The UDL Guidelines are a tool that can be used to design learning experiences that meet the needs of every learner. These Guidelines offer a set of concrete suggestions for applying the UDL framework to practice and help ensure every learner can access and participate in meaningful, challenging learning opportunities. Learn more about the research evidence used to develop the Guidelines.

Organization

At the top of the graphic organizer is the goal of UDL: to develop learner agency that is purposeful and reflective, resourceful and authentic, strategic and action-directed.

The UDL Guidelines are organized both horizontally and vertically. Vertically, the Guidelines are organized according to the three principles of UDL: engagement, representation, and action and expression. The principles are broken down into Guidelines, and each of these Guidelines have corresponding considerations that provide more detailed suggestions.

The Guidelines are also organized horizontally. The access row includes the guidelines that suggest ways to increase access to the learning goal by designing options for: welcoming interests and identities, perception, and interaction.

The support row includes the guidelines that suggest ways to support the learning process by designing options for: effort and persistence, language and symbols, and expression and communication.

Finally, the executive function row includes the guidelines that suggest ways to support learners’ executive functioning by designing options for: emotional capacity, building knowledge, and strategy development.

Applying the Guidelines to Practice

The UDL Guidelines consist of 9 guidelines and 36 associated considerations. The Guidelines were developed to support educators across contexts — early childhood, primary, secondary, postsecondary, higher education, afterschool, workforce, etc. — to apply the UDL framework to practice. The Guidelines are not meant to be a “prescription” or a “checklist,” but a tool that offers a set of suggestions that can be applied to reduce barriers, sustain and honor learners’ multiple identities, and maximize learning opportunities for every learner. The Guidelines can be mixed and matched according to specific learning goals and can be applied to particular content areas and contexts.

In many cases, educators find that they are already incorporating some aspects of the Guidelines into practice. However, learners may still be experiencing barriers to their learning, and educators may still be relying on methods and materials that unintentionally create these barriers. The UDL Guidelines offer a structure for proactively uncovering and addressing these barriers and for intentionally designing learning environments and experiences that more fully honor and value every learner.