Universal Design @ UL

The SATLE funded Universal Design for Learning (UDL) initiative at the University of Limerick (UL) drives the university’s strategic aim to “to ensure an accessible learning, teaching and assessment experience that is inclusive in language, material and approach” as outlined in UL’s Action for Wisdom: Learning, Teaching and Assessment strategy 2022-2027 through:

1. The design and delivery of flexible professional learning for staff.
2. A university-wide community of practice and supporting faculty level inclusive practice learning communities.
3. Developing awareness of universal design, inclusion and accessibility amongst students.
4. The design and promotion of high-quality Open Educational Resources (OERs).

The UDL initiative, through the leadership of the UDL Lead, takes a holistic approach to embedding Universal Design across the university by supporting the entire community to develop their understanding of inclusive practice. The initiative seeks to maximise opportunities for student partnership and is informed by an ongoing structured research study and informal feedback.

SATLE priority area: Educational for Sustainable Development

Key activities

Informed by an ongoing research study, the UDL initiative enacts the strategic aim of an inclusive learning experience for all learners at UL through four key activities:

Professional Learning

A range of professional learning opportunities have been developed through the UDL initiative to respond to the need for flexible learning including:

• One-hour introductory workshops on Universal Design for teaching and non-teaching staff.
• Self-directed introduction to UDL and Universal Design online courses.
• Bespoke introduction to UDL for tutor training.
• Localised versions of the National Forum Universal Design digital badges integrating UL specific policy, case studies and resources.
• Five-week versions of the National Forum Universal Design digital badges, responding to staff requests to engage with the badge outside of semester time.
• Integration of UDL across the PGCert in Learning, Teaching and Assessment through specific UDL delivery within programme modules.
• Integration of UDL prompts in the ABC Learning Design model used at UL to stimulate discussion around inclusive practice and ensure that inclusive practice is fore fronted in curriculum design.
• Bespoke contributions to the Doctorate in Clinical Psychology and the Professional Diploma in Digital Content Development.

Universal Design Community of Practice

The existing UDL Community of Practice was relaunched through an event in October 2023. To foster shared ownership and sustain engagement, participants were invited to guide the future development of the Community. Collaborations with Mary Immaculate College, DCU and SETU have extended the practice sharing beyond UL. Events facilitated through the UDL initiative include:

• Formal practice sharing events.
• The UD Café, an informal monthly conversation, anchored by a short presentation highlighting a specific aspect of inclusive practice.
• Unlocking Universal Design for Learning, a 3-hour event comprising: UL research presentation; international guest speaker and practical workshop (collaboration with Mary Immaculate College).
• A collaborative online showcase with SETU and DCU colleagues.

To support discipline specific needs, the UDL Lead also contributes to faculty-level learning communities e.g. contributing to an ‘Ask me Anything’ session on UDL and Accessibility hosted by the Faculty of Science and Engineering, and an inclusive teaching and learning event hosted by the Faculty of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences (FAHSS) and participating in the Inclusive Practice Group within FAHSS.

Raising awareness of Universal Design and UDL for students

To include students in conversations around Universal Design, the UDL initiative has established two events to raise awareness of universal design, accessibility and inclusion as part of the annual Global Accessibility Awareness Week at UL.

• The Dine in the Dark immersive experience offers staff and students the opportunity to reflect on the challenges experienced by blind/visually impaired students and colleagues by eating lunch with a blindfold (see HEA newsletter report, May 2025).
• An online student panel on the lived experience of disability and inclusion at UL centres the voice of the student in discussions around accessibility and inclusion (collaboration with the Disability Support Service). Recordings from 2004 & 2005 are available on the UDL section of the UL website and are used in workshops and the local version of the UDL and UD badges, extending the reach of the live event.

Informed by focus groups conducted as part of the UDL initiative in 2024, further opportunities for students to learn about Universal Design and UDL were developed including:

• A digital accessibility workshop as part of the LevelUp digital skills programme.
• A second student-only Dine in the Dark experience for the First 7 weeks induction programme.
• Workshop on Ally co-facilitated by the UDL Lead and Manager for the Educational Assistive Technology Centre.
• A digital badge in Universal Design for students, co-designed by the UDL Lead and student partners to support students to learn about universal design and how UDL can support their learning within and beyond life at UL.

Developing high-quality Open Educational Resources (OERs)

To extend the flexibility required by staff to engage with learning, the UDL initiative has created a range of high-quality Open Educational Resources (OERs), building on resources created by colleagues at UL involved in the UDL @ UL project. All resources created as part of the UDL initiative are shared as OERs on the CTL website and integrated into professional learning opportunities. Resources developed as part of the current UDL initiative include:

• UDL and UD beyond the classroom case studies curated from UD badge completers of local UL courses.
• The Unlocking Universal Design podcast series which explores UD practice within and beyond UL.
• Updated version of a UDL stand card developed by DCU to summarise the UDL framework (reflecting version 3.0 of UDL framework).
• UDL toolkit for Brightspace, offering inspiration for embedding UDL through the functionality of Brightspace.
• Revised co-designed resources on Academic Integrity and Generative AI developed as part of the Pathfinder project.
• Self-assessment tool for staff to explore their alignment with UDL practice.
• UDL chatbot to support professional on universal design.

Strategic alignment with national policies and relevant SATLE priority area

The UDL initiative embeds the SATLE priority areas under the Education for Sustainable Development theme as the concept of Universal Design mirrors ESD in being “grounded in principles of social justice, equity and a respect for human rights and seeks to foster engaged and active citizens, of all ages, motivated to take action towards a sustainable future” (Government of Ireland, 2023; p. 5). Specifically, the UDL initiative connects to the aim of ESD to transform learning environments to be more inclusive and sustainable, to build capacity of staff in UL to embed inclusive practices and to ensure that learners are aware of inclusivity and equality.

The Universal Design for Learning initiative at UL offers practical support and guidance to the university community to work towards sustainable and inclusive practice in the context of wider participation in higher education and an increasingly diverse learner cohort. This diverse student cohort can experience an equally diverse range of barriers within their learning environment that prevents equity of outcome. New barriers to engagement such as the demands of the cost-of-living crisis and long commuting times have emerged to add to existing barriers experience by students with disabilities, neurodiverse learners, international students and students with caring responsibilities. The UDL strategic initiative at UL supports staff and students to work towards creating inclusive learning environments for all learners by providing professional learning and practice sharing opportunities, building the knowledge, skills and attitudes to enable an inclusive student experience.

Furthermore, the UDL approach aligns closely with one the key principles of ESD in Ireland to “promote and use a variety of pedagogical techniques that support active and participatory learning, critical thinking and the development of key dispositions and skills” (Government of Ireland, 2024; p. 7). The principles of UDL aim to support student engagement by offering choice and flexibility in how learners engage with their learning environment and learning experiences, including active and participatory learning

The UDL initiative supports a sustainable future for inclusive practice at UL in several ways. By supporting staff to engage with professional learning through the UDL and UD beyond the classroom badges, staff develop the knowledge, skills and attitudes to embed inclusive practice across the entire campus. By supporting staff to engage in the badge facilitator training, the capacity to lead at local level in embedding UDL and UD in practice is further enhanced. Embedding UDL and inclusive practice in the Graduate Certificate in Learning, Teaching and Assessment, provides opportunities for staff to weave inclusive practice into their practice as part of an accredited process. By creating a community of practice around inclusive practice and UDL and in developing digital resources for flexible learning, the UDL initiative supports the sustained development of knowledge and skills beyond initial professional learning opportunities. In developing UDL prompts within curriculum design processes at UL, inclusive practice is placed at the centre of learning design into the future. Finally, through collaborating with other higher education institutions and disseminating research, the initiative impacts practice beyond UL.

Innovation in specified SATLE priority area

The innovative approach taken by UDL initiative is outlined below.

Authentic student partnership

The UDL initiative has successfully created authentic opportunities for student partnership. The student interns centred the student voice on a day-to-day basis and contributed to specific pieces of work including:

• Co-facilitation of a digital accessibility workshop for students.
• Contributing to a podcast series on artificial intelligence.
• Co-facilitating UDL and accessibility awareness events for students.
• Developing an accessible and inclusive newsletter for the Centre for Transformative Learning,
• Membership of the Global Accessibility and Awareness Week committee.
• Contributing to the PGCert in Assessment, Teaching & Learning.

Student partnership has also been fostered through collaborations with the Students’ Union to establish an annual student panel discussion on disability and inclusion.

Co-creation opportunities are an important aspect of student partnership for the UDL initiative. A student digital badge in Universal Design was co-created with student partners and a collaborative pathfinder project focused on re-designing inclusive and accessible GenAI and Academic integrity resources with student partners.

A holistic institution-wide approach

The UDL initiative takes a holistic institution-wide approach to embedding UDL and UD, through active participation within institutional committees and working groups including:

• Leadership role within the Universal Design and Inclusive Practice Committee whose remit is to enact the four pillars of the ALTITUDE charter at UL.
• Working group to redesign the UL Student Charter.
• First Seven Weeks redesign working group
• Student Engagement Forum

Furthermore, the UDL Lead has fostered institutional collaborations to strengthen the impact of the UDL initiative including: a collaborative pathfinder project with the Academic integrity unit and Digital Skills Lead; Global Accessibility Awareness Week; and a collaborative Ally workshop with the Educational Centre for Assistive Technology. Fostering collaborations ensures that the UDL initiative can respond agilely to institutional needs as they emerge. For example, responding to the demands for professional learning on Gen AI, the UDL Lead worked with the Academic Integrity Unit to develop a stand-alone workshop on assessment redesign, which has now been integrated into the PGCert for Assessment, Teaching & Learning.

Promoting Scholarship of Teaching & Learning

The UDL Lead supports staff to explore opportunities to develop a Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SOTL) to deepen their understanding of Universal Design for Learning and to sustain their inclusive practice over time. To emphasis the value of SOTL, in line with the ALTITUDE charter, the UDL Lead offers advice and support to explore research, conference and publication opportunities.

Open practice

The UDL initiative takes an innovative open practice approach. All resources developed as part of the initiative are available through creative commons licensing, for reuse and remixing by colleagues within and beyond Irish Higher Education. Furthermore, by modelling open practice, colleagues at UL are encouraged to share their practice through community of practice events within and beyond the University, and to share their redesign activity reports as OERs. The reach of these resources is evident in communications from educators within and beyond Ireland requesting advice on professional learning development.

Outcomes

Impact

Benefits to staff

The benefits to staff can be summarised as follows:

1. Increased capacity of staff to embed universal design in practice evident in the increase in professional learning participation (see table below) and impact of changes in practice (indicative extract below).
   

   “One of the most encouraging outcomes has been in a particularly challenging class, where most students had no prior background in the subject. Since applying UDL strategies, I have noticed a marked improvement in engagement and understanding.”

2. Increased practice sharing within and beyond UL 13 x events with 281 participants, indicative participant feedback below.
   

   “Sharing my own UDL initiatives, and receiving valuable feedback has been especially rewarding, prompting me to think of new ways to improve my own approaches to UDL in my work as an Instructional Designer.”

Benefits to students

1. Improved learning experience, indicative evidence from UDL badge report below.
   

   ~“Student engagement has visibly increased – the majority of students now actively participate in class. For example, previously only a handful of students would volunteer answers, but now almost the entire class responds to the live quizzes.”

2. Improved accessibility of UL student services, indicative evidence from UDL badge report below.
   

   “The impact of this redesign (digital notice board) has been significant. Students reported that they were more aware of upcoming deadlines and events, and they appreciated being able to access updates in a physical space and through their phones.”

3. Increased capacity of students to understand and apply universal design in practice within and beyond university, indicative feedback from badge participant below.
   

   “As a student, the Plus One (UDL) approach, will make me want to meet the basic requirement of my assignment or exams and dive deeper into the material and see what else could be said or done. In my future marketing career, it will help me ensure that my work is can be easy consumable to everyone. not just the target audience.”

4. Increased awareness of accessibility, inclusion and universal design through participation in Ally workshops (30) and the Dine in the Dark events (70) and participant feedback (indicative feedback below).
   

   “This (Dine in the Dark) event is really great to create our awareness and empathy towards people who are visually impaired and a great way of understanding their experience and needs.”

5. Increased opportunities for authentic student partnership through co-design activities (2 x projects in 2025). The value of such opportunities is evident in participant feedback, indicative comment below.
   

   “Guidelines (GenAI) like these are typically created by faculty and administrators, with student input gathered through surveys after the fact. So, it was refreshing that this project flipped that entirely by making us co-designers from the start.”

Broader institutional impact within UL

The ripple impact of professional learning on the university’s culture is evident in the badge reports and participant feedback, indicative comment below.

“The adoption of UDL has also fostered a cultural shift within the team, encouraging more thoughtful consideration of diverse learning needs from the outset. UDL will continue to guide the evolution of the unit’s digital presence, ensuring resources remain welcoming and meaningful for all users.”

Furthermore, UDL is embedded throughout institutional structures at UL, through the participation of the UDL lead in institutional and faculty level committees and working groups including:

• Lead role within Universal Design and Inclusive Practice Committee.
• Working group on revised UL Student Charter.
• Working group on revision of First Seven Weeks induction programme.
• UL’s Student Engagement Forum.
• Global Accessibility Awareness Week Committee.
• Inclusive Practice Group, Faculty of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences.
• Committee for Access, Retention and Engagement, Faculty of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences.

Wider sectoral impact

The UDL Lead has contributed national strategy through:

• The working group to redesign the Student Survey.
• Submission to tertiary education strategy and national forum recognition framework as part of the Educational Developers Ireland Network.
• Contributing to the ongoing development of the UDL badge through Peer Group Facilitator feedback.

Furthermore, lessons from the UDL initiative have been shared at conferences and events across Ireland including:

• AHEAD conference Mini-hackathon workshop – March 2024.
• AHEAD conference- presentation on initiative – March 2024.
• EdTech conference presentation on SETU & UL collaboration – May 2025.
• Digital Education conference, SETU, Presentation on UDL – December 2024.

Potential for replicability

Several innovative models have been developed as part of the UDL initiative including:

• 5-week UD and UD beyond the classroom badges.
• Student digital badge on Universal Design.
• Supporting Scholarship of Teaching and Learning.
• Inter-institutional practice sharing.
• Inter-institutional Peer Groups for digital badges.
• Student co-creation processes.

Team members

• Universal Design for Learning Lead
• Educational Developer 1 x 12 month contract July 2023 – July 2024
• Student interns 2 x 8 month contracts (Jan- Aug 2024 & Jan – Aug 2025)