Accessible Dartmouth Initiative

The Accessible Dartmouth Initiative, a collaboration between The Dartmouth Center for the Advancement of Learning, Student Accessibility Services, and Learning Design and Innovation (ITC) began as a three-year pilot program designed to strengthen Dartmouth's educational model to better meet the needs of neurodiverse learners and help all students succeed in the classroom.

The first program of the initiative, a course redesign grant, engages faculty in redesigning courses to incorporate the principles of Universal Design for Learning (UDL). The national organization CAST defines UDL as "an educational approach based on the learning sciences with three primary principles—multiple means of student engagement, multiple means of representation of information, and multiple means of student action and expression." In addition to supporting student learning, UDL benefits instructors by building accessibility into the fabric of a course, thereby minimizing the need for individual student accommodations and adjustments.

The Accessible Dartmouth Initiative aims to integrate UDL into the Dartmouth curriculum to better meet the needs of all students, including neurodiverse students – those who learn differently due to conditions such as ADHD, autism, dyslexia – as well as first-generation college students, international students, English language learners, and students of other marginalized identities.

Our next UDL institute will take place on campus, August 18-20, 2026. Participants will work independently, in groups, and one-on-one with facilitators from the Accessible Dartmouth Initiative (ADI) to identify barriers to student engagement and develop interventions. You'll also get real-time feedback on your plan.

"Everything far exceeded my expectations. I've been to teaching conferences before that felt well-intended but were unhelpful when it came to discussions about practical application and brainstorming solutions. This was so short in comparison but I came away with a lot." - Past UDL institute participant

Visit the institute page for more information and to apply before July 27. 

The Accessible Dartmouth Initiative is pleased to offer this resource for faculty and staff educators:

Practicing UDL in Higher Education is a digital workbook that offers both pedagogical context for and concrete examples of universal design for learning (UDL) strategies in post-secondary courses––many from Dartmouth classrooms! The workbook guides educators through the process of redesigning elements of their courses with the UDL framework by analyzing who their learners are, defining what access and inclusion mean in their contexts, identifying barriers, and exploring strategies to address them.

Dartmouth faculty and instructional staff who complete the workbook and submit their materials are eligible to pursue grant funding for course redesigns using the UDL strategies they've explored.

Subscribe to the Accessible Dartmouth Initiative Listserv to stay up to date on our programming and announcements.

This course material redesign grant engages faculty and staff educators to incorporate UDL interventions identified in a UDL Institute into a current or new course.

The time commitment for the grant activities is generally expected to be 20-25 hours over the course of about 16 weeks.
    •    UDL Institute: 10 hours
    •    Consultations and work time: 5-10 hours
    •    Feedback collection, artifact creation, and narrative: 3-5 hours

Faculty and staff educators completing all of the following steps are eligible to receive a $1500 stipend.

ADI Grant Information