Universal Design for Online Education

The concept of Universal Design has dramatically changed the way the buildings and other products are designed. Buildings are now more accessible to people with disabilities, require less routine maintenance, and generally function better for everyone.  The same basic concepts can be applied to the design of online educational resources so that everyone can most easily access the information. This tutorial will cover some background information to raise awareness of the issues of accessibility and some practical applications to illustrate the ease of producing accessible web sites.

Universal Design is not so much a method or science, but rather an attitude. All well-meaning people agree with the principle of including people with disabilities – inaccessible designs do not arise from lack of caring, but from a lack of awareness.  Issues of access must be given equal consideration along with decisions of aesthetics during every step of the design and implementation process.  The legitimate goals of an online education project are never compromised by Universal Design, and, as shown by later examples, accessible designs can be easier and require fewer resources than inaccessible designs.

To clearly illustrate how designs have changed to increase accessibility, consider the architectural example of the county courthouse, especially the typical, late 18th century building sometimes found on the square in the center of a small town. These courthouses were large, impressive buildings, towering over the other buildings in the town. Generally, they were built so that the building’s first floor is well above ground level. While there may have been some practical benefits of this design feature, such as reduced chance of flooding, it is more likely that the design is a social or psychological statement denoting the importance of the place.

Consider how courthouses are designed today, much less imposing structures that feature a design that is much lower to the ground with entrances that are level with the ground. The designers achieved the main purpose of the building – to house the court and offices – with the features for accessibility integral to the basic design.