Knowbility’s Open Accessibility Internet Rally Competition Kicks Off its 17th Year
Austin, Texas (PRWEB) November 03, 2014 -- Knowbility’s signature program, OpenAIR, kicks off Thursday, November 6th. The kick-off event, where teams will be matched to their non-profits, will take place at the Shoal Creek Event Center in Austin, Texas, streamed live across the globe. For details on how to attend virtually, contact Jessica Looney at Jessica(at)knowbility(dot)org.
This year’s OpenAIR features web-development teams from IBM, Cognizant, Accenture, BR International and more. Some of this year’s non-profit participants include Easter Seals Central Texas, Arts for Life, A Plastic Brain, Carter’s House, allgo, Your Public Domain and more.
The 17th Annual OpenAIR competition is sponsored by Deque, Google,and The City of Austin.
About OpenAIR
The Open Accessibility Internet Rally (AIR), dating from 1998, is a community hackathon with a unique twist – accessibility! Participants are trained with critical accessibility skills by internationally recognized experts and contribute to their community by creating accessible websites for nonprofits. The professionally designed sites are donated to nonprofit groups and hosted for free for one year. Open-AIR increases awareness of the tools and techniques that make the Internet accessible to everyone - including people with disabilities. OpenAIR benefits nonprofit organizations and schools by providing them with free, professionally designed, accessible websites.
OpenAIR is designed for Web professionals, people who currently create on-line applications and who are proficient in HTML and other techniques for creating Web pages. Through Open-AIR, developers will learn accessible design techniques, have the chance to show off their skills, win prizes, and help local nonprofits do the work that benefits our communities.
To learn more about OpenAIR or to register a team visit http://www.knowbility.org/v/open-air/ or contact Knowbility’s Community Programs Manager, Jessica Looney, at Jessica(at)knowbility(dot)org.
About Knowbility, Inc.
Austin’s Knowbility, Inc., http://www.knowbility.org, is a 15-year-old, international leader in accessible IT for people with disabilities - blind, visually impaired, deaf, mobility impaired and other disabilities. Co-Founder Sharron Rush, serves as Co-Chair of the World Wide Web Consortium’s WAI Education and Outreach Working Group. Knowbility’s team of experts is internationally recognized for its role in creating the worldwide standard for web accessibility. Since the first Air competition in 1998, Knowbility has provided accessible web training to hundreds of corporations, government agencies and community-based organizations throughout the nation. Knowbility’s accessibility testing and consulting team has guided and the creation of more than 1,000 accessible web sites making information accessible to the 55 million Americans with disabilities. ATSTAR, Knowbility’s professional educational initiative for assistive technology in the classroom, currently serves thousands of special education students, their teachers and parents in four states. Our AccessWorks program employs people with disabilities as document remediation specialists, user experience testers and Quality Assurance specialists.
Knowbility has received numerous awards for excellence in services to people with disabilities, including recognition by the Clinton White House and the US Department of Labor for excellence in employment practices for people with disabilities. Sharron Rush has been invited twice to the West Wing to confer with Kareem Dale, President Obama’s Special Advisor on Disability Issues. In 2000 she was named Community Tech Champion by the Congressional Black Caucus. Under her leadership Knowbility received a Peter F. Drucker Foundation award for Innovation in the service of people with disabilities. Ms. Rush is a ComputerWorld Laureate and an advisor to the SXSW Interactive Media Conference. In 2001, she was named one of the Top 25 Women of the Web. In addition, Ms. Rush was instrumental in developing the ATSTAR online teachers’ resource project in collaboration with the Austin Independent School District Special Education Department. In 2002, she received the Dewey Winburne Award for Community Service through Interactive Media. Ms. Rush has a Bachelor of Science Degree from the University of Texas at Austin. She is co-author, with Dr. John Slatin, of Maximum Accessibility a definitive web accessibility resource.
Jessica Looney, Knowbility, Inc., http://www.knowbility.org/, +1 512-305-0310, [email protected]
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