Nuts and Bolts: Inclusive Library Instructional Practices Using Universal Design Learning (UDL) Guidelines

Abstract

Librarians face challenges in designing and creating inclusive learning environment for students who are diverse not only in terms of age, race, gender, (dis)Ability, ethnicity, religion, political beliefs, but they are also different in the ways of how they learn. At the University of Maryland –College Park, librarians, teaching faculty and instructional designers are working together to create accessible content for eLearning and to reach out to a wider population of learners using recent technological tools and existing university’s content management infrastructure. Digital technologies, online resources, and mobile devices coupled with the guiding principles of the Universal Design for Learning (UDL) Framework and the University of Maryland (UMD) Web Accessibility Guidelines allowed us to tailor our instructional practices to create an inclusive and accessible learning environment for every student. We incorporated various tools and resources to achieve the learning objectives set up for our library instruction classes. In this poster, we will provide practical tips and tricks for applying the UDL framework and web accessibility principles into our instruction efforts.