Guideline 1: Provide options for perception
1.1 Options that customize the display of information
What do the UDL Guidelines say? ..............................................3
How can I do this in my book? .................................................. 4
1.2 Options that provide alternatives for auditory information
What do the UDL Guidelines say? .............................................. 5
How can I do this in my book? .................................................. 61.3 Options that provide alternatives for visual information
What do the UDL Guidelines say? .............................................. 7
How can I do this in my book? .................................................. 8
Guideline 2: Provide options for language and symbols
2.1 Options that define vocabulary and symbols
What do the UDL Guidelines say? .............................................. 9
How can I do this in my book? .................................................. 102.2 Options that clarify syntax and structure
What do the UDL Guidelines say? .............................................. 11
How can I do this in my book? .................................................. 122.3 Options for decoding text or mathematical notation
What do the UDL Guidelines say? .............................................. 13
How can I do this in my book? .................................................. 142.4 Options that promote cross-linguistic understanding
What do the UDL Guidelines say? .............................................. 15
How can I do this in my book? .................................................. 162.5 Options that illustrate key concepts non-linguistically
What do the UDL Guidelines say? ..............................................17
How can I do this in my book? .................................................. 18
Guideline 3: Provide options for comprehension
3.1 Options that provide or activate background knowledge
What do the UDL Guidelines say? ..............................................19
How can I do this in my book? .................................................. 203.2 Options that highlight critical features, big ideas, and relationships
What do the UDL Guidelines say? .............................................. 21
How can I do this in my book? .................................................. 223.3 Options that guide information processing
What do the UDL Guidelines say? .............................................. 23
How can I do this in my book? .................................................. 24-263.4 Options that support memory and transfer
What do the UDL Guidelines say? .............................................. 27
How can I do this in my book? .................................................. 28
What do the UDL Guidelines suggest?
Guideline 1: Provide options for perception
1.1 Options that customize the display of information
In print materials, the display of information is fixed, permanent, one size fits all. In properly prepared digital materials, the display of the same information is very malleable; it can easily be changed or transformed into a different display, providing great opportunities for customizability. For example, a call-out box of background information may be displayed in a different location, or enlarged, or emphasized by use of color, or deleted entirely. Such malleability provides many options for increasing the perceptual clarity and salience of information for a wide range of students and adjustments for preferences of others. While these customizations are difficult with print materials, they are commonly available automatically in digital materials.
Click here to go to the UDL Guidelines for examples.
How can I do this in my book?
There are lots of ways to customize the display of information in Book Builder.
If you choose to record your own voice in the audio recording section, you can choose to speak at the rate you desire...very slowly, very quickly, etc.
To change the SIZE of text, you can do that yourself as an author right in the "Add/Edit Text" window by using different size font. You can also zoom in or out through your browser.
You can also play with the COLOR that you decide to use for your text for added emphasis.
Click here to see how one author uses color to customize the display of content in the book, El Jaleo.
What do the UDL Guidelines suggest?
1.2 Options that provide alternatives for auditory information
Sound is a particularly effective way to convey the impact or "energetics" of information, which is why sound design is so important in movies and why the human voice is particularly effective for conveying emotion and significance. However, information conveyed solely through sound is not equally accessible to all students and is especially inaccessible for students with hearing disabilities, for students who need more time to process information, or for students who have memory difficulties. To ensure that all students have equivalent access to learning, options should be available for any information, including emphasis, presented aurally.
How can I do this in my book?
Book Builder offers a way to provide alternatives for auditory information.
If you decide to add an audio recording, you can also add a text description to describe the sound.
Click on the audio button below to hear a sound that I have uploaded. Then, click on the "Text" link to read the written description of the sound.
What do the UDL Guidelines suggest?
1.3 Options that provide alternatives for visual information
Graphics, Animations, or Video are often the optimal way to present information, especially when the information is about the relationships between objects, actions, numbers, or events. But such visual representations are not equally accessible to all students, especially students with visual disabilities or those who are not familiar with the graphical conventions employed. To ensure that all students have equal access to that information, provide non-visual alternatives that use other modalities: text, touch, or audition.
Text is a special case of visual information. Since text is a visual representation of spoken language, the transformation from text back into speech is among the most easily accomplished methods for increasing accessibility. The advantage of text over speech is its permanence, but providing text that is easily transformable into speech accomplishes that permanence without sacrificing the advantages of speech. Digital synthetic text to speech is increasingly effective but still disappoints in the ability to carry the valuable information in prosody.
How can I do this in my book?
Book Builder has features built right in to help you provide alternatives for visual information.
Whenever you upload an image, Book Builder prompts you to inlcude an alternate description as well as a caption.
Click here to see how one author embeds alternate descriptions and captions for every image in his book.
And, text-to-speech is now available via the TextHelp Toolbar on each page! Select the text you want to hear aloud and click the right facing, green triangle. Or, depress the first button on the left, and double click each sentence you want read aloud. Use the square, red button to stop the reading. Place the toolbar where you like, and it will stay there. Try it out on this page!
Finally, you could make your own audio recording of each page and upload it. Click here to see a book that has the text recorded on every page with some sounds effects as well!
What do the UDL Guidelines suggest?
Guideline 2: Provide options for langauge and symbols
2.1 Options that define vocabulary and symbols
The semantic elements through which information is presented – the words, symbols, and icons – are differentially accessible to students with varying backgrounds, languages, lexical knowledge, and disabilities. To ensure accessibility for all, key vocabulary, labels, icons, and symbols should be linked to, or associated with, alternate representations of their meaning (e.g. an embedded glossary or definition, a graphic equivalent). Idioms, archaic expressions, culturally exclusive phrases, and slang, are translated.
How can I do this in my book?
Be sure to take advantage of the glossary option! It is a great way to define vocabulary and symbols for your readers.
You can make glossary definitions for important vocabulary or for unfamiliar references such as idioms, figurative language, jargon, etc. And, the glossary terms themselves can even include text, images, audio, or video.
Click here to see an author who has created an extensive glossary with embedded images for every term!
What do the UDL Guidelines suggest?
2.2 Options that clarify syntax and structure
Single elements of meaning (like words or numbers) can be combined to make new meanings. Those new meanings, however, depend upon understanding the rules or structures (like syntax in a sentence, or the conventions of a formula) with which those elements are combined. When the syntax of a sentence or the structure of a graphical presentation is not obvious or familiar to students, intelligibility suffers. To ensure that all students have equal access to information, provide alternative representations that clarify, or make more explicit, the syntactic or structural relationships between elements of meaning.
How can I do this in my book?
Book Builder allows you to clarify syntax and structure through many different ways.
First, you can highlight transtion words to make structural relationships more explicit within text.
Second, you can highligiht antecedents for anaphoric references. Book Builder might seem tricky at first, but I think you can master it!
Third, you can point out structure in diagrams and graphs.
Click here to see an author who did a great job of pointing out structure through the use of a cladogram!
What do the UDL Guidelines suggest?
2.3 Options for decoding text or mathematical notation
The ability to fluently decode words, numbers or symbols that have been presented in an encoded format (e.g. visual symbols for text, haptic symbols for Braille, algebraic numbers for quantity) takes years of practice for any student, and some students never reach automaticity. That lack of fluency or automaticity greatly increases the cognitive load of decoding, thereby reducing the capacity for information processing and comprehension. To ensure that all students have equal access to knowledge, at least when the ability to decode is not the focus of instruction, it is important to provide options that reduce the barriers that decoding raises for students who are unfamiliar or dysfluent with the symbols.
Click here to go to the UDL Guidelines for examples.
How can I do this in my book?
The same options that we discussed for "provide alternatives for visual information" apply here as well. You can use the text-to-speech function on the Texthelp Tool Bar, or you can record your own audio and upload it for each page.
If you did not check out Play Ball with Me! before, be sure to do so! The author has an audio recording of the text on every page!
What do the UDL Guidelines suggest?
2.4 Options that promote cross-linguistic understanding
The language of curricular materials is usually monolingual, but the students in the classroom often are not. Especially for new learners of the dominant language (e.g., English in American schools) the accessibility of information is greatly reduced when no linguistic alternatives are available that provide entry points for non-native speakers of the dominant language, or students with limited English proficiency. Providing alternatives as an option, especially for key information or vocabulary is an important aspect of accessibility.
How can I do this in my book?
You can use many of BookBuilder's features to support English Language Learners.
You can present your conent in both English as well as an alternate language.(Usted puede presentar su contenido en ambos inglés así como un idioma alterno.)
You can make the glossary a dual-language glossary. (Usted puede hacer el glosario un glosario doble del idioma).
Or, you could use the English/Spanish translator on the Texthelp Toolbar. (O, usted podría utilizar al traductor inglés/español en la Barra de herramientas de Texthelp.)
Finally, the agents are trilingual! You can choose to have them speak in English, Spanish, or French. Click on Hali to hear her speak in Spanish. (¡Por último, los agentes son trilingües! Usted puede escoger tenerlos hablan en inglés, español, o francés. El clic en Hali para oír quela habla en español.)
Click here to read Es mi vida, a book created in Spanish!
What do the UDL Guidelines suggest?
2.5 Options that illustrate key concepts non-linguistically
Classroom materials are often dominated by information in text. But text is a weak format for presenting many concepts and for explicating most processes. Furthermore, text is a particularly weak form of presentation for students who have text- or language-related disabilities. Providing alternatives – especially illustrations, simulations, images or interactive graphics – can make the information in text more comprehensible for any student and accessible for some who would find it completely inaccessible in text.
How can I do this in my book?
There are lots of different ways to represent your content through multiple media in Book Builder.
You can embed images, charts, graphs, animations,video and/or sound as a way to express your ideas through a medium other than text.
Click here to read a book explaining how to embed video into your Book Builder book.
And, click here to read The Golden Ratio. There is an embedded animation on almost every page!
What do the UDL Guidelnes suggest?
Guideline 3: Provide Options for Comprehension
3.1 Options that provide or activate background knowledge
Information – facts, concepts, principles, or ideas – is more accessible and open to assimilation as knowledge when it is presented in a way that primes, activates, or provides any pre-requisite knowledge. Differential barriers and inequities exist when some students lack the background knowledge that is critical to assimilating or using new information (e.g. knowing the rules that underlie math operations). Those barriers can be reduced when options are available that supply or activate relevant prior knowledge, or link to the pre-requisite information elsewhere.
Click here to go to the UDL Guidelines for examples.
How can I do this in my book?
Book Builder provides many opportunities to activate background knowledge.
You can provide links to different resources. Click here to learn more background information on the importance of activating background knowledge.
Click here to read Making History, a book that explores the different ways to support historical inquiry in Book Builder. The author uses the agents as well as numerous links throughout the book to support readers' background knowledge.
You can also embed sound to activate prior knowledge. Click here to see how an author embeds a sound clip on the first page as a way to connect with readers' background knowledge.
What do the UDL Guidelines suggest?
3.2. Options that highlight critical features, big ideas, and relationships
One of the big differences between experts and novices (including those with disabilities) in any domain is the facility with which they distinguish what is critical from what is unimportant or irrelevant. Because experts quickly recognize the most important features in information, they allocate their time efficiently, quickly identifying what is valuable and finding the right "hooks" with which to assimilate that most valuable information into existing knowledge. As a consequence, one of the most effective ways to make information more accessible is to provide explicit cues or prompts that assist individuals in attending to those features that matter most while avoiding those that matter least. Depending on the goal of the lesson, highlighting may emphasize 1) the critical features that distinguish one concept from another, 2) the "big ideas" that organize domains of information, 3) the relationships between disparate concepts and ideas, 4) the relationships between new information and prior knowledge to build networks and contexts in which the new information has meaning.
Click here to go to the UDL Guidelines for examples.
How can I do this in my book?
Book Builder has many features that can be used to highlight critical features, big ideas, and relationships.
You can use color or the highlihghting tool to make features explicit. Click here to read El Jaleo, a book that uses color to highlight information on every page!
You can use agents to highlight critical features or to give examples.Click here to see how an author uses Monty to highlight important information.
You could also highlight critical features in an image before you upload the image through Photoshop or any photo editing program. Click here to check out the way an author included arrows to make information explicit.
You could also use the caption feature to highlight critical information of an image, as in the example below.
What do the UDL Guidelines suggest?
3.3 Options that guide information processing
Successful transformation of information into useable knowledge often requires the application of mental strategies and skills for "processing" that information. These cognitive, or meta-cognitive, strategies involve the selection and manipulation of information so that it can be better summarized, categorized, prioritized, contextualized and remembered. While some students in any classroom may have a full repertoire of these strategies, along with the knowledge of when to apply them, most students do not. For those latter students, one of the most beneficial interventions is to teach them explicitly those strategies and have them practice in their appropriate use in context. Well-designed materials can provide customized and embedded models, scaffolds, and feedback to assist students who have very diverse abilities and disabilities in using those strategies effectively.
Click here to go to the UDL Guidelines for examples.
How can I do this in my book?
There are many options built into Book Builder that allow you to guide information processesing.
The agents are a useful way to embed explicit prompts and scaffolds. Click here to see how an author uses Pedro to guide information processing.
You can also upload important images and animations. The author of The 500 Million Year History of Vertebrates used images and cladograms throught his book as a way to guide readers' information processing.
And, finally, you can chunk information. That means you can "progressively release" the amount of information that you present on a page.
Did you notice how I have chunked ideas on how to guide information processing onto different pages for you?
El Jaleo also uses progressive release by highlighting a different critical feature one at a time.
And, the author gradually releases the information on the cladogram in The 500 Million Year History of Vertebrates starting on page 4, then pages 6, 8, and 10.
What do the UDL Guidelines suggest?
3.4 Options that support memory and transfer
While each of the cognitive scaffolds described above is likely to enhance retention for some students, others have weaknesses or disabilities that will require explicit supports for memory and transfer in order to improve cognitive accessibility. Supports for memory and transfer include techniques that are designed to heighten the memorability of information as well as those that prompt and guide students to employ explicit mnemonic strategies.
Click here to go to the UDL Guidelines for examples.
How can I do this in my book?
You can get creative with different ways to build support for memory and transfer into your Book Builder book.
Again, the agents are another great tool for implementing this checkpoint. The agents can offer prompts for mnemonic strategies, visual imagery, paraphrasing, connecting new information to old, and embedding new ideas in familiar ideas.
Click here to see how the author of The 500 Million Year History of Vertebrates connects new ideas with familiar ideas by including a human on the cladogram. On this page, also note how the author also uses familiar creatures such as frogs, fish, turtles, etc. as a way to embed new ideas into familiar ideas.
References
Belmonte, V. (2008) El Jaleo. Retrieved on 3/1/09 from http://bookbuilder.cast.org/view.php?op=view&book=5883&page=1
CAST. (2008). UDL Guidelines 1.0. Retrieved on 3/1/09 from http://www.cast.org/publications/UDLguidelines/version1.htm
Grymonpré, C. (2008). 500 Million Year History of Vertebrates. Retrieved on 3/1/09 from http://bookbuilder.cast.org/view.php?op=view&book=5270&page=1
Johnson, S. (2008). Es mi vida. Retrieved on 1/4/10 from http://bookbuilder.cast.org/view.php?op=view&book=6533&page=1
Meyer, A. (2009). Play Ball with Me! A Joe and Angel book. Retrieved on 1/4/10 from http://bookbuilder.cast.org/view.php?op=view&book=10854&page=1
McGuire, L. (2009). The Golden Ratio. Retrieved on 1/4/10 from http://bookbuilder.cast.org/view.php?op=view&book=12332&page=1
Robinson, K. (2009). How to Embed Video into Book Builder. Retrieved on 1/4/10 from http://bookbuilder.cast.org/view.php?op=view&book=18991&page=1
Robinson, K. (2009). Making History: A Guided Exploration of Historical Inquiry. Retrieved on 1/4/10 from http://bookbuilder.cast.org/view.php?op=view&book=11209&page=1