From Daunting to Doable: A Practical Approach to Building Inclusive LibGuides

Universal Design for Learning (UDL) is a pedagogical approach that many universities promote to their teaching faculty to help them design courses that are accessible to all learners. After librarians at our library took a course on Universal Design for Learning, we asked, how could we apply Universal Design for Learning principles to create more inclusive LibGuides? At first, we were overwhelmed by the wide range of possible accessibility and UDL features that we could incorporate into our LibGuides. We wondered if there might be a way to identify or prioritize effective UDL elements to include in a LibGuide. We attempted to answer this question by reading the library science literature on UDL elements in LibGuides which included usability studies of various UDL features. Based on the results of these usability studies, we developed a streamlined list of research-tested, impactful UDL elements that librarians with no technical background can easily build into LibGuides to make them more inclusive and accessible