UTSA AIR team: (from left) Tom Palmer, Kris Rodriguez, David Deering,
Maria Corral, Craig Evans and Joseph McBride

UTSA team places third in Austin Web competition

(Dec. 3, 2004)--A six-member team representing UTSA received third-place honors for the About UTSA Web site at the seventh annual Accessibility Internet Rally (AIR) held recently in Austin. The site, created by members of the UTSA Office of University Communications, features UTSA statistics, photos, graphics and videos of the university.

Project team members are Craig Evans, Joseph McBride, Tom Palmer, Maria Corral, Patti McDaniel, David Deering and Kris Rodriguez.

The competition it to raise awareness and rally communities around the idea of information technology inclusion and is replicated in cities throughout the country. AIR Austin challenged Web professionals to learn about accessibility through a series of training and networking activities including a Web design competition featuring 26 teams representing higher education and information technology.

"The judges were impressed with the way that the site enabled user choice at the convenience of site visitors who were browsing using their personal digital assistants," said Sharron Rush, AIR organizer. "The UTSA team also did a great job employing structural HTML code.

The competition allows Web developers to learn how and why to create accessible online applications and apply those skills when creating sites that are reviewed by national accessibility experts.

"Our success in Austin is bringing us one step closer to hosting an AIR satellite competition in San Antonio," said Joseph McBride, UTSA Web developer. "Next year we hope to have an event here."

It is the second consecutive year that a UTSA Web team placed in the top three at the Austin contest. Last year, the team placed second for small Web site design.

--Kris Rodriguez