In the context of disability, accessibility has been defined and theorized in different ways. In Keywords for Disability Studies, Bess Williamson (2015) explains that,

"In its most literal form, "access" describes the ability to enter into, move about within, and operate the facilities of a site... Figuratively, however, it can suggest a much broader set of meanings linked to a more inclusive society with greater opportunities for social and political participation."

As Dr. Stephanie Rosen explained, specific definitions of accessibility can also be found in the best practices and standards of professions and disciplines. For example, the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) provide guidelines for digital accessibility. Digital accessibility is the process of designing software, devices, and digital content such as, but not limited to courses, course content, mobile applications, web applications, websites, web pages, documents, and PDFs; so that individuals with disabilities can use them in an equitable manner.

UDL & Accessibility

In this discussion, we focus primarily on digital accessibility in order to illustrate the relationships between UDL and accessibility.

UDL & accessibility intersect in interesting ways and seemingly conflict in others. For example, the goal of both UDL & WCAG's digital accessibility guidelines is to increase equitable access to information and learning, while decreasing barriers to learning and exclusion (Ableser & Moore, 2018). However, solutions that employ UDL in practice, such as a slide deck that uses more images than text, may fail to comply with digital accessibility guidelines if those images do not have alternative text for screen-readers. In this way, UDL and accessibility are not one and the same.

However, digital accessibility often aligns with UDL, because designing environments and technology for those with more specialized needs often results in solutions that benefit a wider range of users. For example, you may caption the videos that you use in your course for the benefit of students with hearing impairments, but captions are are useful to other students as a means to support comprehension (ex: students learning material in a second language).

Ideally, making the practices of digital accessibility fundamental to your utilization of UDL would truly begin to make access to learning in your classes 'universal'. Asking yourself questions to think about how students with disabilities may engage with your pedagogy, content, or technology is a vital way to consider how to design fair assessments, how to create learning objectives, and how to meaningfully engage with your students. Being open to feedback from students with disabilities is also an important part of bringing UDL and accessibility into alignment in your courses.

Optional Further Reading

Universal Design for Learning and Digital Accessibility: Compatible Partners or a Conflicted Marriage? by Judy Ableser & Christina Moore (2018). This article further explores the topics of UDL and Accessibility and their intersection.