"UDL is the recognition that a standardized learning environment is no longer productive; it is vital — and, with today's technology, possible — to acknowledge differences among students." - Eva Chen, Harvard Graduate School of Education (2008)
In a 2017 ITG blog post, Natalie Hebshie writes: "The term Universal Design originated in the world of architecture. It emphasizes designing to accommodate everyone from the start, rather than making adjustments after something has been built. This not only saves a great deal of effort but also leads to cleaner, more visually appealing designs.
In the world of education, UDL has become synonymous with accessibility for learners with visual or hearing impairments (e.g. closed captioning for videos, optimized text in PDFs, etc). But UDL is so much more than that! Rather than designing for the average learner, UDL encourages us to 'design for the margins' using a framework based on neuroscience."
