Mid Sweden University

There is not much written about how to teach universal design (UD) in design educations. This article aims to present the didactic experiences from teaching three courses in universal design at Mid Sweden University and Lund University: the courses Design for freedom, Universal Design Theory and Universal design of digital accessibility. By comparing and contrasting our experiences in a qualitative content analysis we end up with a model with three overall learning goal themes: to understand, create and reflect. The main insights in this article are these common three themes that constitute the key content and the base in the course design in courses teaching universal design. The structure in the courses is similar, but the content is implemented in slightly different ways. For example, achieving understanding and the practical exercises are different in the different courses. The theoretical basis lays the foundations for the students to create practical prototypes and further a possibility to reflect upon what they have done iteratively in the design process.