ADCET UDL Symposium: Levelling the Playing Field - Co-Designing Inclusive Sport and Wellbeing Through Student-Led UDL Practice
Online presentation
Between June and August 2025, RMIT Vietnam undertook a student-led accessibility and inclusion audit of its sport and recreation facilities (RMIT Active). Thirteen students registered with Equitable Learning and Accessibility (ELA), alongside student aides and a staff member with lived experience of disability, participated as co-designers throughout the project. Together, they produced and a published report that has provided a practical roadmap for improving access, participation, and experience, with several of their recommendations already being implemented.
This presentation told that story. It explored how Universal Design for Learning (UDL) can be applied beyond the classroom and how student–staff co-design can meaningfully transform sport, wellbeing, and campus life in higher education. Students who led the process and who were responsible for writing, editing, and designing the final report, shared their experiences and reflected on how the project influenced their confidence, sense of belonging, and engagement at RMIT Vietnam. The session was co-delivered by staff and students who participated directly in the audit, ensuring lived experience remains central to both the content and the delivery.
Guided by UDL 3.0, the project embedded learner agency through multiple means of engagement (choice, safety, sensory regulation), representation (tactile, visual, auditory, and digital formats), and action and expression (co-authoring findings, ranking priorities, and creative design). Students shaped the audit tool, conducted site observations, prioritised recommendations, and led the production of the final report.
Impact was evident in both tangible and relational ways. Participation of ELA students in Sport Day increased, alongside broader engagement in campus life. Equally significant were the peer connections and friendships that formed through the audit itself. Students reported greater confidence and a stronger willingness to participate when accessibility was proactively designed rather than retrofitted.
The session aimed to inspire through a student-led narrative while providing participants with a transferable co-design framework for applying UDL principles in non-academic contexts. Participants engaged through interactive polling, a guided co-design reflection activity, and a visual walkthrough of student-produced artefacts, with online and in-person attendees participating simultaneously.
This presentation positioned students not as consultees, but as co-facilitators and knowledge-holders, demonstrating how UDL-informed co-design can drive meaningful institutional change.
Presenters
Simon O'Donoghue is the Inclusion, Diversity, Equity and Access (IDEA) Advisor at RMIT Vietnam, leading the development of inclusive, student-centred approaches across university systems. This session is delivered in partnership with student collaborators, whose lived experiences have shaped an inclusive roadmap to improve accessibility in sport. Simon's role is to create the conditions for this work - bridging institutional priorities with student voice. Drawing on experience across Vietnam and the UK, including public health and the non-profit sector, he is interested in how context shapes inclusion and how power can be more meaningfully shared in higher education.
Bui Minh Anh, is a student at RMIT Vietnam majoring in Human Resource Management (HRM), with a strong interest in inclusive practice and accessibility in higher education. She has contributed to the RMIT Active project as a student collaborator, working with peers and staff to review sport and recreation programs through a Universal Design for Learning (UDL) lens. This work focused on identifying inclusive strategies to support diverse student needs and improve accessibility. Through this experience, Minh Anh has developed co-design and inclusive practice skills, and is motivated to contribute to more inclusive and accessible university environments.
Tran Van Bau, is a student at RMIT Vietnam with a strong interest in accessibility, inclusive education, and student engagement. He has been actively involved in student initiatives and extracurricular activities, including the RMIT Active project. Through this work, he contributed to a student-led audit of sport and recreation facilities to improve accessibility and inclusion which engaged with stakeholders, participated in on-site accessibility audits, and co-developed a final report. This experience has been meaningful in highlighting how students with disabilities can not only access support, but also contribute and create value. Van Bau is particularly interested in co-design approaches that raise awareness and enhance student wellbeing.
(June 2026)