2000 Conference Proceedings
Go to previous article
Go to next article
Return to 2000 Table of Contents
CAST's model of Universal Design on the Web
David Grogan
Michael Cooper
CAST, Inc.
39 Cross St.
Peabody, MA 01960
Email 1: dgrogan@cast.org
Email 2: mcooper@cast.org
Website: http://www.cast.org/
The Center for Applied Special Technology (CAST) was founded
to study and develop ways technology can be used to enable
people with disabilities, especially in educational
environments, to participate in the mainstream. In recent
years, CAST has refined the concept of Universal Design for
Learning (TM) (UDL). With respect to technology, Universal
Design refers to software and hardware features that are
created with a wide range of users in mind. Universal Design
for Learning is a set of principles for the design of systems
from which people gain information, such as educational
curricula, software products, or web sites.
The new version of the CAST web site, currently under
development, incorporates CAST's principles of Universal Design
for Learning to a greater extent than ever before. It is our
intention that the site be a model for UDL on the web. To
function in that role, it is a highly designed site that
contains extensive stores of information and resources about
the science behind CAST's work. The site is easy to navigate
and offers extensive support to a user looking for one
particular piece of information. The site is compliant with the
Web Content Accessibility Guidelines to the Priority 2 level,
so is largely accessible to persons with disabilities. Features
that enhance the UDL aspects of the site, but traditionally
present access barriers, downgrade gracefully and still present
their functionality to persons using access aids whenever
possible.
Many of the web site features that are mentioned here in
support of Universal Design for Learning are also used by web
developers and are considered "good design". We believe this is
natural and that the principles of UDL support good web site
design.
Universal Design for Learning
Based on recent understandings in neuroscience that describe
three general brain systems used in learning, there are three
principles for Universal Design for Learning. A universally
designed learning environment should provide:
Multiple means of Representation: Universally designed
materials provide alternative representations of key
information. Students with different preferences and needs can
either select the representational medium most suitable for
them, or gather information from a variety of representational
media simultaneously. Multiple Means of Expression and Control:
Universally designed materials offer multiple options for
expression and control. Persons with particular preferences or
learning needs can find media, supports, and options that
enable them to demonstrate their knowledge in the way that is
most effective for them. Multiple Means of Engagement: Reaching
to users' enthusiasm and interests is critically important.
Media should support varied skill levels, preferences, and
interests by providing flexible options. For any given user,
there must be content that is interesting and provides a clear
purpose. That the three principles are all presented in terms
of "Multiple Means of..." is no accident. A driving
understanding in UDL is that meaningful redundancy is a vital
component of a learning system such as the web. Because
people's ability to access information in a given medium varies
widely (Gardner, 1983), it is important to provide the same
information in multiple ways in order to broaden the
accessibility of that information. Even when redundancy is not
needed because of an access barrier, it is still beneficial to
most people to have information presented to them in multiple
modalities at once (Meyer & Rose, 1998; Cytowic, 1996).
Redundant presentation is meaningful because it increases
understanding; as opposed to information that is presented
multiple times within the same medium, which does not increase
understanding in the same way and so is not meaningfully
redundant.
The principles of UDL are very relevant to the World Wide Web,
and have a strong relationship to accessibility. The Web
Accessibility Initiative (WAI) at the World Wide Web Consortium
(W3C) has taken leadership in creating guidelines that page
authors should use to help ensure accessibility of Web pages.
In its own research and product development work, CAST has
discovered the importance of these guidelines. For instance,
the common need for ALT text and picture descriptions address
the need to have alternative representation of images. In the
case of the web, these alternative representations not only
help people who prefer a short text alternative to an image,
they also help people who cannot access images because of
hardware constraints, and they help access aids such as screen
readers to present meaningful information to a user. A very
simple alternative representation principle is easily seen to
have widespread application and benefit.
More information about Universal Design for Learning is
available on the CAST web site at http://www.cast.org/concepts/.
Universal Design for Learning on CAST's new web site
CAST intends that its web site be a repository of information
about Universal Design for Learning. In accordance with the
principles of UDL, such a web site should also model Universal
Design of the Web. Our site is thus highly designed and
interactive, and highly accessible. The site currently under
development models these principles more than ever before.
Below we describe many of the features that make our web site
particularly universally designed and accessible. We invite
others to use the information here as a model for the
development of other web sites.
Guides
Traveling Guides are an important way for the web site to
provide assistance to users. Based on a museum metaphor, the
Guides mimic self-paced recordings that describe the exhibits
at each location. The interface to the guide looks like a small
digital recording unit to reinforce the metaphor and engage
familiar users. Applied to the web site, the guide can provide
information about the current location and access to
context-sensitive help features.
More importantly, though, the guide actually can suggest a
path through the web site. This is the heart of the guides. In
the same way that museum guides instruct users where to go
next, the guides on the web site suggest the next page or
section and provide a direct link to follow. Navigation through
the guide's suggested path is extremely simple, and does not
require any searching or prior knowledge of the site.
The guides are stronger than current museum guides, however,
in that they can be customized for different purposes. It is
possible to create new guides, or paths through the site, for
personal use or to share with other people. This can be done by
marking pages while browsing the site for later addition to the
guide, or by a separate guide creation process. Initially, many
of the guides available will have been prepared by CAST staff
or by recognized experts in particular fields. As users take
advantage of our site, they will create guides for specific
purposes that will benefit other users.
Navigation
Universally designed navigation features are very important to
enable people to access the content of a web site. The site
should identify the current location, and users should be able
use an intuitive process of navigation. At the same time,
technologies that support this must not create access barriers.
The following features improve navigability of the site:
Use of color, shape, text equivalents, and sound to reinforce
meaning in multiple ways. Consistent site metaphor Graceful
fallbacks so the failure high-technology navigation features to
operate does not interfere with the user's experience Important
links always on every page Current location identifiers give
users an understanding of their current location in the site
High contrast colors in the design of graphical navigation
features for easier visibility Content representation
Multiple CSS media types allow us to define features whose
presentation varies on the basis of the way the user is using
the site (e.g., on screen, in print, or with voice synthesis)
Post-visit organizer so users can save information about their
visit, bookmark for return, etc. Content ties to interactive
elements such as forums and activities to increase engagement
Content addresses multiple levels of cognitive experience so
expert and novice users can access the same content Multiple
languages will be made available and/or the ability to easily
run pages through automated translation programs on the fly
Ability to customize experience
Choice of stylesheets Pushed content at user option so new
information of interest is quickly made available without the
need to search Last page retrieval for repeat visitors
Multiple points of entry
The wide variety of ways users can begin accessing the
information on our web site accommodates a range of interaction
styles, levels of experience, and goals for a particular visit.
Guides on the home page are top-level and highly specific and
provide access to information about areas of particular
interest. There is also a special site use guide, which
introduces the new user to the site and helps users develop a
personal strategy for using the site. Users can choose a
free-form exploration of the major content areas, which is
presented as a floorplan to continue the museum metaphor of the
Guides. Users looking for very specific information can take
advantage of flexible search features.
Summary of UDL Features
Below is a summary of the features of the web site that were
described above. The specific principle(s) of Universal Design
for Learning which apply to them are noted by "X" marks in
fields in the table.
Click here to view a linearized version of the table below
Table of site features by UDL Principle Multiple Means of .....
Features Representation Expression Engagement Guides X X X Use
of color, shape, text equivalents and sound for navigation X X
Consistent site metaphor X Graceful fallbacks X Important Links
always on every page X Current Location Identifiers X High
Contrast Colors X Multiple CSS media types X X Post-visit
Organizer X X X Content ties to interactive elements X X X
Content addresses multiple levels of cognitive experience X X
Multiple languages X X Choice of stylesheets X X X Pushed
Content X X Last visited page retrieval X
References
Cytowic, R.E. (1996). The neurological side of neuropsychology.
Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
Gardner, H. (1983). Frames of Mind: the theory of multiple
intelligences. New York: BasicBooks.
Meyer, A. & Rose, D.H. (1998). Learning to read in the
computer age. Cambridge, MA: Brookline Books.
Go to previous article
Go to next article
Return to 2000 Table of
Contents
Return to Table of
Proceedings
Reprinted with author(s) permission. Author(s) retain copyright.