Universal Design

Sue Cusack Teaches Her Students How to Create Accessible Environments

by Ursula Pawlowski

Cusack introduces students to technologies that improve the learning experience for students with disabilities

To many people, creating accessibility for individuals with disabilities amounts to adding a ramp to a building entrance. But instructor Sue Cusack and other proponents of what’s known as universal design want to change that kind of thinking.

The concept involves the design of products and environments that are functional for everyone—without the need for adaptation or specialized design. “What I like about universal design,” Cusack says, “is that it presumes that individuals of varying abilities are the norm and encourages design considerations that are inclusive.”

First introduced in the field of architecture, the approach has evolved and now extends to many arenas. In the area of education, it influences the design of curriculum, instructional materials, and technology. In her Extension School course Technology and Universal Design in Education and Employment, Cusack teaches her students how to apply the principle in the classroom and the workplace so that individuals with disabilities are “at the same table as everyone else.”

For Cusack, technology has proven to be a useful way to level the playing field. “I stumbled into technology as a vehicle for promoting inclusion within general education,” Cusack says. “If used properly, it forces a shift in the classroom instruction away from the teacher to a more student-centric learning environment.”

Such an inclusive philosophy began more than 20 years ago as the push toward universal design emerged during the 1980s and 1990s from what was then known as accessible design and assistive technology.

Assistive technology provides a level of accessibility for people with disabilities but often also results in separate and stigmatizing solutions, like ramps that lead to different entryways to a building than a main stairway. Universal design technology, according to Cusack, is created with the needs of all people in mind, regardless of their age or ability.

Cusack estimates that nearly a quarter of school-age children in Massachusetts have physical and cognitive challenges, such as color-blindness and attention deficit disorder. Cusack teaches students, educators, and professionals how to address diverse learning needs in an inclusive manner.

“In the average classroom, there are 20 percent or more of the students who can’t access textbooks in a productive way,” she says. Those with motor impediments may have difficulty turning pages, and those with attention deficit disorder might be distracted by a book’s images or by low-level literacy difficulties. Technology can allow teachers to display a textbook in a digital format so that the content can be manipulated to meet the unique needs of students. It’s possible to increase the font size for those with a vision impairment, to change colors for those who are color-blind, to suppress graphics for those with attention issues, or to provide text-to-speech software for students with limited literacy skills.

Students in Cusack’s class have included school teachers, instructional technology specialists for schools, professionals who need to increase accessibility at their institutions, and individuals with disabilities who want to learn how to improve their own educational experiences as well as others.

Cusack makes sure her students are given a background in special-education laws and legal rights as they relate to universal design. She invites speakers on universal design and takes students on a field trip. Last fall they visited the Easter Seals Technology and Training Center in downtown Boston, which aims to bring technology and training into classrooms, homes, and businesses to help improve the lives of children and adults with disabilities.

Eric Oddleifson, Easter Seals assistive technology specialist, sets up voice recognition software with student Janet Beaudoin at the Easter Seals Massachusetts training center

Marie Seddio, a former student of Cusack’s, is a special educator and reading specialist in an urban school in Boston who works with third through eighth graders. In Cusack’s course Seddio was struck by how technology could be used to modify programs and accommodate all learners. “I shared ideas with my colleagues at work, including how to use the computer to determine the readability of a text and the significance of universal design,” she says. “Upon learning about various programs and tools, my school was able to purchase some of these, and it made a world of difference in my students’ lives and feelings of success. Most recently, we got our first Smart Board.”

SMART Board, an interactive whiteboard with a touch-sensitive screen, includes a digital projector that can connect to a computer, DVD player, or other peripherals for display on the board. Students can, for example, control computer applications from the board and write notes in digital ink. Its adaptability helps teachers meet the needs of varying learning abilities and increase student interaction.

Seddio is grateful to Cusack for making her aware of how to reach these students—and for giving her the tools to approach the challenges faced in the classroom. “Sue’s dedication to her vision—that all people should have access to the rich experiences of life, without unnecessary obstacles—makes her a one-of-a-kind professor,” Seddio says. “Sue has made me a better teacher and a more cognizant person.”

Another former student, Vicki Gold, began working as an instructional technology teacher at Marshfield Public Schools in Massachusetts in September. She learned about many simple programs that can make people’s lives easier, like screen readers for people with little or no functional vision and text readers that recite what you have written. “I’m dyslexic and [this] is terrific and free,” Gold says. “If I write something important, I can hear it read back to me.”

Cusack’s appreciation for a design approach that meets needs more completely grew out of personal experience. Her oldest child, now 21 and a student at Boston University, was born with cerebral palsy. Cusack has found the environment for students with disabilities in higher education less hospitable than that in K­–12 schools. “The culture for inclusion is not well understood,” she says. “While most institutions meet the letter of the law, it is the cultural issues that set the tone for students and ultimately their success or failure.” Cusack says that the K–12 atmosphere is friendlier to students with disabilities because there’s a longer history of inclusion. Also, she says, “it is easier to hold schools accountable.”

Employment is also difficult for those with disabilities, as many companies and businesses don’t have the policies and technology in place to be inclusive and help those with vision impairments, hearing problems, and other learning disabilities. Unfortunately, there is no legislation in place to enforce the implementation of universal design.

For Cusack, the challenge is teaching people that simple design considerations can dramatically improve accessibility for all. For example, increasing the font size on a website or suppressing its graphics can make the site more widely usable. “Unless people live it, they don’t get it,” Cusack says.

Though frustrated at times by the public’s seeming disregard for people with disabilities, Cusack doesn’t believe people are intentionally trying to alienate and isolate those with disabilities. “It’s a question of awareness,” she says.

She tries to bring that awareness into the Harvard classroom. “Harvard is very theoretical,” she says. “But what I like to give my students is implemental tomorrow.”