Join Us For AIR Houston 2009

Join AIR-Houston and make a real difference in the lives of thousands of Greater Houston Area residents.

Sponsored by Knowbility, the University of Houston, and other community leaders to bring web accessibility awareness and training to the Houston community, the sixth annual Accessibility Internet Rally for Houston (AIR-Houston) will be held on November 14th 2009. You can be part of it - here’s how!

What is AIR Houston?

The Accessibility Internet Rally (AIR) is an award-winning, Web site building competition held annually around the country. This exciting competition has been recognized for excellence and innovation by business and political leaders and was first held in Houston in 2004.

What happens at AIR Houston?

The competition trains professional Web developers in the evolving field of Web accessibility. National experts lead hands-on accessibility training sessions. Web pros learn about emerging federal and state access mandates and receive training in accessible design tools and techniques. Training sessions begin this Summer to prepare for Rally Day on November 14th. Check the Training and Event Schedules page for more details.

Once they are trained, these teams will compete, showcasing their talents as they donate their newly-acquired accessible design skills to a nonprofit organization. During one high-energy workday, our community will rally around the powerful idea of technology access for everyone, including children and adults with disabilities.

Why is AIR important?

Currently the U.S. population includes more than 54 million people with disabilities of all sorts. Many of these people are unable to fully benefit from the Internet and the World Wide Web because many Web sites have not been designed and built with accessibility in mind. The nationwide AIR events are designed to help local nonprofit organizations gain a fully-accessible Web site through the efforts of professional design and development teams. AIR-Houston participants use their accessibility training to build these Web sites in one day. At least 20 nonprofits will gain professionally designed and accessible Web sites. AIR-Houston participants will enable these various organizations to market their missions on the World Wide Web.

Accessible design also has a global economic impact. For example, the 54 million Americans with disabilities have an aggregate income of $1 trillion, which includes $220 billion of discretionary spending. Worldwide, there are more than 500 million people with disabilities. Extending the reach of the Internet, with its commercial and educational opportunities via the World Wide Web, to half a billion people has a tremendous impact on the global economy. Simply put, the global aspect of accessibility enhances companies and organizations of all sizes. It also increases their customer base and improves their relationships with all customers, including those who have disabilities.

The competition has two categories; Stock Car and Formula One. The Stock Car class sites are judged on basic accessibility, like text alternatives for pictures and the quality of link text (no "click here", please) while Formula One entries are also judged on advanced technologies like multimedia, data tables, flash, and scripted applications.

Who participated (and won) in the past?

Winners of competition to build the "Most Accessible Web Site" were announced Thursday night, November 29th 2008 at an Awards Ceremony at the University of Houston Hilton Hotel. The 2008 winners for the most accessible web site were:

First Place Winners:
Stock Car: The Paparazzi Juggernauts – Site created for: CityWide Outreach Ministy
Formula One: Idea Integration – Site created for: Beyond Careers

Second Place Winners:
Stock Car: Topspot IMS – Site created for: Kids’ Meals
Formula One – Access THIS! – Site created for: Step To It!

Third Place winners:
Stock Car: Techsophic – Site created for: Brighter Future Inc.
Formula One: Whiteboard Labs – Site created for: Orange Show Center for Visionary Art - Beer Can House

A list of all the teams that competed can be found on the 2007 Sites page.

The statewide AIR competition is a major initiative of Knowbility, an Austin non-profit organization (www.knowbility.org) that is globally renowned for making the worldwide web accessible for all people and offering solutions to businesses that can provide information and opportunities to under-served populations.

Questions about AIR

To learn more please visit the Frequently Asked Questions page or send email to teenya at knowbility dot org

Ready to join the fun and put your skills to work?

Development Teams - sign up and get the training you need to win! Nonprofit organizations register to work with a development team.