WebAIM Timeline
1999
WebAIM is founded when Dr. Cyndi Rowland secures grant funding to develop a project to increase awareness around web accessibility in higher education. WCAG 1.0 is released this same year.
1999
WebAIM.org is launched. Our online articles, publications, and resources now get millions of visitors each year. Check out an early archive of the WebAIM web site—it's Bobby approved!
1999
The WebAIM email discussion list is launched. Nearly 50,000 messages have since been posted to the list.
2000
WebAIM offers its first online web accessibility course.
2001
WebAIM begins hosting the WAVE online accessibility testing tool. Approximately 100 million pages have been tested using this online tool.
2002
WebAIM hosts its first online training event and publishes a CD containing over 500 pages of training materials.
2004
With increased demand for web accessibility expertise, WebAIM begins offering web accessibility evaluation and client training services. WebAIM has trained over 100,000 web professionals.
2006
WebAIM contributes to the development of WCAG 2 and is invited to join the federal committee charged with making updates to the Section 508 standards.
2008
WebAIM launches its first Screen Reader User Survey. Nine more surveys were later conducted collecting 14,916 responses from screen reader users.
2008
The WAVE Firefox browser extension is launched providing users with a free, powerful in-browser testing tool. WCAG 2.0 is released.
2012
The GOALS project begins. This grant-funded project partnered with WebAIM to help institutions of higher education develop a system-wide approach to web accessibility.
2015
The WAVE Chrome browser extension is launched. There are currently over 600,000 active WAVE extension users.
2015
The WAVE API and WAVE Stand-alone API are released. These powerful tools allow automated and remote accessibility analysis of web pages using the WAVE processing engine.
2017
WebAIM begins collaborating with Pope Tech on the integration of WAVE into their enterprise-level accessibility testing platform. The WAVE AIM service is launched to provide low-cost accessibility test results.
2018
WebAIM begins offering its Document Accessibility online course. Nearly 11,000 people have since enrolled in the course.
2019
The first WebAIM Million is released. This annual analysis of the top 1,000,000 home pages provides insights into the state and progress of web accessibility.
2020
StrategicA11y - WebAIM's Strategic Accessibility workshops and consultation services begin to help organizations tackle the organizational challenges of digital accessibility.
2023
WebAIM director Cyndi Rowland retires after 24 years leading WebAIM and 35 years in the disability field.
2024
WebAIM celebrates 25 years of expanding the potential of the web for people with disabilities by empowering individuals and organizations to create accessible content.