Knowbility is excited to announce The Texas State Agency Accessibility Internet Rally (Texas AIR), a new way for state agencies in Texas to participate in OpenAIR, THE international web accessibility competition that increases awareness of tools and techniques that make the Internet accessible to everyone, including people with disabilities, by training professional web developers and designers in accessibility standards. Kicking off in February 2018, teams of web professionals all over the world compete over eight weeks to build the most effective, impressive, and fully accessible websites for Texas and beyond.
Registration for OpenAIR via the Texas AIR track is now open, and available at no cost for all state agencies who register, thanks to the support of the Governor’s Committee on People with Disabilities and the Texas Department of Information Resources.
How Does It Work?
Teams of web professionals are given eight weeks to build or improve the websites of Texas state agencies and non-profits. During the eight-week period, each team will receive accessibility training to comply with WCAG 2.0 Level AA, ADA and Section 508 standards (worth over $4,000), and be matched with a Knowbility mentor, the leading subject matter experts and trainers on website accessibility. Afterwards, teams will submit the work to the OpenAIR judging panel and the winning sites will be announced at the Awards Ceremony in May 2018, taking place during Knowbility AccessU Conference in Austin, Texas.
How TexasAIR is Different
For the first time since OpenAIR’s inception in 1999, Texas state agency web teams will compete in a category of their own and will be given the chance to submit a request to work on a state agency project or non-profit organization of their choosing. In addition, Texas state agency web teams will not be held to a content management system (CMS) requirement.
“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 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
Registration
Registration is now open, and is available at no cost for all Texas state agencies, thanks to the support of the Governor’s Committee on People with Disabilities and the Texas Department of Information Resources.
Texas AIR kicks off in February 2018 as a part of our OpenAIR competition, but we encourage state agency web teams to register by the end of the year.
REGISTER FOR TEXAS AIR TODAY
or contact us at openair@knowbility.org if you have questions about registration.
OpenAIR’S Texas AIR Track is made possible by
as well as TechSoup, the premiere global network for non-profits, connecting organizations with exclusive technology partners, donations, and offers.