The article focuses on the modern aspects of higher professional education program acquisition in Russia. Besides, the existing peculiarities and requirements related to the teaching tools of future specialists as well as the results of the study of the learning process at the university during the period of distance learning are presented. Pedagogical design acts as the main tool for creating modern teaching aids for university students, which makes it possible to apply uniform principles and approaches to structuring. In the context of distance learning of higher education programs, the form of presentation of the studied information has lost its significance, the peculiarities of the perception of this information, depending on the education goals, basic education, and development conditions have come to the fore. The teaching aids that are most effectively used to achieve various goals in various conditions by heterogeneous groups of students are designated as universal. Significant characteristics of universal teaching aids were identified, such as color design of pages, font size, selection of relatively independent blocks of information. The results of the survey indicated an increase in the quality of assimilation of those materials that combined information on the topic, reference information and the maximum possible visualization in the form of pictures, drawings, diagrams, and sample tables. In modern conditions of optimization of the system of vocational education and general informatization, the content and structure ensuring adequate perception of information through the variability, the most accurate visualization of information.