ADCET UDL Symposium Keynote: Turbocharging Accessibility? Negotiating Paradigm Shifts for Inclusive Learning, Teaching and Assessment
In-person Keynote
Some 40 years ago, Universal Design made a leap from architecture to the educational sphere. This encouraged learning technologists, psychologists, and educators to create a new framework called Universal Design for Learning that aimed to make learning accessible for everyone. To a large degree, initial UDL thinking was informed by a belief that technology could significantly improve accessibility for disabled learners. The keynote explored how we were experiencing similar changes in education due to the impact of generative artificial intelligence (AI). These changes affected how we learnt, taught, and assessed, and they had significant implications for all learners, but especially those considered to be 'at the margins'. Whilst AI offered great potential to turbocharge accessibility and inclusion for learners, it also risked worsening existing inequalities in education.
This keynote explored how current changes needed to be purposefully harnessed through collaboration across the campus, so that there could be more joined up strategies to bring about positive, inclusive, and systemic change. The session provided delegates with insights required to take ownership of the current fast-paced disruption, by positioning learners' requirements at the heart of the process, and by building necessary networks of campus allies required for future-aware learning that was accessible, authentic, and inclusive.
Presenter
Dr Seán Bracken is a Principal Lecturer at the University of Worcester (UW), UK, where he is the Doctoral Programme Lead for the College of Education, Culture and Society. Seán holds an Ed.D., a M.Phil. in Applied Linguistics, and a M.Ed. in School Leadership. He is a Principal Fellow of the Higher Education Academy and, as part of the ACSES fellowship program, he is currently an Adjunct Professor at Curtin University.
A cornerstone of Seán’s work is his dedication to inclusion and UDL. He has been instrumental in promoting inclusivity through various leadership roles and research initiatives. As the founder of the Inclusion by Design Research Group at UW, he has fostered an interdisciplinary community focused on improving learning outcomes and social experiences for diverse learners.
Along with Dr Richard Jackson, he was the co-founder, and subsequent chair, of the International Collaboratory for Leadership in Universally Designed Education (INCLUDE). This transnational network connects learners, student service professionals and researchers dedicated to inclusive instructional design. INCLUDE recently launched the International Journal for Universal Design and Universal Design for Learning (IJUDUDL) This link takes you away from the ADCET page, for which Seán acts as one of the Deputy Editors. IJUDUDL is hosted by the Ministry of Higher Education in Morocco and aims to provide a robust research basis for charting future directions for UD and UDL.
Seán’s research projects, often funded by prestigious organisations such as the British Council and the British Academy, focus on strengthening inclusion in higher education. Notable projects include co-constructing UDL modules with learners and colleagues in Indonesia and the UK, as well as exploring the use of Lesson Study in Brazil as an enabling action research strategy for enhancing inclusion. Seán’s research, and advocacy have significantly advanced educational practices, making him a highly respected thought leader in the field.
(June 2025)