beyond themselves? Considering other body shapes, sizes, ages and interests is essential for inclusive designs. But designing with users, or co-design, is another skill set. Fake personas, building codes and anthropometric data are a good start, but they lack the evidence of lived experience. Without inclusive designs, we cannot meet our commitment for the Sustainable Development Goals.  The issue of teaching educators to look beyond the tried and true design methods is being tackled by a team from Queensland University of Technology. In their article, they take a critical look at current approaches to design education in architecture and interior design studios. They propose an “authentic learning approach” which includes engagement with real users.  The title of the article is, Breaking Barriers: Educating Design Students about Inclusive Design through an Authentic Learning Framework.  You will need institutional access for a free read. Or you can contact Janice Rieger and ask for a copy.

Abstract

Current studies in design education suggest that students and educators base their designs on what they already know about themselves and their peers, or on stereotypical notions of others. This article presents a critical examination of a pedagogical approach employed in several architecture and interior design studios to determine how best to develop student understanding of how to design for real users and users with abilities different from themselves. This authentic learning approach with spatial design students and teachers from the School of Design, Queensland University of Technology, Australia and with people with differing abilities, used qualitative and quantitative questionnaires, student journals and design studio projects to create a multimodal data set. While there are no simple conclusions, or easy answers to unravel the complexity in creating inclusive designs, our findings point towards enabling new engagements and knowledge processes and scaffolding these activities around authentic learning, so that design students and educators can begin to understand the differing ways of designing for/with people with disabilities. The significance of this research is that it opens up new approaches for teaching design students about inclusive design beyond fake personas, building codes and anthropometric data, and provides evidence of the need for a more holistic, authentic and scaffolded approach.

The real lives of online learners

Maslow's pyramid diagram of needs: at the bottom are physical needs, then safety and security, then love and belonging, rising to self esteem and at the pinnacle is self-actulisation.Online learning will continue to be an important way of teaching and studying. But little is understood about unintended consequences for some learners. Some will be left behind. Ready access to a computer or device and the internet is just the start.

Anxiety about home backgrounds can prevent learners from turning on the camera. Lack of good housing and adequate food can also be an issue. If education systems are to be truly inclusive, the real lives of learners need to be factored into learning processes. 

Understanding the value of diversity, equity and inclusion is important for upcoming generations who will be tomorrow’s decision-makers. This is a key point made in an article from Arizona State University. The article discusses the issues within the context of changes brought about by the pandemic. There are interesting ideas that incorporate the real lives of learners and the diverse issues they have.

Using Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, they remind us that food and shelter are not a given for all learners. Providing a place to sleep and eat is one example of assisting learners to complete their courses. Other examples are included in the article. 

The title of the article is, Inclusive Campus Environments: An Untapped Resource for Fostering Learner Success  It is part of a series, Shaping the Futures of Learning in the Digital Age. 

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to consider new possibilities for higher education, where the principles of Universal Design for Learning (UDL) provide a framework for creating digital and physical environments that honor every learner’s unique lived experiences and support the expectations of learners for their individual life goals. Each learner brings their own unique lived experience; multi-level intersectionality; and cognitive and social learning variabilities to their educational journey.

Many of these present obstacles to their realizing successful learning outcomes. Understanding the lived experiences in the learner’s journey and creating environments that remove barriers to learning requires a deep understanding of inclusion, which is central to the framework of UDL. How can we create a campus that promotes a sense of belonging, community, and well-being — a campus that has the potential to increase the number of learners who persist to completion? It begins with honoring the uniqueness of every learner.

 

Universal design and community-based design studios

A long room with a long table with students sitting both sides. They are working on a design project.What’s the best way to teach the concept of universal design to architecture students? Participatory and co-design methods are inherent in universal design. So this should be the way to do it. That means universally designing the learning experience about universal design.  Hing-Wah Chau takes us on a journey with his post-grad students in his paper about community-based studios. This is a learning process where real life is brought into the design studio. That includes engaging with other stakeholders during the design process. Urban designers, local councils, other architects and community members all have a stake in a project. Hing-Wah Chau concludes that problem-based learning, group work and industry engagement are essential elements for gaining a working understanding of universal design.  Site visits and engaging with industry partners allowed students to gain first hand experience. An interesting paper that has a lot of detail about each design studio, their workshops, conference attendance and site visits. It was run over two semesters. The title of the paper is Community-based studios for enhancing students’ awareness of universal design principles.  Abstract: A series of community-based design studios were delivered at the University of Melbourne for postgraduate architectural students from 2017 to 2019 to arouse their awareness of universal design principles and the specific consideration of design for ageing. A design studio is a place of experimentation and exploration. Students are encouraged to propose solutions to respond to our community needs. Bringing real-world issues into design studios enables students to equip themselves with the capabilities to formulate corresponding design strategies for built environment, especially to cater for the specific needs of people with disability and older adults. Through the engagement with various stakeholders, including practising architects, urban designers, not-for-profit organisations and local councils, students were required to assess the site context and carry out site analysis, prepare precedent case studies, participate in inclusive design workshops and prepare schematic design, leading to their detailed design and final presentations. In this paper, the course structure of these community-based studios is firstly introduced, followed by an analysis illustrating how students’ awareness of universal design principles can be enhanced. Potential areas of improvement are discussed and further guidance for replicating similar studios at other institutions are given.

Design for Humanity: People and Planet

A silhouette of a person with arms outstretched around a globe of a mosaic of faces representing people of the world.Is the quest for inclusive design so difficult that we need so many different terms? Are new-fangled methodologies improving the situation if the aims are the same? Many different ways of promoting the process of designing inclusively is surely confusing everyone. Enter “Humanity-Centred Design”. This one is a bit different because it’s about the planet as well as people. Many of our current and future designs will be inhabited by upcoming generations whose consumption patterns will have different values. According to an article from the UK designers need to embody the values of inclusion, ethics, empathy and cooperation. Designs will need to be meaningful to appeal to upcoming generations. Hence the proposition of a new paradigm or model – Humanity-Centred Design.  The title of the article is, Humanity-Centred Design – Defining the Emerging Paradigm in Design Education and Practice.  The Sustainable Development Goals also embody similar values and these are gaining traction in many fields of work. The chart below is from the paper and shows the evolution from functional approach to a people focused approach. A circular chart showing progression from function focused in the 1940s to humanity focused in the 2030s.

From the abstract

Several different paradigms define product design as it has evolved to meet the needs and desires of people.  As the needs and desires of people are increasingly met by products at all price points, companies need to embrace a new paradigm which will enable them to differentiate their products from the competition. People are also increasingly aware of both the limited and depleting natural resources of the planet and the prevalence of inequality and poverty present in the world. A paradigm is emerging which enables companies to address all the above simultaneously. This paradigm and approach to designing products is referred to as ‘Humanity-Centred Design’ in intentional reference to the ‘User-Centred Design’ and ‘Human-Centred Design’ methodologies. There is a greater focus on designing products which are both sustainable and actively contribute to the alleviation of poverty in all forms and promote human development and wellbeing worldwide. This paradigm is being taught to students of Product Design at Buckinghamshire New University to ensure that they are prepared to design products for the newest and future generations and the greatest proportion of consumers.

Inclusive Design: Knowing isn’t Doing

Hands and arms reach down to a table with a drawing and coloured post it notes. Knowing about inclusive design and actually doing inclusive design are two different things. That is, industrial design students can tell you what inclusive design is and that it is important, but there is little evidence it shows up in their designs. This was one of the findings from a study of design engineering students. Inclusive design (ID) modules are integrated in several university courses but the uptake in industry is quite low. The aim of a UK study was to find out what factors can drive better industry outcomes to move towards ID. The report of the findings has some recommendations including briefly:

– Methods and tools need to be covered in more depth – Class exercises and case studies to demonstrate advantages and disadvantages – User involvement requires extensive resources – Discussion and confrontation is also needed

There is more to be gained from reading the paper which is titled, Inclusive Design Education: How to Get it Right. Abstract: The study reported in this paper aims to understand graduate skills in relation to Inclusive Design (ID) knowledge, tools and methods and how these are related to the curriculum delivered throughout their degree programme. It focusses on students graduating from the Product Design Engineering (PDE) degree programme at the University of Strathclyde. Two research questions are addressed – What Inclusive Design skills do Product Design Engineering graduates typically possess? How might the current curriculum be reviewed to facilitate the enrichment of Inclusive Design skills? Findings report on prevalence of ID tools, methods and skills in graduating students’ project work. A comparison is drawn between evidenced application of ID methods and tools and perceived skills captured from survey results. Reflections on current curriculum and pedagogical approaches are made with discussion focusing on potential adaptations to enhance ID skills in graduates completing the PDE course. Trends including which ID tools and methods are used most/least often or collectively are reported. A comparison is drawn between evidenced application of ID methods and tools and perceived skills captured from survey results. Reflections on current curriculum and pedagogical approaches are made with discussion focusing on potential adaptations to enhance ID skills in graduate Product Design Engineer cohorts.

Emotions and Motivation in Learning

An ink illustration of a femal teenage student beside a sticky note bulletin board. The main note says, 'Make Things Happen.' This is to represent a method to harness the power of emotions and motivation in learning.
A vision board of a student’s strengths, success and goals is used to enhance student motivation. Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay.

There are few more powerful teaching and learning tools than working with a student’s emotions and motivation in learning. The key is setting goals that are realistic and achievable.

Checkpoint 9.1 of the Universal Design for Learning framework by CAST makes salient the goal to harness the power of emotions and motivation in learning to support our learners to self-regulate.

CAST states, “The ability to self-regulate—to strategically modulate one’s emotional reactions or states in order to be more effective at coping and engaging with the environment—is a critical aspect of human development.”

This checkpoint is about a learner setting goals that are realistically achievable. This is in addition to the learner developing positivity in their mindset that they will achieve set goals.

Teachers that promote expectations and beliefs that optimise motivation support their students in this domain. Strategies include:

    • regular opportunities for documenting strengths
    • recording goals and reflecting on progress
    • increasing on-task time and action towards the goal
    • promoting self-regulation in the face of adversity in working towards a goal
    • modelling or providing a mentor to develop strengths and mitigate challenges

Vision Boards

Guiding students in the creation of a personal vision board is a highly engaging activity that works towards this checkpoint. Similar to a mood board that captures the desired colours, textures and objects in a dream room or home, a vision board is a visual representation that captures a student’s strengths, weaknesses and goals.

Being a student-driven activity, the students themselves identify their strengths, challenges and goals. This promotes agency and ownership over their goals, potentially increasing intrinsic motivation.

First, guide students through the activity, providing a framework. For example, are the goals to be academic or social? Then brainstorm and model example strengths and challenges. Provide opportunities for exploring and identifying individual qualities. Finally, explicitly teach goal-setting processes.

Once a student completes the background work, they can express their reflections and goals visually. Using, for example, illustrations, words, magazine cut-outs, photos, and emojis, students creatively express themselves. 

Use the vision boards for regular check-ins and reflection on progress.

There are more practical suggestions on reducing barriers to learning on the CUDA website.