ThinkQuest NYC 2008 - Specical Awards
The Accessibility Award

Background: This award is designed to honor the team that creates the best website for visually impaired individuals.

The number of visually impaired individuals is growing at unprecedented rates. As the baby boomer generation ages, people are living longer and conditions that cause vision loss, such as diabetes are affecting even the very young.

The statistics are compelling: There are 161 million people worldwide who are visually impaired—37 million are blind and 124 million have low vision. In the US alone, 16.5 million people are 45 or older self report some kind of vision impairment, even when wearing glasses or contacts.

Our award is to honor the website that best serves visually impaired web users.

Eligibility: Team eligibility is the same as the ThinkQuest New York City Internet Challenge, with participation limited to teams in Division 3. (grades 9-12).

Judging: Judging will follow the rubric of the ThinkQuest New York City Internet Challenge and supplementary requirements for this special award. Judging will be done in partnership with Lighthouse International.

Project Description: Students are encouraged to use the power of technology to help meet needs of people who are visually impaired—from low vision to blindness. Teams may consider any topic. Accessible websites are characterized by such elements as:

• clear text that can be resized
• being navigable without using a mouse
• site maps

Prizes: Each member of the winning team will receive a new laptop computer. The coach or coaches will receive Best Buy gift certificates totaling $1,000. the winning school will receive a Best Buy gift certificate for $1000.

Other considerations: Only one TQNY team will receive the Accessibility Award. A team that receives the Accessibility Award is not eligible to win a ThinkQuest New York City first place award within its judging division although it may be considered for both.

Click here for the complete list of TQNYC’s Competition Rules.