Abstract
This article encourages postsecondary educators to expand the scope of applications of universal design and universal instructional design by exploring how principles of UD and UID can be applied to other social identities, and specifically to gender identity and sexual orientation. There are many parallels that can be drawn between students who are excluded because of their disability and students who are marginalized on the basis of nonconforming gender identity or sexual orientation. It is important that faculty and staff understand intersectionality and interdependence among social identities and consider what steps they can take to apply UID principles in ways that consider multiple aspects of identity in order to provide inclusive educational experiences for all students. Scenarios for further discussion are provided.
Highlights
The concept of universal design (UD) has stimulated numerous applications in higher education beyond the architectural and functional intent of its creators [1,2,3,4,5]
Within the context of a journal article it would be impossible to provide specific examples of how each of the integrated multicultural instructional design (IMID) guiding principles can be applied to ensure access and success for students who identify as LGBTQ+, Sections 5–10 of this paper attempt to highlight a few specific strategies
Colleges and universities are encouraged to strengthen inclusion by expanding UD, universal instructional design (UID), and IMID practices through providing training related to multiple historically marginalized populations including those with disabilities and persons who identify as LGBTQ+ to remove attitudinal barriers due to ignorance or lack of experience [36]
Summary
The concept of universal design (UD) has stimulated numerous applications in higher education beyond the architectural and functional intent of its creators [1,2,3,4,5]. Administrators, and student development professionals at institutions across the US and internationally have been striving to make higher education more accessible to students with disabilities. In the 1990s, three distinct models emerged for applying UD to teaching: universal instructional design (UID), universal design of instruction (UDI), and universal design for learning (UDL). The guiding principles for each of these models vary slightly from one to the their goals are the same: to provide equitable learning experiences for students with disabilities. In this article we refer primarily to UID, our recommendations can apply to each of the three models. Why limit ourselves to a single aspect of social identity? After all, was it not the vision of UD to consider all users of a space? [6]
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