Accessible Internet Rally for Austin (AIR-Austin) October 15, 2010

Knowbility is proud to be hosting our 12th year of AIR, the Accessible Internet Rally. AIR is an annual web design competition that increases awareness of the tools and techniques that make the Internet accessible to everyone- including people with disabilities.

Since 1998, AIR-Austin has strengthened the capacity of more than 265 non-profit organizations that focus on health, human services, the environment, the arts and more in Central Texas by providing them with professional websites (or redesigns of current sites) that are designed to be accessible to everyone – including people with disabilities. (http://www.knowbility.org/air-austin/)

How it works:

Teams of technology professionals learn from Knowbility experts about how and why to implement design techniques that allow Web sites to be accessed by people with disabilities. Meanwhile, non-profit organizations sign up online to be selected as one of the non-profits to receive a new accessible Web site. Non-profit participants, usually two to four representatives per agency, attend training in outreach efforts, crafting their message, and the best uses of the Internet to serve their constituencies. Both non-profit and for-profit participants attend disability awareness workshops. Once everyone has been trained, groups of Web designers and developers are matched to representatives of a local non-profit organization to create the AIR-Austin teams.

Why this is important:

The need to access information and services over the Web or using other technologies cannot be exaggerated in our society today. Children with disabilities can benefit from advances in telecommunications as they strive to stay up with the rest of their grade level and make the most of their educational opportunities. Youth with disabilities can participate in online educational, social, and consumer activities previously closed to them. Adults with disabilities can benefit from computer-based employment and telecommuting. In order to realize this potential, information technology must be accessible to people with disabilities.

Just as ramps and curb-cuts create access to physical space, there are tools and techniques that allow visitors with disabilities access to online places. For example, a blind visitor to a Web site may use a text-to-speech device called a screen reader. If this assistive technology encounters an image, which many Web designers use for navigation and other critical functionality including shopping carts, there is no way for the device to render the meaning of the image into words. However, by using a small bit of code to insert alternative text, the programmer can provide information that will not change what the sighted user sees but will help the blind user to navigate and get information from the site.

The same is true for access keys for mobility-impaired users who do not use a mouse, deaf users who cannot receive aural information such as a song or a bit of dialogue, and color blind users who cannot respond to color-coded signals. There are “electronic curb-cuts” to address all of these impairments, but only if the programmer is aware of them and how to use them effectively. AIR delivers this knowledge to the community in a series of training workshops that also serve to engage tech sector volunteers in the vitality of the Austin community.

Please take a moment to Learn More About AIR (http://www.knowbility.org/air-austin/)


If you have any questions please feel free to contact me via email: [email protected]

Teenya Franklin
Director of Community Programs
Knowbility,Inc.
512-791-2046
www.knowbility.org