UX Akron Participates in 2021 Accessibility Internet Rally (AIR)
UX Akron planned to refresh and revitalize its website in 2021. Ensuring an accessible website was important to the team, but how to build an accessible site was an open question (and we had a lot of questions!). As luck would have it, we learned about the Knowbility Accessibility Internet Rally (AIR), which started in 1998 as a community program and has continued to evolve since then.
About The AIR Competition
AIR is a design competition that builds partnerships between non-profits or artists and teams of volunteer web developers and designers. The project runs for six weeks, and the goal is to build or improve a website so that it is fully accessible to people with disabilities. The websites are then judged by a panel of accessibility experts from all over the world. Since 1998, more than 2,000 volunteers have participated in AIR rallies, and over 450 non-profits, charities, schools, and artists have received accessible websites and a better understanding about the importance of digital accessibility.
After we signed up for #AIR2021, we were teamed with a great group of folks from UserZoom and immediately got to work. Participating in AIR is really an extraordinary opportunity to learn by doing, and we’ll have an accessible website as an outcome! Right now we’re in the build stage, which runs from September 9th to November 7th. After the 7th, we’ll submit our website for judging. Winners will be announced on January 6th, 2022.
A core element of AIR is to help people learn more about accessibility. Knowbility provides abundant resources covering accessibility and what that means for crafting great digital experiences. You learn why accessibility matters, why it’s the right thing to do, and you learn about the technical aspects of implementing accessibility on your website. Plus, you have incredible access to accessibility experts! We’re excited to soon have an accessible website that is inclusive and welcoming to all. Stay tuned for more updates!
About Knowbility
Knowbility, Inc. is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization with the mission to create a more inclusive digital world for people with disabilities. The organization developed from a community collaboration – the Accessibility Internet Rally – to raise awareness of the need for access to technology for people with disabilities. AIR Austin proved to be an effective model for engaging the information technology sector and the social services community in disability issues and in 1999 Knowbility incorporated to develop additional programs and services. Today, Knowbility’s team of experts is internationally recognized for its role in creating the worldwide standard for web accessibility implementation and training.
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