Fuori Call –––––– Italian Journal of Special Education for Inclusion –––––– anno X | n. 1 | giugno 2022 ABSTRACT For many educational institutions, the COVID‐related pandemic has been a lens that has exposed shortcomings and in‐ equalities, but also a stimulus for new developments and the activation of hitherto underused or unnoticed potentials. An overview of some national research results on teaching and learning during the first lockdown phase introduces the considerations of this article. This is followed by a second section in which the principles of UDL are presented as keys to accessibility in university teaching. These same principles then guide the analysis of data from an online questionnaire administered to lecturers at the Faculty of Education of the Free University of Bozen‐Bolzano. In this questionnaire, lec‐ turers were asked, through multiple‐choice and open‐ended questions, to compare their usual teaching methods and techniques with the digital setting of distance teaching with a focus on adaptations, challenges and opportunities and expressed opinions on the future of teaching in the post‐Covid 19 era. The concluding discussion proposes perspectives on the future management of teaching and learning in the digital environment at the Faculty. Keywords: Inclusive education, digital learning settings, universal design for learning, higher education, qualitative study How to cite this artcle: Demo H. et al. (2022). Universal Design for Learning and higher educaton: beyond the emergency, to‐ wards universal design. Italian Journal of Special Educaton for Inclusion, X, 1, 337‐350 | htps://doi10.7346/sipes-01-2022- 26 Corresponding Author: Heidrun Demo | heidrun.demo2@unibz.it Received: 14/02/2022 | Accepted: 03/06/2022 | Published: 30/06/2022 Italian Journal of Special Educaton for Inclusion | © Pensa MultMedia Editore srl ISSN 2282–6041 (on line) | DOI: 10.7346/sipes‐01‐2022‐26 Heidrun Demo Faculty of Education | Free University of Bozen‐Bolzano | heidrun.demo2@unibz.it Susanne Schumacher Faculty of Education | Free University of Bozen‐Bolzano | susanne.schumacher@unibz.it Laura Trot Faculty of Education | Free University of Bozen‐Bolzano | laura.trott@unibz.it * Il contributo è stato progetato in modo congiunto dalle tre autrici ed i contenut di tuto il testo sono stat concordat e condivisi. Per quel che riguarda la scritura, Heidrun Demo si è occupata delle sezioni Risultat e Discussione, Susanne Schumacher delle sezioni Introduzione e Universal Design for Le‐ arning e Laura Trot delle sezioni Universal Design for Learning nella didatca universitaria, La ricerca, Raccolta e analisi dei dat e Campione. Double blind peer review Universal Design for Learning and higher educaton: beyond the emergency, towards uni‐ versal design * . Lecturers' opinions on online teaching during the lockdown period at the Faculty of Educaton of the Free University of Bozen‐Bolzano Universal Design for Learning e didatca universitaria: oltre l’emergenza, verso la pro‐ getazione universale. Le opinioni dei/delle docent sulla didatca on‐line nel periodo del lockdown presso la Facoltà di Scienze della Formazione della Libera Università di Bolzano