Universal Design and DEI

Abstract

Universal Design has been used in learning, physical environments, and digital resources to ensure that students and others are able to use the resources and environments to their greatest possible degree. The principles inherent in Universal Design are almost entirely compatible with the principles of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility policies. This paper aims to draw the connections between the parallel processes and practices, and to demonstrate how enacting policies in one area can also ensure that policies in the other are implemented.

Keywords:

• Universal Design
• DEI
• IDEA
• JEDI
• Law Schools
• Law Libraries
• Accessibility
• Allowability
• Law Library Policies
• Collection Development
• Digital Resources
• Open Educational Resources

Disclosure Statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1 About the Center: Ronald D. Mace, The Center for Universal Design: Environments and Products for All People (2008), /www.ncsu.edu/ncsu/design/cud/about_us/usronmace.htm.

2 J. Brian Charles, The Evolution of DEI, The Chronicle of Higher Education (23 June 2023), www.chronicle.com/article/the-evolution-of-dei [https://perma.cc/E53J-UVYW] (unlike UD, DEI has faced political opposition in many states, specifically in institutions of higher education).

3 Evgi Kirboyun TİPİ, How Screen Readers Impact the Academic Work of College and Graduate Students with Visual Impairments, 13 Sakarya U. J. Edu. 416, 424 (2023) (“The students indicated that without screen readers, they would have not only slower access to text content but also less independence and success in learning”).

4 Betty Rose Connell et al., The Principles of Universal Design, Version 2.0, Center for Universal Design, (1 Apr. 1997), www.ncsu.edu/ncsu/design/cud/about_ud/udprinciplestext.htm.

5 Id. at 15.

6 See also Molly Follette Story, James L. Mueller, & Ronald L. Mace, The Universal Design File: Designing for People of All Ages and Abilities 91–92 (1998) (case study where the University of Virginia applied UD principles to campus renovation while maintaining the original façade of the campus. This case study also demonstrates how UD can match seamlessly with existing environments).

7 Universal Design in Higher Education, From Principles to Practice 15 (Sheryl E. Burgstahler ed., 2d ed. 2015).

8 Nosisana Mkonto, Students’ Learning Preference, 5 J. Stud. Educ. 212, 225 (2015) (“Students’ success in higher education is dependent on the relationship between learning styles and teaching styles”).

9 Burgstahler et al, supra note 7, at 15–16.

10 Shane Lanning, How Changing Our Assumptions Can Impact Student Learning, The Teaching Innovation Blog (14 Dec. 2022), https://blogs.bsu.edu/teaching-innovation/2022/12/14/how-changing-our-assumptions-can-impact-student-learning/ [https://perma.cc/FRT6-GPGJ] (stopping to ask “if this is explicitly clear for folks who do not think like me or have the experiences that I have” will allow for instructors and librarians to design resources “more inclusively and in a manner that empowers student learning”).

11 Id. at 16.

12 Burgstahler et al, supra note 7, at 16.

13 Nils Mäder, Nested Content, Accessibility Designer Guide (2020), www.accessibility-designer-guide.com/docs/Architecture/nested-content/ [https://perma.cc/UK86-F758] (many problems can occur with nested documents, including “For all users and special users with disabilities, the site becomes more complicated to use with screen reader and keyboard navigation”).

14 Marlena Chu, The Impact of Visual Fatigue for Students with Visual Impairment: Issues and Solutions, Paths to Literacy (2024), www.pathstoliteracy.org/impact-visual-fatigue-students-visual-impairment-issues-and-solutions/ [https://perma.cc/5SBX-V37S] (posted on blog by Liz Barclay) (“Because many students with low vision bend their heads, necks and backs forward in order to more clearly see and read curricular materials, they are susceptible to postural strain and fatigue, as well as visual fatigue”).

15 Id.

16 Strategic Review Committee, Standards Revisions for Notice and Comment Related to Academic Freedom and Freedom of Expression, Learning Outcomes and Assessment, and Library and Information Resources, ABA Memo, Interpretation 604-1, at 8 (17 Aug. 2023), www.americanbar.org/content/dam/aba/administrative/legal_education_and_admissions_to_the_bar/council_reports_and_resolutions/aug23/23-aug-src-memo-standards-revisions-notice-comment.pdf [https://perma.cc/FAV8-DM3J] (“The appropriate mixture of collection formats depends on the needs of the law library and the law school; it need not entail a mixture that includes physical books”) (emphasis added).

17 Michael Iseri, How Universal Design Principles Can Improve Legal Accessibility, American Bar Association (2 May 2018), www.americanbar.org/groups/litigation/committees/jiop/articles/2018/how-universal-design-principles-can-improve-legal-accessibility/ [https://perma.cc/3UTD-A3RW] (improving legal information to the public invariably making it more accessible, i.e. understandable. Synthesizing the UD principles to create documents that are clear (clarity), visible, and follow a logical structure, will help members of the public understand legal documents and therefore the legal process to a greater extent).

18 Regents Policy 4400: Policy on University of California Diversity Statement, UNIV. OF CAL. BD. OF REGENTS, https://regents.universityofcalifornia.edu/governance/policies/4400.html (last amended 16 Sept. 2010) [https://perma.cc/5EH4-63ZC] (this diversity statement is one of the oldest and most established policies on DEI in higher education).

19 Tatiana Melnichuk, What Is a Diversity and Inclusion Policy and Why Is it Important for Companies to Have One, Forbes (14 June 2022, 7:00 AM), /www.forbes.com/sites/forbeshumanresourcescouncil/2022/06/14/what-is-a-diversity-and-inclusion-policy-and-why-is-it-important-for-companies-to-have-one/?sh=6b135727b296 [https://perma.cc/FW4M-HSBQ] (while the article describes the ways in which a policy is essential for employees, the same rational exists for patron policies: transparency, security from discrimination, and inclusion).

20 Equality, Diversity, Inclusion: An Interpretation of the Library Bill of Rights (Am. Lib. Assoc. 2017), www.ala.org/advocacy/intfreedom/librarybill/interpretations/EDI [https://perma.cc/K8V9-W2ZK].

21 Nancy Kranich, Equality and Equity of Access: What’s the Difference? American Library Association (3 Mar. 2005), www.ala.org/advocacy/intfreedom/equalityequity [https://perma.cc/7Y36-S6V6] (“When some are excluded or lack the knowledge, income, equipment, or training necessary to participate fully in public discourse, they must overcome obstacles to access in order to ensure fairness”).

22 Office for Diversity, Equity and Community Engagement, Diversity and Inclusion Defined, George Washington University (last visited 25 May 2023), https://diversity.gwu.edu/diversity-and-inclusion-defined [https://perma.cc/4T5T-8XM9].

23 Kunal Gill, The Importance of Empathy and How It Fuels Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, LinkedIn (25 May 2021), www.linkedin.com/pulse/importance-empathy-how-fuels-diversity-equity-success-gill-ccwp/ [https://perma.cc/E8GC-HBDZ] (“Building connections, creating safe spaces, and giving others a platform to discuss their successes, failures, challenges, etc. can result in stronger, more empathetic relationships at work [and even outside of work]” leading to greater participation from others as well).

24 Paolo Gaudiano, Inclusion and Belonging are about What People Do, Not How People Feel, Forbes (2 Mar. 2022), www.forbes.com/sites/paologaudiano/2022/03/02/inclusion-and-belonging-are-about-what-people-do-not-how-people-feel/?sh=1f2f04591529 [https://perma.cc/MX2B-2PRS] (“inclusion is not so much about how people feel, but about what experiences they have that make them feel that way”).

25 Myrna Morales et al., Diversity, Social Justice, and the Future of Libraries, 14 Libs.& the Acad. 439, 446 (2014) (in publication generally, there are systemic biases toward White men, with 90% of New York Times book reviews of books written by White male authors); see also Data USA, Writers and Authors: Diversity, Data USA (last visited 25 May 2023), https://datausa.io/profile/soc/writers-authors#demographics (while the majority [60%] of all writers are female, 81% are White, with only 19% authors identifying as a race other than White).

26 Sydney Richardson & Jacqueline Roebuck Sakho, Creating Equitable Access: Using OER for Socially Just Educational Leaders, 16 J. Multicultural Educ. 443, 444 (2022) (“For the authors, being African American women professors in a college where very few looked like them meant that they had to be careful with how they discussed the importance of DEIB in K–12 schools. Using OER as an assignment proved to be the best way in which to accomplish their goals”).

27 Morales, supra note 25 (“other evidence points to a significant gender imbalance in the publishing industry”); see also Nicholas Shea et al., Who is Publishing Diverse Books Best?, 34 Pub. Servs. Q. 207, 216 (2018) (“Despite at least twenty years of emphasized interest in diversity, publishing is still a predominantly white industry”).

28 Melnichuk, supra note 19.

29 Jane Fleming et al., More Mirrors in the Classroom: Using Urban Children’s Literature to Increase Literacy 20 (2016) (while focused on children in K–12 education, the authors similarly identify that little empirical evidence has been done to clarify the links between diverse authors and improved literacy).

30 Emily Elmer, Open-Source Law Textbooks: The Answer to the Book Buying Burden? ABA Student Lawyer (1 Apr. 2022), www.americanbar.org/groups/law_students/resources/student-lawyer/student-essentials/open-source-law-textbooks/. See also Vanderbilt Law School, Estimated Cost of Attendance, Vanderbilt Law Prospective Students 2023–2024 (last visited 25 May 2023), https://law.vanderbilt.edu/prospective-students/costs-financial-aid/budget.php [https://perma.cc/HYA2-HZXF] (numbers will vary but the traditional text book costs for 1L students is between $1,000–1,700 and for upper level students between $500–1,000, for a total cost of $2,000–3,700 for all three years of law school for textbooks alone).

31 Tyson Schritter, 5 Great Ways to Lower Your Textbook Costs, Abound Finish College, https://abound.college/finishcollege/advice/5-ways-lower-textbook-costs/ [https://perma.cc/9JZV-KRL5].

32 Elmer, supra note 30 (“An open-source (or open-access) casebook is a digital textbook that students receive a license to access, usually at little to no cost to the student”).

33 See David Wiley, Open Education License Draft, Improving Learning (8 Aug. 2007).https://opencontent.org/blog/archives/355 [https://perma.cc/RD5Y-SRCB] (the right to reuse, rework, remix, and redistribute (four Rs) is essential for professors to present written materials, but also as important for students in how they use these materials).

34 Amanda Robert, Law Libraries Chart a New Direction for the Future, New Report Shows, ABA Journal Web First (16 Apr. 2019), www.abajournal.com/web/article/law-libraries-chart-new-direction-for-the-future-aall-report-shows [https://perma.cc/848M-8J43] (“The average overall budget for academic law libraries was $2.6 million in 2013 and $2.2 million in 2018, representing a 17.2% decrease, according to the data. The decrease was more dramatic for public law schools, at 21.1%”).

35 Jean O’Grady, AALL Survey Reveals: Budgets, Staffing, Salaries in Law Libraries on the Rise (20 Nov. 2017), www.deweybstrategic.com/2017/11/aall-survey-reveals-budgets-staffing-salaries-law-libraries-rise.html [https://perma.cc/W7K9-A5W7] (from 2007 to 2017 the print resources budgets at law schools dropped from 82% of total budget 56%, while electronic budget rose from 18% of total to 44%).

36 See Brown University Library & National Endowment for the Humanities, Born-Digital Scholarly Publishing: Resources and Roadmaps, Brown University Library (last accessed 25 May 2023), https://library.brown.edu/neh-institute-born-digital-scholarly-publishing/ [https://perma.cc/C8SU-QZ56] (“By demystifying and streamlining the digital publication process, and by making the full curriculum openly accessible, this first-of-its-kind national training program expands the voices, perspectives, and visions represented in the practice and production of digital humanities scholarship”).

37 See O’Grady, supra note 35 (since public law libraries have seen the sharpest decline in their budgets, combined with the reduction in print collections across law library types, the public patrons of these institutions and members of the local bench and bar are the hardest hit by the reduction in legal resources).

38 See generally Lauren Adams & Regina Smith, Evolution of Public Law Libraries, 10 AALL Spectrum 16, 17 (2006) (tracing the history of public law libraries and dangers to diminishing budgets and changing patron needs).

39 Elmer, supra note 30 (OERs provide access, but also provide the user the ability to “own” the material in many of the same ways that a purchased print version would).

40 Id. (quoting Cornell Law Professor James Grimmelmann, “They also come in a variety of convenient formats. When I assign an open-source casebook as a PDF, my students can read it and highlight it on a computer or tablet or print out just the pages they need”).

41 National Center on Accessible Education Materials, About Accessibility Formats, Center for Applied Special Technology (13 Jan. 2020), https://aem.cast.org/acquire/accessible-formats [https://perma.cc/3EUR-WR6W] (“Some learners use A[ssitive]T[echnology] to read and navigate text and images in digital materials. Screen readers, text to speech, and switches are a few examples of AT devices and software that learners with a wide range of disabilities use”).

42 Julia Eskins & Karen Burshtein, Step Inside the World’s 9 Most Futuristic Libraries, Architectural Design (5 Dec. 2018), www.architecturaldigest.com/story/futuristic-libraries [https://perma.cc/3QPJ-BB5P] (inside modern libraries “you’ll find dynamic tools and spaces, from podcast recording studios to game development labs. Robotic book-retrieval systems have made way for communal spaces punctuated with art, turning the library into a social sphere”).

43 Id. See also Pew Research Center, How Americans Value Public Libraries in Their Communities, Pew Research Center (11 Dec. 2013), www.pewresearch.org/internet/2013/12/11/libraries-in-communities/ [https://perma.cc/UV5G-LZZB] (“Americans strongly value library services such as access to books and media; having a quiet, safe place to spend time, read, or study; and having librarians to help people find information. Other services, such as assistance finding and applying for jobs, are more important to particular groups, including those with lower levels of education or household income”).

44 A Brief History of Universal Design, The RLMace Universal Design Institute (2019), www.udinstitute.org/public-places (“Early on, advocates of barrier-free design and architectural accessibility recognized the legal, economic, and social power of a concept that addressed the commonplace daily needs of people with and without disabilities”).

45 Id.

46 Edward Luca and Bhuva Narayan, Signage by Design: A Design-Thinking Approach to Library User Experience, 1 Weave J. Libr. User Experience 12535642 (https://perma.cc/G26W-GAST) (quoting Melissa Serfass, The Signs They are A-Changin’, AALL Spectrum, Apr. 2012, at 5–6) (“Library signage serves two broad purposes: ‘informing library users and trying to influence their behavior’”).

47 Four Winds Interactive, The Benefits of Digital Signage in University Libraries, FWI Blog (14 Nov. 2017), www.fourwindsinteractive.com/blog/the-benefits-of-digital-signage-in-university-libraries [https://perma.cc/758A-SS2Q].

48 Visual Workplace Inc., Best Practices for Wayfinding and Directional Signage 2–3 (2014), http://ficec3r3xz218zuwm3hnz00z.wpengine.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/Directional-Signs-Wayfinding.pdf (directional cues are ideal within all signage, but particularly important at “intersections” and other “key locations” to help users easily identify the correct direction to take. Ideally, all signage will incorporate visual, textual, digital-accessible, and digital-audio options).

49 Bruce E. Massis, What’s New in Libraries: QR Codes in the Library, 112 New Libr. World 466, 468 (2011) (analogizing the audio options as guided tours of museums; alternatively, allowing users to view digital signage and directions from their smart devices rather than installing the devices within the library).

50 Laurie Winkless, Using Technology to Help Visually-Impaired People Navigate Cities, Forbes (28 Mar. 2017, 10:43 PM), www.forbes.com/sites/lauriewinkless/2017/03/28/using-technology-to-help-visually-impaired-people-navigate-cities/#6679fc0471d5 [https://perma.cc/6R98-4HE4] (utilizing smartphone apps, fixed audio alerts, and other physical designs to allow blind and other visually impaired individuals to effectively and safely navigate urban streets).

51 Fred W. Wright, Unique Tactile Map Made on 3-D Printer Could Have Widespread Use, Tampa Bay Times (25 Sept. 2018), www.tampabay.com/news/aging/Unique-tactile-map-made-on-3-D-printer-could-have-widespread-use_171592795 [https://perma.cc/UG32-8ZEN]. See also Benedict, No Business? 3D Print Your Own Magnetic Signage, 3ders (4 Mar. 2018), www.3ders.org/articles/20180304-no-business-3d-print-your-own-magnetic-signage.html [https://perma.cc/RY6U-YWC4].

52 NIU Leads the Way with New Wayfinding Program, NIU Today (10 Jan. 2023), https://niutoday.info/2023/01/10/on-the-cutting-edge/ [https://perma.cc/P4LB-KBGY] (Navilense QR codes have been used across the NIU campus to help navigate an already complex space). See also Empowering the Visually Impaired, Navilens (last visited 15 June 2023), www.navilens.com/en/#navilens-section [https://perma.cc/94VS-GRYN].

53 Chloe Wenborn, How Technology is Changing the Future of Libraries, The Wiley Network (11 Apr. 2018), www.wiley.com/network/librarians/library-impact/how-technology-is-changing-the-future-of-libraries [https://perma.cc/NMX3-7BLX].

54 Rachel Blume & Allyson Roylance, Decolonization in Collection Development: Developing an Authentic Authorship Workflow, 46 J. Acad. Librarianship 102175, at 2 (2020), www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0099133320300781 (“Many libraries have adopted the use of demand driven acquisition for the purchase of materials due to budget and as a direct response to patrons’ needs. [Demand driven acquisitions] remains vastly skewed toward a white male perspective”).

55 See supra text accompanying note 25.

56 E.g., Blume, supra note 54, at 446 (“Relying on patron-driven acquisitions programs and circulation data alone will almost certainly result in a less diverse collection now, and an even more biased version of the scholarly record preserved and made available to future generations”); cf Mari Cheney, Mandy Lee & Anna Lawless-Collins, Bolstering the Asian American Law Library Collection: A Collection Development Guide, 114 Law Lib. J. 285, 294 (“collection development guidance is limited for librarians seeking materials that represent the Asian American experience and community in legal education and the legal profession”).

57 Robert, supra note 34.

58 Cf Taylor Fitchett et al., Law Library Budgets in Hard Times, 103 Law Lib. J. 91, 103 (2011) (claiming that “librarians needed to rethink collection development from the bottom up in order to create new ways to maximize the use of resources” but which have failed to meaningfully change the process to remove the systemic biases plaguing collection development).