[Nfbf-l] CAPTCHA for the Blind by Google

[Alan Dicey]

Dear Friends,
Sharing this message sent to me by a friend.
With Best Regards,
God Bless,
Alan
Plantation, Florida

Here is a post which came to the ACB leadership list. You never know when an 
opportunity to advocate presents itself.
Hello, all,
Last week on my way to Oregon I met a gentleman who works for Google and 
expressed interest in our capcha difficulties. he subsequently sent me the 
below email, here is Chris's message.
Best, Sheila

***

Sheila,
It was a real pleasure meeting you yesterday on our flight to Las Vegas.  I 
also enjoyed the company of your dog, Gretchie.
 Thanks for the awesome feedback regarding the audio captcha's.  I wanted to 
give you a quick update.  I sent an email to the Google team that handles 
this and I will have you know that they are taking this seriously.  Within 
30 mins of my email, I have received 5 different responses.  So far, they 
are considering new ideas to make this a better experience for the blind. 
For example, they are considering using sounds like a animal sound or a bell 
and have the blind identify types of sounds instead.  Or use a series of 
beeps and count them.   Also, they are looking into having a phone call for 
security purposes, etc.  I am not for sure on the final decision other than 
they are making the adjustments.  Can't promise when, but its in the works.
Either way, I wanted you to know that action has been taken.  Also, I have 
to be honest it gave me goose bumps to know I work for a company that takes 
every customer concern seriously and that you & I may have just changed how 
the blind interact with Google products.
 You have inspired me as well.  Glad I got to know you.

Hope you enjoy your trip to Oregon.
 Warmest regards,
Chris Smith
Technical Program Manager-MDU   (650) 762-6499  | chrissm at google.com