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The first Accessible Internet Rally in 1998 was a simple competition; volunteers came together and created accessible websites for non-profits, in a single day.

Today, OpenAIR is not just about creating accessible websites. It is about imparting advanced accessibility skills and knowledge to web designers. It is about propagating Knowbility’s mission to organizations that are making a difference in the world. It is about finding the right people, creating a challenging atmosphere for them to learn and enhance their abilities and ultimately, making the web an accessible place. And in taking OpenAIR from being a one-day competition to a year round learning experience, many people have worked tirelessly behind the scenes over the years.

This year, OpenAIR had some of the best minds in accessibility mentor the teams - giving them guidance and training in web accessibility. Everyone at Knowbility is grateful to all mentors, who worked in the shadows during the whole competition and for the encouragement that they gave to their teams during the competition which motivated them to incorporate design and testing techniques that might have seemed unfamiliar. Some of those activities directly contributed to team awareness on the vast spectrum of user needs, and revealed to them how much of a difference their efforts made in creating more accessible digital content.

The mentors for this year were:

Jared W. Smith (@jared_w_smith) for Web-Able
Leonie Watson (@leoniewatson) for AcsaGen
Henny Swan (@iheni) for Wild West
Joseph Karr O’Connor (@accessiblejoe) for AxIs
Dale Cruse (@dalecruse) for WFM Team One
Lisa Herrod (@lisaherrod) for Down Under
Shawn Lauriat (@slauriat) for We Are 99%
Wendy Chisholm (@wendyabc) for WFM Airlines
George Luc (@georgeluc) for Accessibility Warriors
Rob Carr (@rgcarrjr) for The Beginners
Dylan Barrell (@dylanbarrell) for Barrier Breakers
Paul J. Adam (@pauljadam) for Sahyog
George Luc (@georgeluc) for First Timers

Thank you mentors, for taking out the time to help us help improve web accessibility! OpenAIR wouldn’t be what it is today without your efforts!