What is it?
An inclusive design considers every student, ensuring that all individuals, regardless of their background, abilities, or learning preferences, feel valued, supported, and empowered to succeed. It is grounded in the principles of equity, diversity, and inclusion, aiming to remove barriers while creating opportunities for meaningful engagement and success. At its core, this approach integrates accessibility, Universal Design for Learning (UDL), and equitable teaching practices, creating an environment where all students can fully participate and thrive.
Accessibility ensures that the physical, digital, and social dimensions of learning environments are designed or adapted to meet diverse needs. This includes providing accessible course materials, adaptive technologies, and barrier-free spaces that accommodate students with disabilities while enhancing usability for everyone. Universal Design for Learning extends accessibility by proactively designing curricula, teaching methods, and assessments that embrace learner diversity. It offers multiple means of engagement, representation, and expression, ensuring that learning experiences are flexible, inclusive, and responsive to diverse needs, cultural contexts, and abilities. By integrating flexibility from the start, UDL anticipates and accommodates all students, minimizing the need for retroactive adjustments.

Considerations
A lack of awareness or understanding of accessibility and UDL can unintentionally exclude students with disabilities or those who engage with learning in different ways. Without these inclusive practices, students may face barriers that hinder their participation, success, and sense of belonging. Last-minute accommodation can also place strain on instructors, requiring urgent changes that could have been prevented with proactive design.
Accessibility ensures all students can access course content and participate meaningfully, while UDL encourages flexible teaching strategies that benefit everyone. However, integrating these approaches requires time, reflection, and support. Faculty may worry about the resources needed, but small, intentional changes like using accessible document templates (e.g., accessible PowerPoint templates), or offering varied assessment formats can have a significant impact.
The CTLT’s Learning Resources provide guidance to ease this transition. Investing time in inclusive and accessible design upfront saves time later, reduces the need for reactive fixes, and fosters a more equitable learning environment for all students.
Where to start
The Centre for Accessibility facilitates disability-related accommodations and programming initiatives designed to remove barriers for students with disabilities and ongoing medical conditions. It provides support in various aspects of university life, including academic accommodations, assistive technologies, and accessible course materials.
The UDL Hub serves as a central resource for faculty and staff, offering materials and strategies to promote accessibility and inclusive teaching through UDL practices. It includes examples of course redesigns using UDL principles, case studies, and guidance on implementing UDL across different disciplines and learning contexts.
The Equity and Inclusion Office provides resources and support to foster inclusive and equitable teaching environments. It offers workshops, toolkits, and consultation services to help educators create culturally responsive curricula, develop inclusive classroom climates, and address systemic inequities that may hinder student success.
The Accessibility hub – UBC Equity & Inclusion Office is a central resource on all matters related to accessibility. It connects students, faculty and staff with services and resources in place to advance accessibility and meet the needs of the disabled community.
Go further
To deepen your commitment to inclusive teaching, consider integrating UDL strategies that support diverse learners. Offer course materials in multiple formats, such as text, audio, and video to enhance accessibility and engagement. Implement flexible assessments that allow students to demonstrate their learning in various ways, including presentations, projects, or written reflections.
Engage with communities of practice to collaborate with colleagues and explore innovative teaching approaches.
For practical tools and resources, visit UBC’s Inclusive Teaching @ UBC and the UDL Hub. By embedding these strategies, you can create a more inclusive and supportive learning environment for all students.
Accessibility may seem like an overwhelming concept when it is new to you. The Accessibility 101 website aims to alleviate that feeling and explain accessibility in an approachable way. Support is available to you and your teaching team in a variety of areas.
The Course Syllabus page provides syllabus templates, sample language, examples, and resources to support effective course syllabus preparation. You can choose from the UBC Vancouver Course Syllabus template or other recommended templates developed across UBC. Their use is entirely optional, but designed to assist you.
Lastly, you can explore upcoming workshops and events related to accessibility in teaching by visiting the CTLT’s Accessibility events page.
Faculty story
By sharing experiences, educators can inspire new ideas, foster a sense of community, and promote ongoing growth in teaching practices. Explore how UBC faculty and staff are incorporating UDL in their teaching and daily practices by visiting UDL Stories, where instructors and staff share their journeys of making teaching and learning more inclusive and accessible.
