Unlike an accommodation for a specific person with a disability, the practice of UDE is proactive and benefits all students, including those who are not receiving disability-related accommodations and other services from the school. UD has been applied to many educational products (e.g., websites, textbooks, lab equipment) and environments (e.g., classrooms, libraries). All universally designed products and environments are accessible, usable, and inclusive. Mace and other visionaries developed the definition of UD used by the Center for Universal Design (CUD) at North Carolina State University: “the design of products and environments to be usable to the greatest extent possible by people of all ages and abilities”. The term universal design (UD) was coined by the architect Ronald Mace, who challenged the conventional approach of designing for the average user and provided a design foundation for more accessible and usable products and environments.

computers, educational software, and websites.

UDE provides a philosophical framework for the design of all products and environments at all educational levels. Though universal design has its roots in the design field of architecture and commercial products and information technology (IT), UDE applications are relatively new.

UDE goes beyond accessible design for people with disabilities to make all aspects of the educational experience more inclusive for students, staff, instructors, administrators, and visitors with a great variety of characteristics, including those related to gender, race and ethnicity, age, stature, disability, and learning preference. While physical spaces, courses, technology, and student services are often designed for the average student, the practice of universal design in education (UDE) considers people diverse characteristics in the design of all formal and informal educational products and environments.

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