Universal Design for Learning (UDL)

by MU Instructional Designers
Reviewed February 6, 2026
25-30 min read

Intro to UDL

The video above from Humber Innovative Learning provides a great introduction to why Universal Design for Learning (UDL) is so important for an inclusive learning environment.

As mentioned in the video, CAST has a website dedicated to the UDL guidelines, including more specific suggestions for strategies and considerations. If you click on the graphic organizer, you can navigate to specific details within the framework to increase your understanding and your implementation.

For a stronger focus on higher ed in the UDL context, CAST’s UDL on Campus provides some great advice and information. The site provides strategies for a UDL-infused syllabus, for more accessible media/course materials, for executive functioning in fully online learning environments, and for many more topics.

UDL at Messiah University

The video below was created by your instructional designers to articulate what UDL means to us at Messiah University.

UDL in Your Teaching

Now that it’s time to put this knowledge into action, consider our Top 5 Tips:

  1. Articulate the “Why?”
    How does your assignment meet the course learning objectives? How might it be relevant outside of the classroom? Be sure this is clear to your students. (UDL Considerations 7.2 & 8.1)
  2. Highlight connections.
    Within your content, what are the patterns, critical features, big ideas, and relationships? Are you unintentionally making the assumption that students see those connections? (UDL Consideration 3.2)
  3. Offer another format for content.
    Do you have any topics that are only presented in one way (e.g. textbook, lecture)? Consider adding one more form of media for that topic (e.g. video, infographic, podcast). (UDL Considerations 1.2 & 2.5)
  4. Incorporate voice & choice in assessment.
    Where in your assessment could there be options for students while still meeting your learning objectives (e.g. topic, format)? (UDL Considerations 7.1 & 5.2)
  5. Scaffold group work/collaboration.
    How can you help students build the collaboration skills they need (e.g. group worksheets/inventories, groupwork contracts, peer review scaffolds)? (UDL Considerations 8.3 & 8.4)

For a faculty member’s perspective, please read Kevin Kelly’s “Fostering Inclusion with Universal Design for Learning” (scroll down to p. 27). He is an instructor at San Francisco State University, and the article was published in the Association for American Colleges & Universities’ Diversity and Democracy quarterly publication. Kelly reflects on the need for UDL in inclusive teaching and offers a few practical suggestions in a narrative format.

If you’d like to learn more about UDL, you can check out our UDL annotated bibliography for further resources.