You want to teach a group of adults how to make a peanut butter sandwich. So you make a video that shows the process. But some of your viewers may be blind–so you add spoken descriptions. And some of your viewers may be hard of hearing–so you add captions. And now your video, which was made for “normal” learners, is accessible to the blind and hard of hearing.

But what if your viewer speaks French? Or learns better by doing than by watching? Or has a hard time following rapid speech? You can add more widgets to translate or slow down the video. Now your video is accessible to almost everyone!

While there’s nothing wrong with adding accessibility widgets to a “normal” learning tool, however, accessibility should not be confused with universal design for learning (UDL), because UDL considers multiple types of learners as part of the initial development process.

Rather than building a “normal” product and adding widgets, the UDL designer might actually design the video in chunks so that learners can absorb information a little at a time.

They might incorporate interactive or gamified elements so that the learner can “try out” the process.

Or they might teach the class in a kitchen where an interpreter for the deaf can sign while a simple setup makes it easier for the blind to find and use the tools they need.

Whatever approaches they select, the UDL designer will have multiple learning styles, multiple ability levels, and multiple options in mind before creating a lesson, video, or multimedia learning tool.

One of the most common places to find UDL is not in a classroom (where the ability to hear, see, and process words rapidly is usually assumed). Rather, it’s in a hands-on science museum where visitors are invited to look, listen, touch, try, and explore from a variety of angles. Typically, universal accessibility wasn’t the goal of such exhibits, but it’s often the outcome!

Next time you find yourself in a hands-on learning setting, consider the many ways in which it’s possible to engage with the exhibits. Can you climb? Touch? Listen? Look? Experiment? Interact? All of these are tools for universal design for learning.