Universal Design taught as a part of other courses in higher education

Abstract

The concept of Universal Design taught as a part of other courses may be different in various Higher Education Institutions. It is well-established that Universal Design taught as a part of other courses, the perspective of understanding it should be similar across subject areas and courses. The study aims to determine the concept and perspective of understanding Universal Design taught as a part of other courses in Higher Educations. It also finds out the barriers to introducing Universal Design and how Universal Design of ICT helps to make the course accessible. The qualitative method was the best-fit method for this research. A questionnaire has been chosen to collect data from participants. It also consists of recruiting participants, preparing the questionnaire, connecting with participants, and collecting the data following ethical considerations. Respondents were selected according to the listed participants from different Universities associated with Universal Design. The responses were analysed with Thematic Analysis using a bottom-up approach. While analysing different iterations were done, and finally, four themes were extracted. The results showed some similarities and differences in the concept and perspective of Universal Design in some subject areas. The result also showed possible barriers and solutions applied for those barriers and how the Universal Design of ICT helps make the courses more accessible. These results suggest that there are differences in understanding perspectives of Universal Design. On this basis, there should be proper measures taken while introducing Universal Design as a part of other courses in Higher Education Institutions.