First introduced in 2008, the UDL Guidelines are meant to be dynamic and continuously developed based on new research and feedback from practitioners. Since the release of Version 1.0 in 2008, CAST has released four iterations that trace our learning not only as an organization but as a broader UDL community. In 2020, CAST launched our most recent effort to update the UDL Guidelines, and the result of this process is the UDL Guidelines 3.0.

This new update, released in July 2024, builds upon previous iterations and emphasizes addressing barriers rooted in biases and systems of exclusion. This expanded version intentionally includes those practitioners and scholars whose experiences and perspective may not have been recognized in previous versions. This update aims to fulfill the promise of the Guidelines as a resource to guide the design of learning environments and experiences that reduce barriers and more fully honor and value every learner.

Learn more about the updating process behind Guidelines 3.0

For a detailed description of the expansions included in the updated Guidelines and the rationale behind the changes made, please read UDL Guidelines 3.0: Rationale for Updates.

For a side-by-side comparison of what changed from Guidelines version 2.2 to Guidelines version 3.0, please explore: "Changes from Guidelines 2.2 to Guidelines 3.0"

Themes found in UDL Guidelines 3.0

Overarching expansions to this iteration of the UDL Guidelines include:

• Putting UDL in conversation with other asset-based approaches and theoretical frameworks — including pedagogies that center, value, and sustain learners’ cultural and linguistic practices — and making their intersections and complementary nature more explicit.
• Emphasizing identity as part of variability. Previous iterations have emphasized the remarkable variability among learners in terms of how they engage with learning (Multiple Means of Engagement, the “why” of learning), how they perceive information (Multiple Means of Representation, the “what” of learning), and how they act on and express what they know (Multiple Means of Action and Expression, the “how” of learning). This current iteration also emphasizes learners' multiple and intersecting identities as part of variability. This "who" of learning is a dimension that is woven across all three UDL principles.
• Acknowledging individual, institutional, and systemic biases as barriers to learning without limits.
• Emphasizing the value of interdependence and collective learning.
• Shifting from educator-centered to learner-centered language. Guidelines 3.0 intentionally uses verbs that can be used interchangeably among and between educators and learners to spark flexibility and creativity in ways to apply the Guidelines. Depending on the learning goal, educators, learners, or educators and learners together might apply specific guidelines.

Themes emphasized in the three principles include:

Engagement

• Centering, affirming, and sustaining learners’ interests and identities
• Emphasizing the role of belonging in teaching and learning
• Promoting the role of joy and play for learners and educators alike
• Cultivating empathy and repairing harm with restorative practices

Representation

• Authentically representing a diversity of identities, perspectives, and narratives
• Considering perceptions of people, cultures, and languages
• Valuing multiple ways of knowing and making meaning

Action and Expression

• Honoring and valuing a wide variety of forms of communication
• Centering and valuing forms of expression that have been historically silenced or ignored by addressing biases
• Challenging exclusionary practices to build more accessible, inclusive spaces and systems