Teaching Universal Design in Computer Science

The principles of Universal Design developed at North Carolina State University in 1997 are well-known and frequently cited. When teaching Universal Design in Computer Science the principles are frequently used, and the focus is generally on the user interface elements of design, as the principles can easily be appreciated in the context of ideas such as User Experience (UX), Human-Computer Interaction (HCI), or Visual Design (which uses Wizard of Oz prototyping). User interface design considers how a user will experience the software, and recommends that programmers ensure that the interface is as simple and efficient as possible, in terms of accomplishing the users' goals. An often overlooked element of Universal Design in software design is to consider the software itself, on how it is built, and how it is formatted, using the lens of Universal Design. Given that the reality is that most code will be modified by a developer who may be unknown to the original developer, it is important that code is designed (both in terms of build and format) in such a way that it is future-proofed and therefore universally designed.