Universal design for learning: Examining access afforded by children’s search engines

Young children benefit from authentic opportunities to conduct online searches. Decisions related to the use of children’s search engines versus universal search engines should include considerations for the affordances of technology that accommodate learner variability. Using Universal Design for Learning (UDL) as a framework for providing access to learning materials, this study includes an analysis of the affordances of search engines for both children and the general population. UDL, an inclusive framework for learning, leads contemporary efforts to create comprehensive access to educational curricula for all students, especially those with learning variabilities. The focus of our study is on one of UDL’s principle, multiple means of representation for content access, and ways children’s search engines address its guidelines of perception, language and symbols, and comprehension.