UDL Product Certification Frequently Asked Questions

The UDL Product Certification process was developed by CAST in partnership with Digital Promise to help recognize products and resources that align with the principles of Universal Design for Learning (UDL). The certification aims to help companies, organizations, and educators recognize whether an educational product is accessible, flexible, and supports diverse learners by offering multiple means of representation, engagement, and expression.

The first level of UDL Product Certification is the Accessibility Baseline for UDL Product Certification, which verifies that you meet standards for accessibility compliance, collecting and implementing user feedback on accessibility, and making a report on your accessibility status available to the public. The baseline certification must be met before you can pursue the Alignment to the UDL Framework Certification.

The second level of UDL Product Certification confirms your product’s Alignment to the UDL Framework. This certification demonstrates that the UDL framework is core to your product’s design and how it proactively removes barriers to learning and supports learner agency. This level of certification requires a critical review and analysis of each element of your product, showing how they reflect the relevant CAST UDL Guidelines.

Full UDL Product Certification is a comprehensive two-part process. It begins with the Accessibility Baseline, ensuring your product is built on a solid, inclusive foundation. Once that baseline is met, we evaluate your product’s Alignment to the UDL Framework with the three main principles of Universal Design for Learning (UDL):

Multiple Means of Engagement: How the product provides options to recruits interest and sustains learner effort, motivation, and emotional capacity.

Multiple Means of Representation: How information is presented to ensure that all learners can perceive and build knowledge in different ways.

Multiple Means of Action & Expression: How the product allows flexible ways for learners to navigate, interact, communicate, and demonstrate what they’ve learned.

UDL Product Certification offers several benefits, including the assurance that the organization is committed to Universal Design for Learning (UDL) and is dedicated to aligning their product with UDL principles and improving learner outcomes. Certification is a way for you to showcase your commitment to inclusivity and accessibility, making the product more attractive to schools, districts, and educators who are looking for solutions that support diverse learning needs.

The UDL Product Certification is designed for educational products, tools, and resources that strive to reduce learning barriers and maximize engagement for all students. If your product is intended for educational use and shows potential for aligning with the UDL Framework, we welcome your application.

Whether you are a startup or an established global publisher, this certification provides a verified way to demonstrate your commitment to inclusive design.

Common applicants include:

EdTech Companies: Developers of educational apps, learning management system (LMS) platforms, digital curricula, and other tools.

Publishers & Content Creators: Companies producing digital textbooks, multimedia content, or instructional materials.

Curriculum & Instructional Designers: Professionals or organizations creating educational content, including curriculum guides, assessment tools, and instructional strategies.

Educational Service Providers: Entities that provide educational services, resources, or platforms that support diverse learning needs.

Assistive Technology (AT) Developers: Creators of specialized tools aimed at supporting learners with disabilities.

A company should consider applying for the UDL Product Certification from CAST when:

Market Readiness: The company is ready to differentiate its product(s) in the market by highlighting its commitment to UDL, inclusivity, and accessibility. Achieving certification can enhance the product’s credibility and appeal to educators and institutions.

Alignment with UDL Principles: The company has made significant efforts to align the product with Universal Design for Learning (UDL) guidelines. This includes providing multiple means of engagement, representation, and expression to support diverse learner needs.

Accessibility Compliance: The product meets or exceeds baseline accessibility standards, such as those outlined in the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) level 2.1AA. This is a prerequisite for the UDL Product Certification.

Feedback and Iteration: The company is open to receiving detailed feedback and making necessary improvements. The certification process provides valuable insights that can help refine the product further.

Strategic Goals: The certification aligns with the company’s strategic goals, such as expanding its market reach, enhancing its reputation, or demonstrating leadership in educational technology.

To achieve full UDL Product Certification, products move through two distinct levels to ensure a clear, manageable path toward inclusive design. The first level, the Accessibility Baseline for UDL Product Certification, is a prerequisite because accessibility is the foundation of Universal Design for Learning (UDL). A product can only fulfill the promise of UDL when every learner can first perceive, operate, and understand the digital materials. By verifying this baseline first, we ensure that product features do not unintentionally replicate barriers for the students they are meant to support.

Once this foundation is established, the second level—Alignment to the UDL Framework—evaluates how the product proactively reduces learning barriers through multiple means of engagement, representation, and action and expression.

Separating these levels acknowledges the critical importance of digital accessibility as a standalone requirement while protecting the integrity of the UDL framework. This structure reinforces accountability for developers and ensures that inclusive design translates into a truly barrier-free experience for all learners.

Because total accessibility is an ideal goal that is not always practically achievable for all learners, due to the variability each of them bring to the learning experience, the Accessibility Baseline for UDL Product Certification should not be interpreted to mean that products are 100% accessible for all users.

In addition, product development and software updates move fast. Any change to the product—or even the external platforms it relies on, like browsers and operating systems—can accidentally break accessibility features. To ensure that best practices are continued to be followed, inclusive development requires ongoing monitoring and testing.

Earning the Accessibility Baseline Certification confirms a commitment to accessibility and the provision of easy to find, clearly communicated information to allow purchasers and adopters to make informed decisions based on both vendor claims and their own testing, with their own diverse student population.

Most applications for UDL Product Certification move through a streamlined four-stage process: Initial Review, Feedback, Revision, and Final Approval.

Initial applications for both levels of the UDL Product Certification are reviewed within two weeks. The timeline for earning the full certification typically ranges from four weeks to several months, depending on your product’s readiness at the time of application.

Completing an Accessibility Conformance Report (ACR), collecting evidence of user-informed accessibility design, and availability of your team for product development are all factors that may influence your timeline to achieve partial or full UDL Product Certification.

Having an ACR and UDL-aligned features at the time of application will make the process significantly faster. Products requiring major redesigns or accessibility updates will naturally take more time.

See the next FAQ section “What barriers or challenges do teams typically encounter during the process?” and read our full ACR requirements lower on this page for more details.

The UDL Product Certification process typically requires collaboration from multiple individuals in a cross-functional team at the applicant organization to ensure the product meets accessibility requirements and aligns to Universal Design for Learning (UDL) principles.

Key team members often involved in the process include:

Product Managers: Oversee the certification process, ensure overall alignment with UDL principles, and coordinate between development teams.

Product Designers: Implement accessible UX/UI design practices and ensure the user interface supports UDL principles.

Instructional Designers: Align content with the UDL framework and ensure multiple means of engagement, representation, and action/expression.

Developers & Engineers: Build accessibility features and ensure technical compliance with standards.

Quality Assurance & Accessibility Specialists: Test products against UDL and accessibility standards and identify/resolve usability issues.

Subject Matter Experts: Provide insights into diverse learner needs and ensure content is pedagogically sound.

Educators & User Researchers: Conduct user testing with diverse learners and gather feedback to refine the product.

Barriers and challenges to UDL Product Certification will vary based on your team’s overall familiarity with Universal Design for Learning (UDL), the CAST UDL Guidelines, and accessibility best practices. Some of the challenges might include:

Understanding of UDL Principles and Design Alignment: Fully grasping the UDL Guidelines and how they apply to product design can be complex. Teams need to ensure their product supports learner variability and reduces learning barriers. Aligning the product’s design features with UDL principles to provide multiple means of Engagement, Representation, and Action & Expression can require significant redesign and iteration.

Accessibility Compliance: Meeting the Accessibility Baseline is crucial, and reporting on your compliance with WCAG, ADA, and other accessibility standards via an Accessibility Conformance Report (ACR) is a key part of the process. The Accessibility Baseline also requires providing detailed documentation of iterative testing, compliance checks, and evidence of design informed by user accessibility feedback. Meeting these digital accessibility requirements can be technically challenging, especially for products implementing cutting edge technologies.

Find additional details about the ACR requirements further down on this page.

Resource Allocation: The process can be resource-intensive, requiring time, effort, and sometimes additional expertise to meet the certification standards. However, we have found that the effort also results in improved coordination and collaboration across teams that can save time and effort in the future after the processes created while pursuing the certification are in place.

Throughout the certification process, CAST provides targeted expert feedback to help companies refine their product’s alignment with Universal Design for Learning (UDL) principles. Our commitment continues even after certification, as we offer many ongoing resources and support to help you maintain high standards and maximize your product’s impact on diverse learners.

Upon completing both the Accessibility Baseline and Alignment to the UDL Framework certifications, your product will be featured in the CAST UDL Product Directory, providing direct visibility to educators, schools, and districts seeking inclusive solutions. You will also receive the UDL Product Certification seal—a powerful mark of quality and inclusivity. We encourage companies to leverage the certification in their own marketing to demonstrate a verified commitment to supporting diverse learning needs.

Full UDL Product Certification remains valid for two years. Because technology and accessibility standards evolve, this two-year cycle ensures your product continues to provide an industry-leading inclusive experience.

If you launch significant updates or improvements before your renewal date, you are welcome to resubmit early for re-evaluation. Please note that to protect the integrity of the certification, products must continue to meet all requirements to maintain their certified status throughout the two-year period.

Yes. To ensure the highest standards of integrity, the fee for the UDL Product Certification covers a comprehensive evaluation and feedback provided by our accessibility experts. The investment for the full certification is $2,000, which includes both the Accessibility Baseline and Alignment to the UDL Framework components ($1,000 each), each with its own criteria and application process.

If your product does not pass the UDL Product Certification, you will receive detailed feedback on the areas that require improvement. This feedback is specific and designed to help you understand how your product can better align with the Universal Design for Learning (UDL) framework. You can then make the necessary adjustments and reapply for certification