[nfb-talk] Captcha, (I've had enough!)

[John Heim]

Well, the whole point of a captcha is that is supposed to be something a 
computer cannot recognize. If a computer recognizes it, then by definition, 
it is not a captcha.

Yes, I think it would be a very good idea for the NFB to work toward getting 
web designers to enable different authorization protocols. For example, a 
site could accept a digital certificate as authorization for a download. The 
web site could automatically ask the browser for a certificate and if it has 
one, the download could begin. This would all be transparent to the user 
once they installed a certificate on their PC.

And it doesn't have to cost the end user a penny. There is at least one 
place to get free digital certificates. Its called cacert.org (see 
www.cacert.org). To get an account, you have to be "assured" by 2 other 
members or you have to have 2 notarized statements verifying your identity.

If more places used this kind of authorization, we could create accounts for 
people at NFB conventions and show them how to install their certificates.

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Peter Donahue" <pdonahue2 at satx.rr.com>
To: "NFB Talk Mailing List" <nfb-talk at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Wednesday, April 13, 2011 11:04 AM
Subject: Re: [nfb-talk] Captcha, (I've had enough!)


> Hello everyone,
>
>    Audio captchas are of no use to the deaf-blind . For God sakes if we 
> can
> develop the technology that allowed us to put a blind guy behind the wheel
> of an automobile and drive it independently we should be able to find a 
> way
> to allow captchas to be recognized by screen readers while protecting Web
> sites and such from the bad guys. The belief that the technology to do 
> this
> is not there doesn't wash with me.
>
> Peter Donahue
>
>
> ----- Original Message ----- 
> From: "Joshua Lester" <jlester8462 at students.pccua.edu>
> To: "NFB Talk Mailing List" <nfb-talk at nfbnet.org>
> Sent: Wednesday, April 13, 2011 8:38 AM
> Subject: Re: [nfb-talk] Captcha, (I've had enough!)
>
>
> John, what's really bad, is if there are multiple blind people in a
> church denomination, and their site's contact form, or church locater,
> are inaccessible.
> My organization's Website is like that.
> They have an audio file that's supposed to play the captcha, but it won't
> play.
> I'll post the Website here.
> www.upci.org
> I've contacted their IT department, but they have done nothing about this.
> Blessings, Joshua
>
> On 4/13/11, John Heim <john at johnheim.net> wrote:
>> A few months ago, the Department of Justice said that the ADA applies to
>> web
>> sites. This is a big deal. Since the Department of Justice is responsible
>> for enforcing laws like the ADA, if the Department of Justice says the 
>> ADA
>> applies to web sites, then it does.  A business would have to go to court
>> to
>> show that the DOJ overstepped its bounds in making that determination. 
>> But
>> the burden of proof would be on them. Well, anyway, the point is that
>> CAPTCHAs are now illegal.
>>
>> IMO, this is one of the toughest issues we face. My own boss came to me
>> yesterday wanting to put a captcha on our web site. I had to talk really
>> long to get her to not do it. It was a really tough sell and I only got
>> her
>> to agree on a provisional basis. If an alternate solution I came up with
>> doesn't work, she will probably insist on using the captcha. Her point is
>> that the page we want to protect simply isn't visited very often by blind
>> people. Its not worth the trouble to make it accessible.
>>
>> I've pointed out that its a matter of principle. I've even mentioned what
>> a
>> bitter thing it would be for me to install captcha software. I've pointed
>> out our legal responsibilities. All this makes little to no difference.
>> All
>> that really matters is that captchas work. Honestly, I was sitting there
>> thinking of trying to write software to break captchas and sending it to
>> every spammer I can find.
>>
>> By the way, my boss is not a bad person by any means. She is very open
>> minded. I just think that if you're not blind, you don't see what the
>> problem is.
>>
>> ----- Original Message -----
>> From: "Joshua Lester" <jlester8462 at students.pccua.edu>
>> To: <nfb-talk at nfbnet.org>
>> Sent: Tuesday, April 12, 2011 10:25 PM
>> Subject: [nfb-talk] Captcha, (I've had enough!)
>>
>>
>>> Hi, it's Joshua Lester.
>>> I've posted this on the Faith Talk list, and the Music list, but I'm
>>> not having any success.
>>> I've just thought of a question.
>>> I'd like everyone's feedback.
>>> How can we better influence the Webmasters of their sites, to make
>>> more accessible contact forms?
>>> How can they make them, where they can differentiate, between Jaws, and 
>>> a
>>> Robot?
>>> I want them to make the captcha, where Jaws can catch it, and read it to
>>> us.
>>> What can we do?
>>> Thanks for your ideas.
>>> This is for all Websites.
>>> Blessings, Joshua
>>>
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>>
>>
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>
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