UDL Is Not Accessibility: The Problem with UDL Inflation
Why one useful pedagogical framework should not become shorthand for accessibility, inclusive teaching, and everything we value in quality online course design
Lately, I have been hearing Universal Design for Learning (UDL) invoked more and more often in conversations about accessibility. Sometimes the terms are used almost interchangeably. An online course is described as “accessible because it uses UDL.” UDL is presented as the standard for inclusive course design. And accessibility practices are folded into UDL as though accessibility were simply one application of the larger framework.