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Join Us at AIR-San Antonio

We are pleased to announce that the second annual AIR San Antonio will be held on October 4th 2008.

We would like to thank Dirk Elmendorf for serving as our Chairperson last year and for continuing in that capacity as we kick off our second annual Rally.

Help us bring Knowbility's Accessibility Internet Rally (AIR) to San Antonio!

"For most people, technology makes things easier. For people with disabilities, technology makes things possible." – President's Council on Disability

This is the inaugural year for AIR-San Antonio. Please join us in the Race to Accessibility.

What is AIR?

AIR stands for "Accessibility Internet Rally". AIR-San Antonio is a friendly, one-day web design competition in which teams of web developers create web sites for local non-profit organizations, sites that are accessible to everyone – including people with disabilities and senior citizens as they age.

San Antonio 's best web designers will compete for prizes and recognition as they learn the latest accessible web design techniques and showcase their skills for community service organizations in a fun, high-energy web development contest. The "web-raisings" take place in one day, with a two-week planning period between web teams and their non-profit partners just prior to Rally Day. Everyone receives training in web accessibility in the months before the competition.

What's It Like?

Letters from three NPOs (PDF Format)
Download Adobe Reader

Be sure to visit Best of AIR to see previous winning sites from other AIR programs.

More About AIR-San Antonio

AIR-San Antonio is an exciting community development opportunity in which everyone benefits:

• Teams of San Antonio's web developers receive free training in accessible web design techniques and then use their design skills to create accessible web sites for local non-profit organizations and community groups.
• Non-profit, community, and educational groups that serve the needs of greater San Antonio receive donated, professionally designed web sites that support their missions.
• People with disabilities gain increased access to web-based information that can help them live more independent lives.
• Everyone benefits by having dozens of new, accessible web sites on the Internet that set an example for high-quality accessible design that welcomes everyone and removes the barriers that shut people out.

AIR activities include:

• Hands-on web developer training in accessible web design tools and techniques.
• Non-profit training in internet marketing and how to prepare communications for the Web.
• A kickoff party to match each web development team with its non-profit partner.
• Two weeks for non-profit representatives and their assigned web development team to plan the web site.
• Accessibility consulting during the planning phase with nationally recognized accessibility experts.
• One high-energy Rally Day during which the web sites for dozens of non-profit groups are created.
• Judging by accessibility experts at two levels—basic and advanced.
• An awards celebration to recognize all participants and present trophies to the most accessible web designs.

The AIR program, which originated in Austin, Texas in 1998, is held annually in cities around the country and is described in the book, Maximum Accessibility: Making Your Web Site More Usable for Everyone, by John D. Slatin, Ph.D., and Knowbility's Sharron Rush.

This exciting program has been recognized for excellence and innovation by business and political leaders, and has received local and national media coverage for its innovative methods and unequaled results. For over seven years, Knowbility has led national AIR programs to improve technology access for people with disabilities.

Contact AIR-San Antonio

To learn more about AIR-San Antonio, contact us by email at mrush @ knowbility.org or by phone at 210-365-5074.

To learn more about how to participate, visit AIR-San Antonio Participation.

Register your developer team for AIR San Antonio.

Register your non-profit organization.

Join AIR in bringing the internet accessibility to San Antonio!