Knowbility

Last updated
Knowbility
Founded1999
Type Non-governmental organization
Focus accessibility, disabilities, assistive technology, human rights
Location
Area served
Worldwide
Method training, activism, research, innovation
Key people
 Sharron Rush, Co-Founder and Executive Director
Budget
$
Website www.knowbility.org

Knowbility is an American non-governmental organization based in Austin, Texas, working to support the independence and empowerment of people with disabilities by promoting the use and improving the availability of accessible information technology. Its mission is to create an inclusive digital world for people of all abilities. Knowbility's signature program is the Accessibility Internet Rally, a web-building competition that brings together volunteer web designers to create accessible websites for nonprofit organizations and artists that serve communities all over the world.

Contents

History

Knowbility grew from a community collaboration in 1998 among advocates in Austin, Texas that represented a wide array of businesses, government agencies, and nonprofit organizations dedicated to improving digital accessibility awareness and skills. As Austin became a tech hub, civic leaders set out to create a program to engage website designers and information technology developers in disability issues. The AIR coalition wanted an innovative way to teach the tech sector how to create web sites that are accessible to people with sight impairments, hearing impairments, or other disabilities. That same year, the US Congress enacted Section 508, an amendment to the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, requiring federal agencies to make their electronic and information technology accessible to people with disabilities.

The group in Austin launched the Accessibility Internet Rally, a program produced by the Central Texas chapter of the National Easter Seals Society, the Metropolitan Austin Interactive Network (MAIN), and Goodwill Industries of Austin, with assistance from the virtual volunteering Project. It was held in September 1998 at the Infotec Training Center in Austin, Texas. The first AIR program was created in the style of MAIN's "web-raisings", where volunteers came together in one facility using multiple computers with Internet access and built web sites for nonprofit organizations in one day. The AIR program was different in that it was a competition, with web sites judged based on both their visual appeal, usefulness and accessibility. Each competing team was composed of one or two representatives of an Austin area nonprofit and four to six volunteer web developers. Altogether, more than 120 people were part of competing teams, representing 40 different not-for-profit, public sector and technology companies. [1]

The program proved so successful that organizers founded Knowbility as a nonprofit that would not only make AIR an annual event in Austin, but would also create other programs and training for a national audience to promote digital accessibility in information technology.

National profile

In 1999, in addition to hosting another AIR-Austin, Knowbility staff and volunteers developed an Accessible Web Page Design Curriculum that was freely distributed on its web site. [2] By 2000, Knowbility had achieved a national profile: Knowbility was mentioned on an episode of The Oprah Winfrey Show in 2000 dealing with technology issues. On September 21, 2000, the White House issued a press release to highlight programs across the country helping to bridge the digital divide for people with disabilities; the Rocky Mountain AIR program was mentioned by President Bill Clinton as a noteworthy initiative. AIR was one of three programs selected for recognition by the Drucker Foundation in October 2000. That same year, Knowbility received an award for Notable Achievement in the public service category of the Texas Interactive Media Awards. Also in 2000, Knowbility Board Chair Steve Guengerich and intern Josh Blakeley were featured guests of a panel discussion in Washington DC. at a National Labor Summit, where AIR activities were highlighted as a "best practice" in contributing to the employment of people with disabilities. [3]

Knowbility was invited to ensure accessibility of the "ATSTAR" initiative. ATSTAR is an acronym that stands for "Assistive Technology – Strategies, Tools, Accommodations, and Resources." It is a series of computer based teacher training modules to help teachers, administrators and parents understand the legal requirements and the best practices for assessing student need for assistive technology and implementing it in the classroom. The Texas Education Agency, through their Technology Integration in Education (TIE) grant, awarded a grant to the Austin Independent School District (AISD) to fund the development of ATSTAR. Also collaborating on the initiative was Austin Community College, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin Harvard School, Sylvan Learning Center, Far South Community Schools, and Region XIII Education Service Center. Knowbility managed the accessibility of the multi-media interface. The project produced a replicable CD and web-based assistive technology training model designed to prepare instructional staff at the campus level to conduct assessments, collect data, and integrate assistive technology into the instructional setting. As the project was completed, Knowbility assumed management of the program and ATSTAR is now being used by the Georgia Project for Assistive Technology and many other educators and teachers in training. ATSTAR won recognition for outstanding community collaboration from the Texas State Legislature in May 2002. [4]

In April 2001, the San Francisco Women on the Web (SF WoW) recognized Knowbility Executive Director Sharron Rush as one of their Top 25 Women of the Web for her work to raise awareness of the need and the societal benefits of greater Internet accessibility. [5] The next year, Rush received the Dewey Winburne Community Service Award at the SXSW Interactive Media Conference, largely because of her work with Knowbility. [6]

In 2002, Knowbility founder and executive director Sharron Rush, along with long-time Knowbility volunteer and trainer John M. Slatin, finished the book Maximum Accessibility: Making Your Web Site More Usable for Everyone, published by Addison-Wesley. In 2003, Knowbility received the TEC Champion Award for Outstanding Technology Leadership from the Washington DC-based Education Technology Think Tank and CTCNet.

Sharron Rush has served since 2007 as an invited expert to the Education and Outreach Working Group (EOWG) of the Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI) of the W3C. Since May 2009, she also serves as liaison from WAI to the e-Government Interest Group as it develops standards and best practices for using the Web to improve government accountability and transparency.

Programs

AIR continues annually in Austin since 2002 in conjunction with SXSW. An AIR event is also hosted at St. Edward's University, and AIR events have been conducted in Atlanta, Dallas, Denver, Houston, San Antonio and San Francisco. Volunteer teams have included employees of various corporations and businesses, including IBM, IntelliQuest, and Dell, and government agencies, such as Texas Parks and Wildlife, the Texas State Library & Archives and the City of Austin, as well as individual volunteers forming teams independently. [7]

The ATSTAR program continues to train schools and community technology projects in techniques to include students with disabilities in learning activities related to computer technology.

Knowbility provides a variety of programs featuring basic and advanced training in accessible web design techniques, and is often consulted by companies and government agencies seeking to comply with state, federal, and global mandates for accessibility. Knowbility also produces three-day accessibility training institutes in Texas and California. Since 2003, Knowbility has produced The John Slatin Access U, in partnership with St. Edward's University in Austin each May. In 2005, the Pacific DBTAC, the regional Disability Business Technical Assistance Center, invited Knowbility to replicate this training on the West Coast. The first California Web Accessibility Conference (CalWAC) was produced that year and, the following year, the Chancellor's Office of the California State University System offered to host CalWAC; the training institute was held at CSU Long Beach in 2006 through 2009.

Knowbility was an original and ardent promoter of Bobby, a free online tool provided by the Centre for Applied Special Technology (CAST) used to validate websites for WAI and Section 508 compliance. [8]

Structure

Knowbility has one main office in Austin, Texas. As of August 2009, there are 17 full-time paid staff members. The number of part-time paid staff members, consultants and volunteers varies from month-to-month, depending on what activities Knowbility is undertaking at that time. Knowbility is governed by a board of directors, with most of its members based in Austin, Texas.

In the news

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Section 508 Amendment to the Rehabilitation Act of 1973</span>

In 1998, the U.S. Congress amended the Rehabilitation Act to require federal agencies to make their electronic and information technology accessible to people with disabilities. Section 508 was enacted to eliminate barriers in information technology, to make available new opportunities for people with disabilities and to encourage the development of technologies that will help achieve these goals. The law applies to all federal agencies when they develop, procure, maintain, or use electronic and information technology. Under Section 508, agencies must give employees with disabilities and members of the public access to information that is comparable to the access available to others.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Accessibility</span> Modes of usability for people with disabilities

Accessibility is the design of products, devices, services, vehicles, or environments so as to be usable by people with disabilities. The concept of accessible design and practice of accessible development ensures both "direct access" and "indirect access" meaning compatibility with a person's assistive technology.

Web accessibility, or eAccessibility, is the inclusive practice of ensuring there are no barriers that prevent interaction with, or access to, websites on the World Wide Web by people with physical disabilities, situational disabilities, and socio-economic restrictions on bandwidth and speed. When sites are correctly designed, developed and edited, more users have equal access to information and functionality.

Nonprofit technology is the deliberative use of technology by nonprofit organizations to maximize potential in numerous areas, primarily in supporting the organization mission and meeting reporting requirements to funders and regulators.

The original Bobby was a free online tool, written by Josh Krieger and provided by the Centre for Applied Special Technology (CAST), used to validate websites for WAI and Section 508 compliance. Launched in 1995, it became well known for the usage of the Bobby Approved icon that website authors could use to indicate they have successfully passed the Bobby online test. Development was coordinated by Chuck Hitchcock, CAST's Chief Officer of Policy and Technology, and further developed by David Clark and Michael Cooper.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Manila Christian Computer Institute for the Deaf</span> Christian Institute for the Deaf

Manila Christian Computer Institute for the Deaf (MCCID) is a non-sectarian, post-secondary, Christian foundation school for the deaf in the Philippines authorized by the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) to offer non-degree computer and other technical training programs.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Debra Ruh</span> American businesswoman (born 1958)

Debra Ruh is an American business woman and advocate for the rights of persons with disabilities. She founded TecAccess, which provides software and services for information technology accessibility for people with disabilities and for Section 508 compliance.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Web Content Accessibility Guidelines</span> Web accessibility guidelines

The Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) are part of a series of web accessibility guidelines published by the Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI) of the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C), the main international standards organization for the Internet. They are a set of recommendations for making Web content more accessible, primarily for people with disabilities—but also for all user agents, including highly limited devices, such as mobile phones. WCAG 2.0, were published in December 2008 and became an ISO standard, ISO/IEC 40500:2012 in October 2012. WCAG 2.2 became a W3C Recommendation on 5 October 2023.

Within the field of human–computer interaction, accessibility of video games is considered a sub-field of computer accessibility, which studies how software and computers can be made accessible to users with various types of impairments. It can also include tabletop RPGs, board games, and related products.

The San Francisco Digital Inclusion Strategy (SFDIS) is a policy initiative in San Francisco, CA. It is part of TechConnect, which is an initiative aimed at achieving Mayor Gavin Newsom's campaign promise to provide all San Franciscans with free wireless internet access.

Virtual volunteering refers to volunteer activities completed, in whole or in part, using the Internet and a home, school buildings, telecenter, or work computer or other Internet-connected device, such as a smartphone or a tablet. Virtual volunteering is also known as online volunteering, remote volunteering or e-volunteering. Contributing to free and open source software projects or editing Wikipedia are examples of virtual volunteering.

Ace Centre, previously ACE Centre is a non-profit organization in England that supports people with communications difficulties.

Ascend: A Humanitarian Alliance is a registered 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization which focuses on international economic and health care development in Africa and South America. Headquarters are located in Salt Lake City, Utah, United States, with full-time offices in Ethiopia, Peru, Bolivia and Ecuador and affiliates in DR Congo, Cape Verde, Ghana, Mozambique, and Sudan. Ascend Alliance operates under the governance of a volunteer board of directors which is composed of business professionals, humanitarians and community leaders. A local group of donors, partners, volunteers, interns, and staff members contribute their time, resources and skills to further the organization's goals. Its leadership is affiliated with the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Design for All in the context of information and communications technology (ICT) is the conscious and systematic effort to proactively apply principles, methods and tools to promote universal design in computer-related technologies, including Internet-based technologies, thus avoiding the need for a posteriori adaptations, or specialised design.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Lighthouse of Houston</span>

The Lighthouse of Houston is a private, non-profit education and service center dedicated to assisting blind and visually impaired people in the Houston, Texas metropolitan area to live independently. The Lighthouse serves approximately 9,000 people each year and is a member agency of the United Way of Greater Houston.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Digital Writing and Research Lab</span> American research lab

The Digital Writing and Research Lab (DWRL) is a research lab at The University of Texas at Austin, United States, dedicated to the identification and promotion of twenty-first-century literacies. These literacies range from navigating online newsfeeds and participating in social networking sites to composing multimedia texts that require producing, sampling, and/or remixing media content.

Technology For All is a nonprofit organization based in Houston, Texas. Developed in 1997 by local entrepreneurs, Technology For All services community-based organizations with computer technology, training, and other digital incentives “to empower under-resourced communities through the tools of technology.” Through the National Telecommunications and Information Administration's Broadband Technology Opportunities Program grant, Technology For All (TFA) currently hosts 19 public computer centers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The DO-IT Center</span> People with disabilities in postsecondary education and careers

The DO-IT Center is based at the University of Washington (UW) in Seattle, Washington. Founded in 1992, DO-IT’s mission is to increase the successful participation of people with disabilities in postsecondary education and careers, in STEM fields and careers, and in computing fields and careers throughout the U.S. It directs the national AccessSTEM program, and co-directs the national AccessComputing Alliance focused on engaging people with disabilities in computing fields.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jutta Treviranus</span> Canadian academic

Jutta Treviranus is a full Professor at the Ontario College of Art and Design University (OCADU) in Toronto, Canada. She is the director and founder of the Inclusive Design Research Centre (IDRC) and the Inclusive Design Institute (IDI).

WebAIM is a non-profit organization based at Utah State University in Logan, Utah. WebAIM has provided web accessibility solutions since 1999. WebAIM's mission is to expand the potential of the web for people with disabilities by providing the knowledge, technical skills, tools, organizational leadership strategies, and vision that empower organizations to make their own content accessible to people with disabilities.

References

  1. ↑ "Original AIR Austin site". Archived from the original on January 28, 1999. Retrieved August 30, 2009.
  2. ↑ "Original Accessible Web Page Design Curriculum". Archived from the original on August 19, 2000. Retrieved August 30, 2009.
  3. ↑ "archived page of Knowbility recognitions". Archived from the original on December 4, 2000. Retrieved August 30, 2009.
  4. ↑ "archived ATSTAR web site". Archived from the original on February 8, 2005. Retrieved August 30, 2009.
  5. ↑ "archived SFWOW web site". Archived from the original on August 15, 2001. Retrieved August 30, 2009.
  6. ↑ "SXSW 2002 Dewey Winburne Community Service Award web site". Archived from the original on December 10, 2006. Retrieved August 30, 2009.
  7. ↑ "winners of AIR events" . Retrieved August 30, 2009.
  8. ↑ "archived AIR Austin web site". Archived from the original on January 29, 1999. Retrieved August 30, 2009.

Further reading

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.