--- title: How VoiceThread supports the UDL Guidelines 3.0 description: An interactive map of the CAST UDL Guidelines 3.0 with short videos on how VoiceThread supports each guideline. Captions and transcripts on every video. image: https://learn.voicethread.com/hubfs/udl-share-image-1200.png --- [Skip to the guidelines](https://learn.voicethread.com/udl#grid) VoiceThread and Universal Design for Learning # How VoiceThread supports the UDL Guidelines 3.0 The goal of UDL is learner agency that is purposeful and reflective, resourceful and authentic, strategic and action-oriented. Each card below is one CAST guideline. Select a card to watch a short video (all less than 30 seconds) on how VoiceThread supports it, and to see the considerations that sit under it. The introduction video has captions and an interactive transcript. ## Start here A two-minute introduction to the UDL Guidelines and how to use this page. Watch it first if UDL is new to you, or skip straight to the grid. [Watch the introduction video (2 minutes)](https://learn.voicethread.com/udl?hsLang=en#intro-player) [The full CAST UDL Guidelines 3.0](https://udlguidelines.cast.org) Access Support Executive function Learner agency Design multiple means of ## Engagement Affective networks The "why" of learning Access Design options for ### Welcoming Interests & Identities (7) 1. Optimize choice and autonomy (7.1) 2. Optimize relevance, value, and authenticity (7.2) 3. Nurture joy and play (7.3) 4. Address biases, threats, and distractions (7.4) Students choose how to participate: voice, video, text, phone, or drawing on the media. A recorded comment carries more than words or clicks alone. Multiple simultaneous channels of input can capture presence and nuance in a way that is warm and authentically personal. [Watch how VoiceThread supports this: Welcoming Interests & Identities](https://learn.voicethread.com/udl?hsLang=en#watch-g7) Support Design options for ### Sustaining Effort & Persistence (8) 1. Clarify the meaning and purpose of goals (8.1) 2. Optimize challenge and support (8.2) 3. Foster collaboration, interdependence, and collective learning (8.3) 4. Foster belonging and community (8.4) 5. Offer action-oriented feedback (8.5) Threaded replies make the structure of the conversation visible. A private reply enables instructors to give feedback that only the one student can hear. [Watch how VoiceThread supports this: Sustaining Effort & Persistence](https://learn.voicethread.com/udl?hsLang=en#watch-g8) Executive function Design options for ### Emotional Capacity (9) 1. Recognize expectations, beliefs, and motivations (9.1) 2. Develop awareness of self and others (9.2) 3. Promote individual and collective reflection (9.3) 4. Cultivate empathy and restorative practices (9.4) Asynchronicity provides time for reflection and is less stressful than live conversations. Comment moderation and private replies enable a flexible space that can serve many communications goals at once. [Watch how VoiceThread supports this: Emotional Capacity](https://learn.voicethread.com/udl?hsLang=en#watch-g9) Purposeful & reflective Design multiple means of ## Representation Recognition networks The "what" of learning Access Design options for ### Perception (1) 1. Support opportunities to customize the display of information (1.1) 2. Support multiple ways to perceive information (1.2) 3. Represent a diversity of perspectives and identities in authentic ways (1.3) Every voice and video comment can be captioned, and can be edited for accuracy. Text size, interface language, and light or dark display are choices available to each user. [Watch how VoiceThread supports this: Perception](https://learn.voicethread.com/udl?hsLang=en#watch-g1) Support Design options for ### Language & Symbols (2) 1. Clarify vocabulary, symbols, and language structures (2.1) 2. Support decoding of text, mathematical notation, and symbols (2.2) 3. Cultivate understanding and respect across languages and dialects (2.3) 4. Address biases in the use of language and symbols (2.4) 5. Illustrate through multiple media (2.5) Voice, video or text comments. Students use the one that works for them on that particular day, time, and place. [Watch how VoiceThread supports this: Language & Symbols](https://learn.voicethread.com/udl?hsLang=en#watch-g2) Executive function Design options for ### Building Knowledge (3) 1. Connect prior knowledge to new learning (3.1) 2. Highlight and explore patterns, critical features, big ideas, and relationships (3.2) 3. Cultivate multiple ways of knowing and making meaning (3.3) 4. Maximize transfer and generalization (3.4) In a VoiceThread conversation, the media isn't off in another space behind a link. It's right there, so students can zoom, pan, and circle the part of the diagram they mean, without first needing the vocabulary that text-only discussions demand. [Watch how VoiceThread supports this: Building Knowledge](https://learn.voicethread.com/udl?hsLang=en#watch-g3) Resourceful & authentic Design multiple means of ## Action & Expression Strategic networks The "how" of learning Access Design options for ### Interaction (4) 1. Vary and honor the methods for response, navigation, and movement (4.1) 2. Optimize access to accessible materials and assistive and accessible technologies and tools (4.2) VoiceThread runs in a browser on any device with no app to install. Every control is reachable by keyboard, and slides carry text a screen reader can read. [Watch how VoiceThread supports this: Interaction](https://learn.voicethread.com/udl?hsLang=en#watch-g4) Support Design options for ### Expression & Communication (5) 1. Use multiple media for communication (5.1) 2. Use multiple tools for construction, composition, and creativity (5.2) 3. Build fluencies with graduated support for practice and performance (5.3) 4. Address biases related to modes of expression and communication (5.4) Students can record, listen back, and re-record before anyone hears it. Speaking while drawing is a performance of understanding that text alone cannot deliver. [Watch how VoiceThread supports this: Expression & Communication](https://learn.voicethread.com/udl?hsLang=en#watch-g5) Executive function Design options for ### Strategy Development (6) 1. Set meaningful goals (6.1) 2. Anticipate and plan for challenges (6.2) 3. Organize information and resources (6.3) 4. Enhance capacity for monitoring progress (6.4) 5. Challenge exclusionary practices (6.5) An assignment gives students a container: a due date, a comment requirement, slides in order. The thread then holds the record of what they did and when. Hundreds of assignment variations can be set to match local learning goals. [Watch how VoiceThread supports this: Strategy Development](https://learn.voicethread.com/udl?hsLang=en#watch-g6) Strategic & action-oriented Guideline and consideration wording: CAST (2024). CAST Universal Design for Learning Guidelines version 3.0. [udlguidelines.cast.org](https://udlguidelines.cast.org) Video commentary and alignment notes are VoiceThread's own. ### Considerations under this guideline Read this guideline at CAST ← Previous Next →