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In its 25 years, AIR has had thousands of participants. See what a few of them have to say about their experience with the competition!

Where We Started

Where We Are Today

Hear from Derek Featherstone, VP of Accessibility and Inclusive Design at Salesforce!

Derek Featherstone, VP of Accessibility and Inclusive Design at Salesforce

Hear from Alicia Evans, Accessibility Consultant + AIR Mentor!

Alicia Evans, Accessibility Consultant Interview at Knowbility, published 8 25 2021

What Past Participants Have To Say About AIR

Becky Gibson AIR Interview
Sally Thoun AIR Interview

Hear from last year’s winning team members - Airway Team:
“AIR2022 was a life enhancing event for me! It introduced me to a group of like-minded volunteers, and together we collaborated to craft a truly accessible site for a non profitwho really appreciated our efforts and passion.”

— Graham Venning, Founder, Desert Wing Design

“In its almost quarter-century existence, AIR has produced hundreds of accessible websites for charities, and spread the learning and experience of developing accessible websites among thousands of developers.”

— Deneb Pulsipher, Web Designer, SeaMonster Studios

“OpenAIR, the first hands-on accessibility technology training program of its kind has become a formative experience in producing the next generation of accessibility leaders.”

— Richard Schwerdtfeger, Former CTO of Accessibility, IBM

“The Texas Governor's Committee is honored and pleased to sponsor The Texas State Agency Accessibility Internet Rally and would like to thank the Texas Department of Information Resources for their support of this competition. We firmly believe that this approach to training is a highly effective in helping state agencies learn how to make their websites accessible to all Texans. Competition drives excellence, and we hope that Texas state agencies will embrace the spirit of OpenAIR and assemble developer teams of all levels of expertise. We look forward to seeing novices and well-seasoned developers creating and collaborating with one another, allowing all state agency teams to embrace the true purpose of this competition: to gain and grow web accessibility skills.”

— Ron Lucey, Executive Director, Texas Governor's Committee on People with Disabilities

For the 2015 Open Air competition, Whole Foods Market proudly supported two teams. In the spirit of the holiday season, the team members volunteered their time and efforts to make a difference.

The first team created a new website for Arts for Life, a nonprofit dedicated to supporting children facing serious illnesses and disabilities by providing educational art programs in four cities across North Carolina. http://artsforlifenc.org/

The second team partnered with Allgo, a nonprofit that celebrates vibrant queer people of color communities here in Texas and beyond through cultural arts, wellness, and social justice programming. https://allgo.org/

Being a Website Project Manager, this seemed like the perfect way to give back. Beyond supporting wonderful nonprofits, we learned a lot about making sites more accessible and user friendly along the way.

— Christine O'Connor, Senior Technical Project Manager, Whole Foods Market

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