UDL Resources

No-cost resources for designing with Universal Design for Learning

By Beth Stark,Educator and Consultant.Inclusive Learning Systems, UDL, Accessibility

Start Here

New to UDL Resources? Choose a way in. Each one gives you time to explore the resources and learn as you go.

Take the Guided Tour

Six short parts with Beth as your guide. In each part you learn a key idea, explore the resources yourself, and reflect. About 30 minutes, at your own pace. Use it to find your way around, then come back whenever you like.
Learn About UDL

Start with the basics: the goal of UDL, why there is no average learner, and what we really mean when we talk about UDL.
Explore UDL Resource Collections

Four collections full of UDL approaches, tools and examples:
- UDL Connections
- Universally Designed
- UDL Resource Flipkit
- UDL Strategy Database

Choose a Topic

Posters, articles and tools by Beth Stark, plus links to UDL resource collections on other websites. Every resource is no-cost.

Topic 1: Why UDL and What Is UDL?3 resources
Topic 2: The UDL Guidelines: A Scaffold, Not a Checklist7 resources
Topic 3: Design with UDL: Goals and Barriers5 resources
Topic 4: Ways to Grow Your Understanding5 resources
Topic 5: UDL Resource Collections4 resources

Need a pause? Choose a short break from the Take a Break choice board.

Take a break

Topic 1: Why UDL and What Is UDL?

Read on This Site

Who Is Martha Skidmore?
An article about where the idea of the average came from and why UDL starts with variability.
Why UDL? The Goal of UDL Is Learner Agency
A poster that connects learner agency, the goal of UDL, to the brain networks and the UDL principles.
What We're Really Talking About When We're Talking About UDL
A poster that names five things we mean when we talk about Universal Design for Learning.

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Topic 2: The UDL Guidelines: A Scaffold, Not a Checklist

Start here

Prioritizing Access: Creating the Conditions for Learner Agency

An abridged poster of the CAST UDL Guidelines 3.0. It focuses on the Access row: Welcoming Interests & Identities, Perception, and Interaction. Access creates the conditions for learner agency.

The slides below show how the full Guidelines are organised.

Poster · By Beth Stark

Three UDL Principles (download slide, PNG)
Engagement, Representation, and Action & Expression. The why, what and how of learning.
Slide · By Beth StarkDownload slide (PNG)
APA reference
Stark, B. (2026). Three UDL principles [Slide]. Inclusive Learning Systems. https://bethstark.org/udl-resources/images/slides/udl-slide-1-principles.png
The Nine UDL Guidelines (download slide, PNG)
Three guidelines sit under each principle.
Slide · By Beth StarkDownload slide (PNG)
APA reference
Stark, B. (2026). The nine UDL guidelines [Slide]. Inclusive Learning Systems. https://bethstark.org/udl-resources/images/slides/udl-slide-2-guidelines.png
36 Considerations (download slide, PNG)
Actions we can take to reduce barriers to learning, grouped under each guideline.
Slide · By Beth StarkDownload slide (PNG)
APA reference
Stark, B. (2026). 36 considerations [Slide]. Inclusive Learning Systems. https://bethstark.org/udl-resources/images/slides/udl-slide-3-considerations.png

UDL Guidelines 3.0

Addressing Bias and Designing for Identity

Two short reads from the UDL Essentials LiveBinder. Each summarises a CAST webinar on the UDL Guidelines 3.0, with questions to ask about your own design.

Short reads · By Beth Stark and Dr. Loui Lord Nelson

Download Your Own Copy of the UDL Guidelines

These slides are simplified. For the full UDL Guidelines, download CAST’s graphic organizer. It is no-cost and comes in several languages.

Download the UDL Guidelines graphic organizer from CAST

Back to the topics

Topic 3: Design with UDL: Goals and Barriers

Start with Goals

Every UDL design has four elements: goals, assessment, methods and materials. Begin with the goal.

The Four Design Elements

Goals, assessment, methods and materials: what each one is, what UDL asks of it, and questions to ask about your own design.

Slide · By Beth StarkDownload slide (PNG)Download slide (PDF)

APA reference

Stark, B. (2026). Four design elements [Slide]. Inclusive Learning Systems. https://bethstark.org/udl-resources/images/slides/udl-four-design-elements.png

Flexible Verbs for Crafting Goals

Flexible verbs for writing learning goals that leave room for more than one way to show learning, and inflexible verbs to avoid in goals.

Poster · By Beth Stark

Adapted with permission from Dr. Patti Kelly Ralabate, author of Your UDL Lesson Planner (2016).

The Four Design Elements slide comes from a larger collection of professional learning resources. The full collection is available to schools that work with Beth Stark. To ask about it, contact Beth by email.

The Barrier Is in the Design, Not in the Learner

Barriers live in our designs, so we can reduce them. Start with the card sort. Then bring a professional learning routine to your next meeting.

Interactive
Play the Card Sort: Barrier or Important Factor?
Sort 20 cards, ten at a time. Each answer explains why the card is a barrier in the design or an important factor.
Activity · By Beth Stark
The Barrier Is in the Design: A Sample
One barrier example with its clues, ways to reduce it, and the UDL Guidelines and Considerations behind it.
Web page · By Beth Stark
The Barrier Is in the Design: Three Starting Points
Three professional learning routines for your next staff meeting or UDL professional learning community (PLC), with accessible slides.
Download the slides (PowerPoint)Professional learning · By Beth Stark

Back to the topics

Topic 4: Ways to Grow Your Understanding

Keep learning about UDL: LUDIA, the UDL Gears and the UDL in 15 Minutes podcast from Dr. Loui Lord Nelson, and the UDL Essentials LiveBinder.

LUDIA = AI + UDL

LUDIA is a no-cost, multilingual AI thought partner for educators and learning leaders, created by two educators, Beth Stark and Jérémie Rostan.

Web app

Meet LUDIA

Think through UDL with LUDIA for your own class, school and learners. No account is needed.

Web app · By Beth Stark and Jérémie Rostan

Open LUDIA

APA reference

Stark, B., & Rostan, J. (2026). LUDIA [Web app]. https://askludia.com/en

Guide

Learn About UDL with LUDIA

New to UDL? Questions educators often ask, and how to explore them with LUDIA. A short guide you can read online.

Book Creator · Short link: bit.ly/3Y4bhUj

Read Learn About UDL with LUDIA

APA reference

LUDIA. (n.d.). Learn about UDL with LUDIA [E-book]. Book Creator. https://read.bookcreator.com/4iqm3fqjI4RzLVdgxlFM2Wpl4Ei1/7de54sjiTs2X06pAmm7EMA

From Dr. Loui Lord Nelson: Mindset, Skills and Practices

Dr. Loui Lord Nelson has created a collection of innovative resources to support us in deepening our understanding of UDL. Take a look at the UDL Gears, and learn from instructional leaders who are implementing UDL by listening to the UDL in 15 Minutes podcast.

To find out more about the books and resources Loui has created, visit her site, The UDL Approach.

The UDL Gears

The UDL Gears are four gears that turn together. UDL works best when all four move at once. If part of one gear is missing, the others cannot turn as smoothly, and UDL is not as successful (Nelson, 2025).

Mindset
Skills
Practices
UDL Guidelines

The UDL Guidelines gear is the CAST UDL Guidelines (CAST, 2024).

Open the UDL Gears Read why the Gears were created

APA references

CAST (2024). CAST Universal Design for Learning Guidelines version 3.0. Retrieved from https://udlguidelines.cast.org

Nelson, L. L. (n.d.-b). Why the UDL Gears were created and how to use them. The UDL Approach. https://theudlapproach.com/theudlgears/why/

Nelson, L. L. (2021). Design and deliver: Planning and teaching using Universal Design for Learning (2nd ed.). Paul H. Brookes Publishing.

Nelson, L. L. (2025, August 27). The UDL Gears. The UDL Approach. https://theudlapproach.com/theudlgears

Podcast

Listen: UDL in 15 Minutes

Loui talks with educators and leaders around the world about how they use UDL. The table of episodes lists more than 140 episodes by grade or year level and role. Find one close to your own work (Nelson, n.d.-a).

Start with the special episode on The UDL Gears. It has video, audio description and transcripts (Hudelson, n.d.).

Browse the table of episodes Listen to the UDL Gears episode

APA references

Hudelson, D. (Host). (n.d.). Special edition – The UDL Gears [Audio podcast episode]. In UDL in 15 minutes. The UDL Approach. https://theudlapproach.com/podcasts/special-edition-the-udl-gears/

LUDIA. (n.d.). Learn about UDL with LUDIA [E-book]. Book Creator. https://read.bookcreator.com/4iqm3fqjI4RzLVdgxlFM2Wpl4Ei1/7de54sjiTs2X06pAmm7EMA

Nelson, L. L. (n.d.-a). UDL in 15 minutes table of episodes. The UDL Approach. https://theudlapproach.com/podcasts/udl-in-15-minutes-table-of-episodes/

Back to the topics

Topic 5: UDL Resource Collections

Four collections of UDL approaches, tools and examples. Each one opens on its own website.

Newsletter · By the Ohio UDL Collaborative

Subscribe to UDL Connections

UDL Connections is a quarterly newsletter from the Ohio UDL Collaborative. Each issue looks at one UDL practice, links it to the UDL Guidelines and Considerations, and shares how schools use it.

Subscribe to UDL Connections (sign-up form, opens in a new tab) Read the latest issue (opens in a new tab)

APA reference

Ohio UDL Collaborative. (2026). UDL Connections: Spring/summer [Newsletter]. Smore. https://app.smore.com/n/7whg5

Universally Designed
Design principles and approaches for school teachers from the early years to the end of secondary school (K-12), teacher educators and postsecondary educators.
Website · By Universally DesignedOpens in a new tab
APA reference
Universally Designed. (n.d.). Universally Designed. https://universallydesigned.education/
UDL Resource Flipkit
Teaching approaches and tools organised by the UDL principles.
Website · By Placer County SELPAOpens in a new tab
APA reference
Placer County SELPA. (2023). UDL resource flipkit. Open Access 2.0. https://www.openaccess-ca.org/udl-resource-flipkit
Universal Design for Learning Strategy Database
Ideas for bringing UDL into classroom instruction and planning.
Website · By Relay Graduate School of EducationOpens in a new tab
APA reference
Shimada, J. (2026, October 8). Universal Design for Learning strategy database: Home. Relay Graduate School of Education. https://relay.libguides.com/udl-strategy-database/home

Back to the topics

Take a Break

References

APA 7 references for the resources on this page. Pictures on the cards for other sites are screenshots of each site's public page, taken on 11 October 2026. The LUDIA pictures are LUDIA's own.

CAST (2024). CAST Universal Design for Learning Guidelines version 3.0. Retrieved from https://udlguidelines.cast.org

CAST. (n.d.-a). Downloads. CAST UDL Guidelines. https://udlguidelines.cast.org/more/downloads/

CAST. (n.d.-b). Research evidence. CAST UDL Guidelines. https://udlguidelines.cast.org/more/research-evidence/

Hudelson, D. (Host). (n.d.). Special edition – The UDL Gears [Audio podcast episode]. In UDL in 15 minutes. The UDL Approach. https://theudlapproach.com/podcasts/special-edition-the-udl-gears/

Nelson, L. L. (n.d.-a). UDL in 15 minutes table of episodes. The UDL Approach. https://theudlapproach.com/podcasts/udl-in-15-minutes-table-of-episodes/

Nelson, L. L. (n.d.-b). Why the UDL Gears were created and how to use them. The UDL Approach. https://theudlapproach.com/theudlgears/why/

Nelson, L. L. (2021). Design and deliver: Planning and teaching using Universal Design for Learning (2nd ed.). Paul H. Brookes Publishing.

Nelson, L. L. (2025, August 27). The UDL Gears. The UDL Approach. https://theudlapproach.com/theudlgears

Ohio UDL Collaborative. (2026). UDL Connections: Spring/summer [Newsletter]. Smore. https://app.smore.com/n/7whg5

Placer County SELPA. (2023). UDL resource flipkit. Open Access 2.0. https://www.openaccess-ca.org/udl-resource-flipkit

Shimada, J. (2026, October 8). Universal Design for Learning strategy database: Home. Relay Graduate School of Education. https://relay.libguides.com/udl-strategy-database/home

Stark, B. (2022). Take a break! UDL choiceboard [Google Slides]. https://bit.ly/TakeABreakBoard

Stark, B. (2026a). The Aiming for ALL Collection (Version 2026.10) [Open educational resource]. https://bethstark.org/aiming-for-all/

Stark, B. (2026b). The barrier is in the design: A sample. UDL Resources. https://udlresources.bethstark.org/barrier-in-the-design.html

Stark, B. (2026c). Flexible verbs for crafting goals. UDL Resources. https://udlresources.bethstark.org/flexible-verbs.html

Stark, B. (2026d). Prioritizing access: Creating the conditions for learner agency. UDL Resources. https://udlresources.bethstark.org/udl-access.html

Stark, B. (2026e). The UDL Access and Aiming for ALL crosswalk [PDF]. https://bethstark.org/aiming-for-all/pdf/udl-access-aiming-for-all-crosswalk.pdf

Stark, B. (2026f). What we’re really talking about when we’re talking about Universal Design for Learning. UDL Resources. https://udlresources.bethstark.org/talking-about-udl.html

Stark, B. (2026g). Who is Martha Skidmore? Why there is no average learner. UDL Resources. https://udlresources.bethstark.org/martha-skidmore.html

Stark, B. (2026h). Why UDL? The goal of UDL is learner agency. UDL Resources. https://udlresources.bethstark.org/why-udl.html

Stark, B., & Nelson, L. L. (2025). UDL essentials [LiveBinder]. LiveBinders. https://www.livebinders.com/b/3652562

Stark, B., & Rostan, J. (2026). LUDIA [Web app]. https://askludia.com/en

Universally Designed. (n.d.). Universally Designed. https://universallydesigned.education/

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UDL Resources

Aiming for ALL Accessibility Collection

Start Here

Take the Guided Tour

Learn About UDL

Explore UDL Resource Collections