Universal Design for Learning (UDL) Guidelines
The UDL Guidelines are a design framework for inclusive learning, published by CAST. UDL isn't a content standard or a curriculum. It lays out three principles teachers can use to plan instruction that works for the widest range of learners on the first try, not as an afterthought. Federal law (ESSA and the Higher Education Opportunity Act) names UDL as a recommended approach to accessible instruction. The current version is UDL Guidelines 3.0, released in July 2024.
- All ages
- Three principles
- Updated July 2024
- CAST
Multiple means of engagement. The "why" of learning: motivation, interest, persistence.
Multiple means of representation. The "what" of learning: presenting information in multiple formats.
Multiple means of action and expression. The "how" of learning: showing what you know.
UDL Guidelines 3.0 is built on three principles. Each principle answers a different design question: how will students stay motivated (Engagement), how will information be presented (Representation), and how will students show what they know (Action and Expression).
Each principle holds a set of guidelines, and each guideline holds a set of checkpoints. The checkpoints are the level a teacher actually plans from. A typical UDL-aligned lesson considers at least one checkpoint under each of the three principles. The 3.0 update (July 2024) added a sharper focus on identity, bias, and joy as developmental concerns. The structure of three principles, multiple guidelines, and checkpoints under each guideline stayed the same.
- Three principles
-
- Engagement (the why)
- Representation (the what)
- Action and Expression (the how)
- Levels inside each principle
-
- Guideline
- Checkpoint
Guideline 7 · Checkpoint 7.1 │ │ │ └── checkpoint within the guideline └─────────────── guideline number (7 = recruiting interest, under Engagement)
Checkpoint 7.1 ("Optimize individual choice and autonomy") asks teachers to give students authentic choices about what they work on and how they approach it.
UDL is only for students with disabilities.
UDL grew out of accessibility research, but the framework is for every learner. The premise is that designing for the widest range of learners on the first try produces better instruction for everyone, not just for students who would have needed an accommodation under a retrofit.
UDL replaces an IEP or a 504 plan.
No. UDL is a planning framework. IEPs and 504 plans are legal documents that guarantee specific accommodations and services for an individual student. Strong UDL design reduces the number of retrofitted accommodations needed, but it does not remove the legal requirements.
UDL means giving every student a choice every time.
Choice is one tool inside the Engagement principle, but it is not the whole framework. UDL is about reducing barriers. Sometimes that means a choice menu. Sometimes it means a single tightly-scaffolded path that is accessible to everyone.
UDL is the same thing as differentiation.
Differentiation usually starts after the lesson is designed, when the teacher adapts the lesson for specific students. UDL starts at the design stage, before any student is in the room. The goal is to anticipate barriers and design them out, so less differentiation is needed later.
- Principle
- One of three top-level UDL categories (Engagement, Representation, Action and Expression).
- Guideline
- A category inside a principle. Each guideline has a name and a number.
- Checkpoint
- A specific instructional move under a guideline. The level teachers plan from.
- Engagement
- The principle about motivation, interest, and persistence.
- Representation
- The principle about presenting information in multiple formats.
- Action and Expression
- The principle about how students show what they know.
- Variability
- The CAST term for the predictable range of differences across learners in any classroom. UDL designs for variability, not for a fictional "average" student.
- Expert learner
- The aspirational endpoint of UDL. A student who is purposeful, motivated, resourceful, knowledgeable, strategic, and goal-directed.
What changed in UDL 3.0?
The July 2024 update kept the three principles intact and rewrote the guidelines to address identity, bias, joy, and language as developmental concerns. The new guidelines also pay closer attention to systems-level barriers (curriculum, schedules, materials) rather than treating accessibility as a per-lesson concern.
Is UDL the same as accessibility compliance?
No. Accessibility compliance (Section 508, WCAG, ADA) sets a legal floor. UDL is a design framework that aims higher. A document can be Section 508-compliant and still be hard for many students to use. UDL asks whether the design works for the actual range of learners in the room.
How does UDL show up in lesson planning?
Most UDL-aligned lesson plans name a few checkpoints from each principle that the lesson will address. For example: Checkpoint 7.1 (choice) under Engagement, Checkpoint 2.1 (vocabulary clarification) under Representation, and Checkpoint 5.2 (use multiple tools for construction) under Action and Expression.
Where does UDL fit alongside Common Core or NGSS?
Content standards say what students should know and be able to do. UDL says how to design a lesson so the widest range of learners can reach that standard. The two layers are complementary.
Is UDL evidence-based?
CAST cites research from cognitive neuroscience and from classroom implementation studies. The level of evidence varies by checkpoint. Some checkpoints (vocabulary support, graphic organizers, choice of representation) sit on strong meta-analytic evidence. Others sit on more modest evidence.
- 1
1984: CAST founded
A small research group founds the Center for Applied Special Technology in Wakefield, Massachusetts, to apply assistive-technology research to general-education curricula.
- 2
1990s-2000s: The neuroscience case
CAST researchers build the case for variable learning networks: affective, recognition, and strategic networks in the brain that vary across every learner. The three UDL principles map directly onto those networks.
- 3
2008: UDL Guidelines 1.0
CAST publishes the first formal UDL Guidelines. The same year, the Higher Education Opportunity Act names UDL as a recommended approach for teacher preparation.
- 4
2011: Version 2.0
The Guidelines are revised. Three principles, nine guidelines, and 31 checkpoints become the standard structure.
- 5
2015: ESSA
The Every Student Succeeds Act explicitly names UDL as a recommended approach for assessment design and for instructional materials.
- 6
2018: Version 2.2
The Guidelines are refined. The checkpoint structure stays the same.
- 7
July 2024: UDL 3.0
CAST releases UDL Guidelines 3.0 with revised guidelines that name identity, bias, joy, and language as developmental concerns. The three principles stay.
UDL began as a small research idea: if curriculum could be designed for variability up front, fewer students would need a retrofit. CAST built the case from neuroscience research on three brain networks (affective, recognition, strategic) and from classroom evidence that designing for the margins benefits the middle. The framework moved from research lab to federal law over the course of two decades.
The 3.0 update is the biggest revision in the framework's history. It pulls UDL out of the strictly per-lesson view (which checkpoint do I hit on Tuesday) and into a systems view (which barriers does our curriculum, our schedule, and our materials contain). The three principles still anchor the work in any classroom. The new guidelines ask schools to look at design decisions that sit above the individual lesson.
- Publisher
- CAST (originally the Center for Applied Special Technology).
- First released
- 2008 (UDL Guidelines 1.0). Prior CAST research goes back to 1984.
- Current version
- UDL Guidelines 3.0, released July 2024. Prior versions: 1.0 (2008), 2.0 (2011), 2.2 (2018).
- Subjects covered
- A design framework for instructional planning. Not subject-bound. Used alongside content standards in any subject.
- Grade range
- All ages. UDL applies from early childhood through adult learning, including higher education and workforce settings.
- Adoption
- Named in the Every Student Succeeds Act (2015) and the Higher Education Opportunity Act (2008) as a recommended approach. Cited in many state education and accessibility plans. Not a stand-alone content standard.
- Legal status
- Recommended by federal statute. Voluntary at the state and district level.
- Companion frameworks
- CAST Professional Learning, the UDL Implementation Series, and UDL on Campus (the higher-education variant).
- License
- Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0). Free to use for non-commercial purposes with attribution to CAST.