Higher education experts’ perspectives on incorporating Universal Design (UD) and accessibility into Higher Education (HE) curricula

Findings highlight the imperative of universalising UD-informed curricula by extending the number of courses focusing on UD and accessibility and informing research and practice more rigorously in HE. Key barriers identified include limited UD awareness and competencies, insufficient recognition of disability as valued diversity, and the absence of accountability mechanisms promoting UD. Responses mirror a more 'technicist' rather than a critical approach to discussing UD, Assistive Technologies and accessibility and the necessity of developing students' democratic competencies in HE. These considerations relate to broader issues regarding political indifference, resistance, and inertia at the university and governmental levels in promoting inclusion and its associated concepts of accessibility and UD in HE and beyond.