Skip to Main Content
Donate

Let the race to accessibility begin!
Rally Rules

The Accessibility Internet Rally (AIR) is an annual accessible web design contest. It was created to teach accessible digital design skills in the context of a fun, friendly, web raising competition that benefits small nonprofits (e.g., schools, churches, libraries, community foundations/groups, government agencies) and independent artists (e.g. painters, writers, photographers, authors, musicians, dancers, etc.).
The rules ensure that we all have a common understanding and shared goals as we learn about inclusive design while building accessible websites for our communities.

Overview

Welcome to AIR! The rules of the road are summarized below to help you make the most of the AIR experience. We expect teams to take full advantage of the trainers, mentors, and resources provided in order to create highly accessible and usable web sites for artists and nonprofit groups that serve the community.

Basic rules for the competition are summarized below. Contact us at air@knowbility.org if you have questions.

Rally Rules

(1) General Rules

  • 1.1 The Accessibility Internet Rally (the “Rally”) involves web professionals formed into teams and community organizations such as artists, charities and nonprofits (“Clients”) to create a website for each Client that is accessible to people with disabilities.
  • 1.2 AIR is organized by Knowbility (“Organizer”) and supported by registration fees, grants, sponsorship, and contributions from local agencies, businesses, schools, and individuals.
  • 1.3 AIR activities are posted; all registered teams and Clients must be represented at the AIR activities as noted on the registration forms.
  • 1.4 Any notices to teams, including changes to these Rules, announcements of winners, notices of disqualification, or otherwise, may be posted at the AIR Website and/or sent by email to the teams.

(2) Participation

  • 2.1 AIR is open to Clients and teams (collectively “Participants”) in three categories:
    • 2.1.1 Community Organization: to qualify in this category, entities must be either a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organization or an entity that exists for community benefit such as a church group, school, state and local government agencies, an arts organization, performance organization, as well as individual artists and performers, to be decided at the discretion of the Organizer.
    • 2.1.2 Team of web professionals: to participate in this category, a group of up to six professionals sign on as a team.
    • 2.1.3 Individual web professional: Individuals may sign on to participate and will be matched to other individuals at the discretion of the Organizer to create a team.
    • 2.1.4 Participants may only register once.
    • 2.1.5 If a team uses the name of a corporation, partnership or other legal entity, the team certifies it has the permission of the entity to do so.
    • 2.1.6 By submitting a website of a corporation, partnership or other legal entity for inclusion in AIR, the Client certifies it has the permission of the entity to do so.
  • 2.2 Participants must be officially registered to participate in the competition. Participants register by completing the appropriate registration form and payment of the application fee. Upon the Organizer's acceptance of this form, Participants will be sent an email confirmation. The Organizer may rely on its records and, if it chooses, Participant’s possession of an email confirmation, as full and complete evidence that Participant is successfully registered.
  • 2.3 Organizer reserves the right to limit Participants to any number it chooses, using any mechanism it selects, subject to these rules and applicable state and federal laws, including non-discrimination laws.
  • 2.4 By participating in AIR, Participants fully and unconditionally agree to and accept these Rules.
  • 2.5 The Organizer can, in their sole discretion, disqualify any Participant whom it believes has not complied with these Rules or would violate state or federal law.

(3) The Design: Conditions

  • 3.1 Entries must be the Client’s and/or team’s own original work or appropriately acknowledged open source materials.
  • 3.2 AI may be used to develop the website. However, the final code must work within the Client's preferred platform regardless of any AI authoring tools. (NEW)
  • 3.3 Websites must be developed on a platform agreed upon by the Client and cannot be developed in a system the client cannot maintain. (NEW)
  • 3.4 Teams are required to submit their Entries in accordance with a mechanism determined by the Organizer. This mechanism shall include instructions for preparing files for upload, file specifications including file type and file size and location for uploading.
  • 3.5 Teams will be given access to a collection of online training resources to help them build accessible websites. Teams will be expected to read and familiarize themselves with these resources prior to AIR. Teams will additionally be provided some live online training sessions and assigned a mentor versed in digital web accessibility.
  • 3.6 Clients and teams must be represented at the following events:
    • AIR Kick Off
    • AIR Awards
  • 3.7 Teams are expected to complete at least 6 pages. If teams wish to complete additional pages, it may not affect base score but may be considered for extra points in the category of Exemplary Effort.
  • 3.8 The following elements must be included in each website submitted:
    • Home Page - Navigation should include search functionality
    • Contact Page - Include web form
    • Body Copy
    • Knowbility Logo with a link back to the AIR Landing Page (https://knowbility.org/programs/air)
  • 3.9 Production Deployment and Migration Plan

(4) Judges and Judging Entries

  • 4.1 Entries will each be judged by two experts (“Judges”) in accessible design, coding and development Judges are selected from a Judging Committee to be determined by the Organizer.
  • 4.2 Judges will evaluate each submission based on the following criteria: (1) accessibility; (2) usability; (3) aesthetics; and (4) completion of all requirements.
  • 4.3 The Client will determine how well the website meets its needs by submitting a report that will be provided to the Judges. Judges will accept the judgment of the Client to score the category of appropriateness for the intended audience.
  • 4.4 In order to encourage more interactive, sophisticated, community-driven websites and fuller user experience, the use of third-party modules or pre-existing components is allowed under these conditions:
    • 4.4.1 Third-party modules or pre-existing components may include discussion forums, shopping carts, video (including captions and audio descriptions), audio files and transcripts, and documents.
    • 4.4.2 The third-party component or pre-existing module may not be the interface/template for the entire website.
    • 4.4.3 The third-party component or pre-existing module will be judged as part of the website. No bonus points will be awarded for the use of such components.
  • 4.5 The decisions of the Judges are final and binding.

Participant Commitments

By registering as a participant in the Accessibility Internet Rally, I make the following commitments:

General Commitments for Everyone

  • Abide by these Rally Rules and Knowbility’s Code of Conduct.
  • At least one representative from the team and Client will attend the AIR Kickoff
  • At least one representative from the team and Client will attend the AIR Awards
  • Invest the time required to fully participate in the design and development activities for the entire AIR event.
  • Promptly answer messages or emails related to AIR. If you do not receive a response to a message or email within 3 business days please contact air@knowbility.org.

Client Commitments

  • Designate a person responsible for coordinating with AIR staff and mentors.
  • One or more representatives must attend a Client Orientation Training Session
  • Meet (in-person, phone, videoconference) with your team as often as needed to meet your goal and at least once every other week during AIR.
  • Provide the following Deliverables:
    • (Prior to AIR Kickoff) Site Needs Survey and Web Planning Template
    • All content for your website; including page names, written content, images, and videos.
    • A Domain Name and Hosting Service to the technical team.
    • (Within 2 days of website submission) Client Team Score Survey

Team Commitments

  • Review the judging form and the goal of creating an accessible website for AIR.
  • Adjust schedules to provide sufficient time during the competition (i.e. from Kickoff to the website submission) to accomplish the goal.
  • Check in with Mentor at least once a week with questions or updates.
  • Provide at least one primary phone number for the team and one email address for each person on the team (minimum of 4; no more than 6).
  • Acknowledge that Knowbility and your Client are counting on each individual to do their part to design and deliver an attractive, accessible and usable website by the submission date.
  • Make every effort to submit the website by the due date.
  • Acknowledge that late submissions will receive a penalty.
  • Meet (in-person, phone, videoconference) with your Client as often as needed to meet your goal and at least once every other week during AIR.
  • Meet with your mentor at least once a week. This is the best way to ensure that your questions are answered and that you have the latest updates about the competition.
  • Provide the following Deliverables:
    • AIR skills assessment used to match the team to an appropriate Client.
    • At least one primary phone number for the team and one email address for each person on the team (minimum of 4; no more than 6).
    • Designate the following roles on your team and email their names, email addresses, and phone numbers to air@knowbility.org.
      • Team Captain - Responsible for coordinating with AIR staff and mentors. Provides team members with program updates and opportunities for learning and networking.
      • Project Manager - Responsible for tracking timelines and requirements. Ensures the team meets critical deadlines.
    • Training and documentation to the Client so they can maintain their website.
    • Deploy the website to the Client’s hosted domain.
      • If the Client has either not provided the required information to complete the website migration or the Client has other reasons to not complete the migration, then provide a migration and deployment plan for moving the website to the Client’s hosted domain.
    • Submission form (i.e. the spreadsheet which includes the judging form)

Updated September 2026

Thank you to our Sponsors

    Google, Monkee-Boy