Universal Access in the Classroom

	Castleton Home > Resources & Activities > Disabilities Access Committee Campus Life at 802-468-1342
	\

According to the Center for Universal Design at North Carolina State University, universal design is:
“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.”

The most common application of universal design principles has been in the field of architecture. Since the late 90’s there has been a lot of attention given to universal web design and, more recently, to universal e-mail access.

Of growing interest is the application of universal design to programs, that is, non-environmental applications. The premise is that programs and instructional methods which help students with disabilities improve the learning environment for all students regardless of their abilities.

Landmark College has done a great deal of research in the area of universal access in the classroom. The material on the following page is adapted from the work of Christie Herbert at Landmark College.