Don’t lock us out!
This post is borne of frustration. Once again I have encountered a barrier that made it very difficult for me to use a website for its intended purpose. I wanted to post a comment on a site, but was stymied by an indecipherable CAPTCHA image.
CAPTCHA is an acronym for “Completely Automated Public Turing test to tell Computers and Humans Apart.”
But these ubiquitous internet puzzles might be more appropriately labeled, CRADDUP — Completely Ridiculous Application to Deter Dyslexic Users from Participating. Because dyslexics are definitely “human”, but I doubt that it is possible to invent a more effective and insulting barrier to the dyslexic web user than the so-called “tell Humans Apart” CAPTCHA tests used on so many sites.
The CRADDUP that caused me grief looked kind of like this:
I probably should note at this point that even though I run a bunch of dyslexia websites and have written a couple of books on dyslexia, and am the parent of a dyslexic son, I do not consider myself to be dyslexic. I am, however, well past the age of 55, and I cannot for the life of me decipher the third image in the graphic, or figure out whether the fourth image is an O or a Q or an oversized lower case a, nor whether the last distorted letter in the series is meant to be an O or a D.
Of course, when I failed the first time around I was offered a second chance, something like this. I don’t even want to venture a guess on the mysterious letter following the second lower-case e in this series. Of course, the web site provides the user with the opportunity to refresh the image, for something similarly obtuse.
This was on a website maintained by the American Psychiatric Association. Perhaps they think they can generate more business for their members by driving website users crazy.
Since I do run web sites geared to dyslexia, I supposed I could embrace an alternative more geared to dyslexic talents. For example, I have the option of installing a plug-in for this blog called Captcha Garb. This is a little interactive jigsaw puzzle – you just drag the pieces around to make a picture:
This seemed pretty easy. The vision-impaired users wouldn’t get it, but probably quite a few non-dyslexic readers would make it past the test, so it wouldn’t make a very good CATFOR (Completely Absurd Test to Frustrate Ordinary Readers).
Perhaps a test like this would be a more efficient way of making sure that only dyslexic users with strong visual-spatial skills could gain entry:
The problem, of course, is that these barriers are simply unnecessary. They are created to deter internet spammers, who use automated software bots to post advertisements, links to malicious software, or to attempt to launch denial of service attacks on websites.
But other, better alternatives are readily available.
This blog, like other blogs that I maintain, uses Akismet, a subscription service to identify and block spam posts. I also have set the system to moderate comments posted by first-time users. There are other tools that web designers can use to trap or trick the spam-bots, without creating barriers for their human users.
In my world the difference between a human and a computer is simple: The computer is a machine. The human deserves to be treated with respect.
You should also check out Are You a Human (www.areyouahuman.com). We use a quick game, called a PlayThru, instead of a CAPTCHA. For example, drag the food into the fridge. Its much better for all humans.
Reid, thank you for sharing. That looks like a good option for many, and I thought the games were intuitive and fun to play.
However, please keep in mind that your alternative would still be a problem for individuals with other disabilities, including visual impairments and mobility issues. I saw that you had an alternative, apparently designed for people who can’t play the game but have super-acute hearing ability and are excellent typists and spellers. (I couldn’t do the auditory test — it also gave me a headache to listen to the voices).
I’d note that there are people in this world who have BOTH mobility or vision issues AND hearing difficulties, especially when it comes to distinguishing spoken words from background noises.
This is a very common problem for people to experience as we age: our hearing deteriorates, our vision gets worse, our reflexes slow down, and it can be a lot harder for us to move our hands. (I’m not at the point of “disability” yet myself, but I’m old enough to be aware of the deterioration on all fronts). Also, the idea of the little game might not be as intuitive for those of us who didn’t grow up in the age of videogames.
I have many relatives in their 80’s and 90’s who are very active on the internet — so I do think that this is a significant population.
Again, I appreciate that you have taken the time to develop a much more user-friendly alternative. But I still think there should be some sort of way around it — for example, at least allow a user to choose to skip or bypass the test an then perhaps have their submission go to a moderation queue rather than direct posting or delivery, or to create a confirmed user account that allows them to skip the test.
I do realize that it also depends on the nature of the web site. I would think that your alternative would be wonderful for gaming sites, since those would cater to people who would probably find a PlayThru to be fun and ridiculously easy.
On the other hand, a web site with medical or health related information probably needs to take particular care to remain fully accessible to individuals with a variety of limitations.
According to catcha, I’m not human, at least all the time.
Because text is always distorted for me, capcha additional distortion makes a tough task harder.
What really frosts my cookies is when I make too many mistakes (4) and get bounced off the site. Sometimes I have to call the support number to convince a tech to remove the lock. It would be a good idea to have an alternative.I do not understand the audio version either.
I like your drag n drop
Also, you might try choose the word that describes the image shown
There are better alternatives for sure. From what I understand with captcha, the user (human) is actually verifying predictions a computer has already made. The text comes from old photos which need cataloguing and the text in them verified. So basically what I am saying is that until we are doing a job which serves someone else, they will not change it. The game while fun and so much better for people with disabilities, is not executing a secondary task, which I fear is the only way it could change. I don’t like that this is the case, but from what I understand it is the reality. As a dyslexic I have been locked out of so many websites because of this. But also my girlfriend who is not, struggles with them too sometimes. Though after this mornings 25 minute melt down on tumblr, she did fix it for me in 2 seconds….