Universal+Design

=Universal Design (UD) and Universal Design for Learning (UDL)= According to the Center for Universal Design at North Carolina State University (2010), "Universal Design" is defined as: "The design of products and environments to be usable by all people, to the greatest extent possible, without the need for adaptation or specialized design". This section of the Wiki will inform you of the principles of both Universal Design (UD) as well as Universal Design for Learning (UDL). There are also some quick suggestions of things you can do in your library, most of which are low- to no-cost. At the bottom of the page, you'll find the sources we've cited, which are recommended if you are interested in making your library more accessible.

Universal Design (UD)
Universal Design (UD) began as a concept in architecture. The idea is that spaces are made to be accessible to a wide range of individuals with disabilities, but in designing these spaces to do that, they will also be more accessible to the general population (Gavigan and Kurtts, 2009). While a school librarian may not have control over how accessible the library room is within the school building, he or she can certainly take steps to make sure the library space accessible.

Principles of Universal Design
When designing your library space, keep in mind the following seven principles of Universal Design (Center for Universal Design, 1997). Whenever possible, incorporate these principles in the arrangement of your library. Most of the following suggestions will incur no additional cost to your budget, so they can be implemented with ease.
 * **Principle One: Equitable Use**"The design is useful and marketable to people with diverse abilities"
 * Suggestions: Keep your library space open and accommodating. Do not segregate certain users by disability by keeping certain types of materials or assistive devices away from the other computers, items in the collection, etc.
 * **Principle Two: Flexibility in Use**"The design accommodates a wide range of individual preferences and abilities"
 * Suggestions: For example, can both a student in a wheelchair and a student without one use a computer with the same degree of ease?
 * **Principle Three: Simple and Intuitive Use**"Use of the design is easy to understand, regardless of the user's experience, knowledge language skills, or current concentration level"
 * Suggestions: Keep similar items together. Have a similar and simple call number system for each of the books. For example, a simple prefix for fiction books is "FIC" as it is intuitive and short.
 * **Principle Four: Perceptible Information**"The design communicates necessary information effectively to the user, regardless of ambient conditions or the user's sensory abilities"
 * Suggestions: Whenever possible include various kinds of signs in your library that point to the different sections of the collection (large-print text, pictures, Braille, etc). What are the different needs of the community you serve? Keep in mind your young patrons, teachers as well as the parents who may stop in to the library.
 * **Principle Five: Tolerance for Error**"The design minimizes hazards and the adverse consequences of accidental or unintended actions"
 * Suggestions: Keep the space clean. For example, if you use bean bags or stuffed animals for story time, be sure they are cleaned up and out of the way before students move about the space. Have bins or boxes for smaller items such as these and be sure the bins are out of the way, too.
 * **Principle Six: Low Physical Effort**"The design can be use efficiently and comfortably with a minimum of fatigue"
 * Suggestions: Be sure items are easily accessible. Don't let the bookshelves become so overloaded with items that it's difficult to pull one out. If you have assistive technology devices, have them out and ready for use. Be sure things that need electricity are already plugged in and ready to be used. Librarians often don't have much extra time to worry about plugging in and turning on devices.
 * **Principle Seven: Size and Space for Approach and Use**"Appropriate size and space is provided for approach, reach, manipulation, and use regardless of the user's body size, posture or mobility"
 * Suggestions: Whenever possible, buy low shelving units so they are accessible by those in a seated position. In an elementary school especially, all children will benefit from having all of the books within their full, independent reach.

If you wish to purchase or download (for free) a poster of the "Principles of Universal Design", you can do so here.

Here are just a sample of more low-to-no cost solutions to make your space more universally accessible. See Copeland's short article (2011) below in the "Works Cited and Suggested Reading" for more tips:
 * Offer lower shelving that students can reach safely while seated.
 * Widen the spaces between objects to allow access for assistive devices (such as wheelchairs, walkers, etc). A good rule of thumb is to use a yardstick to measure the appropriate distance between bookshelves, furniture and other large items in the library.
 * Offer adjustable height tables, if possible.
 * Ask the student what he or she might need.

Making a building or a space more accessible has the potential to be a long and expensive process. If you take small steps and think creatively about how you organize your library, however, you'll see that it's easy to make your space more accessible to all of your patrons.

Resources for those wanting to learn more about Universal Design
Center for Universal Design is "an initiative of the College of Design [at North Carolina State University], is a national information, technical assistance, and research center that evaluates, develops, and promotes accessible and universal design in housing, commercial and public facilities, outdoor environments, and products. Our mission is to improve environments and products through design innovation, research, education and design assistance"

Universal Design Education is a website that is created through the collaboration of several universities. The goal of this site is simply to educate anyone about the idea of UD. They also have many other resources you can browse.

Universal Design for Learning (UDL)
Universal Design for Learning (UDL), which is sometimes referred to as Universal Design for Instruction (UDI), takes the concept of Universal Design and expands it beyond the physical space. CAST defines "Universal Design for Learning" as "a set of principles for curriculum development that give all individuals equal opportunities to learn. UDL provides a blueprint for creating instructional goals, methods, materials, and assessments that work for everyone--not a single, one-size-fits-all solution but rather flexible approaches that can be customized and adjusted for individual needs" (CAST, 2011).

Three Principles of UDL: Representation, Expression and Engagement (National Center on Universal Design for Learning and CAST, 2011)
As you design your collection and your lessons, think of the following principles of UDL. Keeping these basic tenets in mind, the students can all have similarly engaging and successful experiences in the library.
 * **Representation, or the "what" of learning:**Students differ in the way they learn best. This principle explains that a teacher should vary the way that he/she is teaching the lesson in order to reach as many students as possible.
 * Suggestions: Give instructions in multiple ways. For example: making sure the students have the worksheet in front of them, but also reading the directions aloud, or having a picture communicate a direction. Think about the different ways you can communicate with your students and assess what seems to work with each group.
 * **Expression, or the "how" of learning:**This principle explains that students need to have the opportunity of accomplishing tasks in different ways. Students with significant movement impairments, for example, will accomplish a task in a different way. Practicing UDL means to accept the different routes these (and all students) take to learning.
 * Suggestions: Allow different ways of completing the task. If possible, for students who don't write well, have them tell you a story, but let them complete the pictures. If you do an activity that involves a worksheet, be content with the students completing it in different degrees. Some students may have the incorrect answers, but depending on the skill level, just attempting the worksheet can be considered a success.
 * **Engagement, or the "why" of learning:**Students can be motivated to learn for very different reasons. Allow for differentiation in the commitment to a certain method and respond positively when students explore the various ways they choose to do an activity.
 * Suggestions: Some may be more motivated to learn as a group while others find they do best working alone, so be open to allowing different groupings. Also, keep in mind that different students will be attracted to different aspects of your lesson. When introducing something, approach it in multiple ways, for example, showing a book cover and playing a book trailer. These two ways will attract different types of students and thus you will have more engagement right from the beginning of the lesson.

You can get a PDF of the Three Principles (as well as the specific guidelines for each principle) here. For translations of the UDL principles, visit here. For examples and resources about how to incorporate UDL in your instruction, check out this site. (Note: the examples they give aren't necessarily specific to the library setting).

The school library can be an excellent place for including children with disabilities into the regular lessons and story times. Students with disabilities who become familiar with the library experience an increase in independence and self-esteem (Murray 1999, as cited in Blue, E. & Pace, D., 2011). It's important that school librarians as well as other teachers in the building recognize the library as a place where students with disabilities have a great chance to be successful. Depending on the student's level of inclusion throughout the school day, the library may be one of the few times that he or she is able to interact with his or her peers. This can be a beneficial experience and has been one that has been noticed by several special education teachers and aides at an elementary school in Champaign, IL.

The school librarian has a much more complex job than simply managing and checking out books. Librarians must teach their students how to locate resources and how to assess the validity of those sources in order to help the students succeed. It is the job of the school librarian, using the concepts of UDL, to ensure that //all// of the students are learning. Although they should all be learning, it is important to note that they do not necessarily have to be learning the same thing. It is important to also have flexible goals for the students. One of the key ways to accomplish this is through differentiated instruction. Differentiated instruction is a teaching theory based on the idea that instruction should be varied and adapted to the diverse group of students in the classroom or library (Hall, T. et.al., 2003). According to Hall, et. al., to differentiate instruction is to "recognize students' varying background knowledge, readiness, language, preferences in learning and interests; and to react responsively. Differentiated instruction is a process to teaching and learning for students of differing abilities in the same class. The intent of differentiating instruction is to maximize each student's growth and individual success by meeting each student where he or she is and assisting in the learning process". The take-away points from this definition emphasize the acceptance of the differing abilities of each student. As a teacher, you must accept that the students will not be working or learning at the same pace, and your job as an educator is to address those different needs as best you can.

Resources for those wanting to learn more about UDL and for ideas of how to incorporate it into your library:
The National Center on Universal Design for learning was founded in 2009 by CAST. On their website, you can find information about UDL and find out how to advocate and implement UDL for yourself. You can also have access to a community of users who share their thoughts and implementations of UDL.

The Center for Applied Special Technology (or CAST). According to their site, they are "an educational research & development organization that works to expand learning opportunities for all individuals through Universal Design for Learning".

The American Association of School Libraries (AASL) has a lot of information on their website about teaching. While this link of "Best Websites for Teaching and Learning" doesn't specifically mention UDL, it certain provides a good list of dynamic websites that allow for multiple ways to participate and interact with technology. It also includes several of the Standards for the 21st Century Learner.

__Works Cited and Suggested Reading__
Blue, E. & Pace, D. (2011). UD and UDL: Paving the Way Toward Inclusion and Independence in the School Library. //Knowledge Quest//, 39(3), 48-55.

CAST. (2011). //About UDL//. Retrieved November 25, 2011, from @http://www.cast.org/udl/index.html.

Copeland, C. (2011). Low-Cost/No-Cost Solutions for Universal Design and Accessibility. //Knowledge Quest//, 39 (3), 68.

Center for Universal Design. (2010). //The Principles of Universal Design//. Retrieved November 25, 2011, from @http://www.ncsu.edu/project/design-projects/udi/center-for-universal-design/the-principles-of-universal-design/.

Hall, T., Strangman, N., & Meyer, A. (2003). //Differentiated instruction and implications for UDL implementation.//Wakefield, MA: National Center on Accessing the General Curriculum. Retrieved November 29, 2011, from @http://aim.cast.org/learn/historyarchive/backgroundpapers/differentiated_instruction_udl.

Gavigan, K and Kurtts, S. (2009). AT, UD, and Thee: Using Assistive Technology and Universal Design for Learning in 21st Century Media Centers. //Library Media Connection,// 27(4), 54-56.

National Center on Universal Design for Learning. (2011). //The Three Principles of UDL//. Retrieved November 27, 2011, from @http://www.udlcenter.org/aboutudl/whatisudl/3principles.