Interfaces, Volume 4, Number 1, Winter 1997

d	d
credits

d	d	d
Anne Meyer		David Rose

We are now convinced that expanding learning opportunities for people with disabilities is most effectively achieved through universal design--using technology to build flexible access and learning supports into mainstream curricula from the beginning. Although assistive technologies will continue to be necessary for some students, we believe that CAST can make the most difference for the largest number of learners through universal design.

This profound shift in viewpoint, to which CAST is now committed, requires a corresponding shift in our structure and our methods. Instead of focusing on the fit between an individual and a piece of assistive technology, we will devote our full attention to universal design for learning. During 1997, CAST will make organizational changes to support this new vision.

For the past five years, CAST has been exploring ways to build flexibility into learning tools in order to reduce or eliminate learning barriers. CAST and Scholastic Inc. took a first step towards implementing universal design in Wiggleworks™, a mainstream early literacy curriculum with learning supports and access features built in so that the program can be customized for students with disabilities.

Wiggleworks has been highly successful -- but it is only the beginning. Other subject areas and grade levels remain inaccessible, and students with disabilities urgently need more innovations in universal design for learning in order to access the opportunities new technologies offer.

This year, CAST will serve people with disabilities -- and all learners -- by advancing the state of the art of universal design. Our activities will focus on the research, development, and dissemination of concepts and software rather than on direct service. Specifically, CAST will systematize our applied research and product development programs by developing a strong applied research program in classrooms and community settings, and by producing highly effective, universally designed learning tools and testing them in these applied settings. We will also partner with publishers and distributors to ensure that these universally designed learning tools reach the students who need them.

Throughout 1997, we will also devote time to articulating and disseminating concepts and examples of universal design for learning in print and on the World Wide Web. We will allow time for innovation and collaboration, giving staff members the opportunity to share ideas and find solutions to common problems. Finally, we will allocate time and resources to restructuring the organization itself.

With this new vision in mind, CAST looks forward to the innovative technologies and ways of thinking about inclusion and equity that will evolve within the framework of universal design for learning. We hope that by researching, developing, and disseminating effective universally designed tools that truly support diverse learners, CAST can have a worldwide impact on the education of students with disabilities.