Universal Instructional Design: A New Framework for Accommodating Students in Social Work Courses

This article provides an analysis of the current method of accommodating students with disabilities in social work education and presents a new framework for providing universal access to all students in social work education: Universal Instructional Design (UID). UID goes beyond adapting already developed social work curricula to fit the needs of an individual student with a disability, to building in accommodations in the front-end of curriculum design that promote a more inclusive environment for all students. The 4 components of UID are discussed, along with the challenges to its implementation.