Accessibility, creativity and universality at the ADCET Symposium
Co-authored by Katie Duncan, Elham Hafiz and Florence Borbe (University of Technology Sydney)
The University of Technology Sydney's Inclusive Practices Team attended the Australian Disability Clearinghouse for Education & Training (ADCET) Universal Design for Learning (UDL) Symposium. This year’s theme was Cultivating Creativity, Connections & Confidence in the Australian Tertiary Education Sector. These are the key takeaways.
The symposium focused on the UDL framework 
, emphasising its role in enhancing educational inclusivity. UDL’s flexible approach allows educators and learning designers to tailor learning experiences that meet the diverse needs of all students. UDL enables this by providing multiple means of engagement, representation and expression.
Centring relationships and using country and community as a mode
Uncle Max Jackson and Marleigh Zada (Curtin University) spoke about the implementation of Nyungar and UDL pedagogies to change colonial perspectives of Nyungar peoples by Indigenous and non-Indigenous students.
They highlighted the importance of this relational way of working for creating transformative learning experiences, by bringing people together with respect and using Country as a different mode of engagement.
Scaling up UDL at an institutional level
The keynote speaker was Dr Thomas Tobin , a Senior Teaching and Learning Developer at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Dr Tobin spoke about how to scale up UDL at an institutional level, with some practical suggestions including:
- Broader and fewer goals, e.g. committing to some core UDL basics such as providing alternative text for images, having a semantic structure, providing captions and transcripts for videos and ensuring that third party software is accessible.
- Enhancing the power of defaults, e.g. Making the system easier for people to create inclusive content as that is how the system is set-up.
It’s encouraging to note that while we have a long way to go to make everything accessible, some of his key suggestions were things UTS already try to focus on in their accessible content practices.
A recurring theme throughout the conference was the importance of building systems with embedded principles rather than relying solely on individual responsibility. Dr. Tobin posed the question: “What is one way we can transition from individual-level UDL to UDL at scale?”
He reiterated that allocating resources to create systems requiring good practices, such as compulsory alt text for images or captions for media within the LMS, normalises accessibility efforts and makes them routine tasks. This approach shifts accessibility from being an “extra effort” to an integral part of daily practice.
Using technology to support student’s mental health
Dr Jacquie Tinkler, Dr Ella Dixon and Gene Hodgins (Charles Sturt University) spoke about the large numbers of Australian students experiencing poor mental health compared to the general population. Mental health support is primarily provided through individual adjustments, which excludes many students who are not “in the system” , particularly those who do not recognise their need for mental health support.
Students are increasingly using technology to aid their learning, such as speech/note-taking tools, text-to-speech, and captioning services. However, barriers to assistive technologies include cost, lack of awareness about the accessibility features of common software (like Microsoft products), and attitudes from some academics that the technology is replacing skills the students “should” be learning.
Moving forward, the next steps to better support students include advocating for university-wide technology policies that are inclusive and UDL-informed. There is a need for discussions on what ‘need to learn’ means in the context of technology and mental health, and who decides which skills students should acquire, especially those with mental health struggles. The role of support services is crucial in this, as they can recommend UDL approaches and ensure that technology is used to enhance, rather than hinder, the learning experience for all students.
Measuring the success of UDL through student feedback on specific interventions
As UDL is intentionally open to interpretation, it often means it can be hard to understand what UDL looks like in practice and therefore how to measure its success. Dr Samantha Poulos (University of Sydney) spoke about the lack of consensus on good practice in the UDL community, and her approaches for measuring success. Poulos uses a “Statement of Learning Design” message in subjects to let students know about the design interventions that have taken place. They work with students to assess whether those interventions have been successful through focus groups and surveys. Working with students is a great way to measure success!
UDL in animation
Dianne Herft (RMIT) presented on her team’s integration ofUDL into animation to enhance accessibility. She noted how animation can increase student engagement, as it makes learning interactive and dynamic, and can be tailored to meet diverse learning needs. To increase accessibility for students with visual impairments and adherence to WCAG, accessible colour palettes, colour contrast and text readability were incorporated into the animations. She also emphasised the need to provide multiple learning alternatives along with animations to suit the needs of various students. For instance, students with hearing impairments can benefit from transcripts and captions.
Using UDL when supporting postgraduate online students
Dr Tracey Ahern (James Cook University) spoke about the CONNECT framework – a set of evidence-based strategies which aims to create a supportive learning environment for online postgraduate students. Her team utilised observations and feedback from students and staff engaged in online postgraduate teaching & learning post-COVID, to develop the framework. They gathered that learners desired a sense of connectedness and socialisation with their peers and teaching staff. As the CONNECT framework is aligned with UDL, it provides students with a range of opportunities to challenge, engage and motivate them, through variability in teaching methods, resources and assessments tailored to online learning.
Download an accessible text version of the CONNECT framework here (.DOCX, 16.2 KB).
Find out more
This was an insightful conference that offered many different perspectives on UDL. It provided a range of information from implementing and measuring UDL to different ways education providers can support students. For more information visit the ADCET website for resources on UDL.
Read the article from its original source. Co-authored by Katie Duncan, Elham Hafiz and Florence Borbe (University of Technology Sydney)