ADCET UDL Symposium: UDL Beyond the Course - Designing Program Structures for Access and Inclusion
Online presentation
UDL is often implemented as course-level teaching strategies. However, evidence from Australian higher education suggests that many equity-related barriers are structural, shaped by how assessment, information and progression are patterned across programs and accumulate throughout the student lifecycle (Australian Universities Accord Review Panel, 2024; NCSEHE & ORIMA Research, 2023). National student experience data show persistent differences for equity cohorts (Social Research Centre, 2024). Disability equity research highlights the role of institutional processes, communication, and environments in shaping participation (Pitman, 2022) while academic literacies research demonstrates how implicit expectations and disciplinary norms can function as structural barriers when left unexamined (Davis et al., 2025).
In the context of a large Australian university’s institution-wide curriculum transformation, where UDL is positioned as a foundation for all programs and courses, this session reframes the UDL Guidelines 3.0 as a shared design language for translating established equity and accessibility evidence into program-level decisions. Rather than leaving inclusion to course-by-course variability, we position access and participation as structural considerations within curriculum review and decision-making processes.
Designed for disability practitioners, inclusive education leaders, and learning designers who influence policy, templates, and quality cycles, the session introduced a practical “program-level UDL lens” and prompt set. We focused on levers including transition points; assessment sequencing and pacing; cumulative cognitive load; navigation and information architecture; baseline accessibility-by-default; and learning and assessment environments. Stabilising key program structures reduces barriers and enables flexible, context-responsive UDL at course level. To foreground student experience, we shared optional indicators teams can use to monitor effects over time (e.g. accessibility audits, LMS help-seeking signals, adjustment patterns).
(June 2026)