Austin, Texas -  Knowbility -  the Austin based disability tech advocacy organization - announced today that it is currently recruiting participants for its annual Accessibility Internet Rally (AIR).  Since 1998, Knowbility programs have raised awareness and built a vibrant community around the powerful idea of tech equity. The first and most influential of these was AIR-Austin. Within two years of launch, the program had won national recognition for innovation from the Peter Drucker Foundation and won the coveted

Dewey Winburne Award for Community Service through tech at the 2002 SXSW Interactive Media Festival. This year, the AIR contest kicks off in mid-September and runs for eight weeks. The entries are judged for accessibility and clarity of purpose. Awards are announced in a high-profile January event. 

“Digital accessibility can be intimidating and downright scary for some people and businesses,” said Sharron Rush, co-founder and Executive Director of Knowbility, the event producer. “AIR demystifies the issue by presenting accessibility in the context of a fun, friendly, web raising competition. AIR participants learn about accessibility as a joyful, collaborative effort of digital inclusion, ensuring that websites and other ubiquitous tech are equally available to all of us, regardless of disability.”

About AIR

The Accessibility Internet Rally (AIR) competition was first held in Austin in 1998 as people with disabilities were being left out of the emerging economic opportunities afforded by the tech boom in our city.  Collaborators from disability rights organizations, the newly formed Austin FreeNet, the University of Texas, and industry giants like IBM looked for ways to raise awareness of the issue of digital discrimination.  They challenged teams of web professionals to register as volunteers to receive digital accessibility training from world experts and then to build an accessible web site for local artists and nonprofit groups that serve community needs. The program grew from a local in-person one-day hackathon to the current hybrid model in which teams from all over the world build a nonprofit, mission driven website in 8 weeks.  All events in the 2024 AIR Calendar can be attended remotely or in person.

  • Calendar of AIR Events
  • September 13:  Registration ends
  • September 12 – October 24: Trainings, mentoring, office hours
  • September 26: AIR Kickoff – Team/NPO matches announced and mentors assigned
  • November 26: Final countdown. Completed sites are submitted for Judging
  • January 16: Awards Ceremony. Website work is highlighted and Winners are announced.

AIR 2024 Sponsors are: Educational Networks, Monkee-Boy, Meta, Walmart, Nextep, and Watson Family.

Registration is Open

Registration is open for the following roles:

  • Nonprofit organizations and artists who want to build from scratch or improve the accessibility of an existing website that can reasonably be done in 8 weeks.
  • Web professionals across roles who want to learn about accessible design and be provided with expert mentors as they apply their new skills. Great for established teams, and individuals may also apply. 
  • Seasoned accessibility professionals to act as mentors and judges
  • Companies that want to sponsor the event and raise their profile on this critically important issue.

Learn more and register on the AIR pages of the Knowbility web site.

About Knowbility

Knowbility is a nonprofit organization based in Austin, Texas and serving a global constituency. It was founded in 1999 as the result of a two-year community collaboration to raise awareness and improve skills around digital accessibility. We pursue our mission through three related sets of programs and services:

  • Education - the annual AccessU digital accessibility skills training conference, a K12 AccessToolkit, Online Learning Center;
  • Awareness - the award-winning Accessibility Internet Rally (AIR) program, free webinar series, active participation at the W3C's Web Accessibility Initiative;
  • Accessibility Services - audits, usability testing, staff training, design workshops, specific Help Desk support.