> Facebook overcomes antisocial networking CAPTCHAs
- 3 Jul 07, 04:37 PM
Good news for everyone who is frustrated by social network websites that block participation with verification graphics known as CAPTCHAs. Facebook, one of the biggest of such websites, are providing workarounds for visually impaired members.
If you have read recent Access 2.0 interviews with Damon Rose, Paul McKee and others, then you have probably noticed that an increasingly common accessibility issue on the web is the use of CAPTCHAs. These are images of text and numbers, usually set on a patterned background. The purpose of CAPTCHAs is to separate human visitors from automated spam programs. An unintended consequence of the CAPTCHA is that it is also invisible to screen reader software used by visually impaired people to access the web.
Facebook is one of the most popular social networking websites, with over 28 million registered users worldwide. You can use it to catch up with old school friends and former work colleagues, or make new ones by joining various groups and networks, based on location, common interests, and so on. If you have ever wanted to have a virtual food fight online, then Facebook is the place to go. Meeting people and getting involved couldn’t be easier – at least in principle.
Facebook makes extensive use of CAPTCHAs. One needs to be completed in order to register, but even within the website, there are a number of features that cannot be used without completing a CAPTCHA. These include a lot of the things that you want to do to get involved, like emailing other members, or adding friends.
With a lot of websites, that might be the end of the story. But fair play to Facebook, they are attempting to help users to bypass CAPTCHAs.
Facebook have worked out that, unlike spam programs, real people tend to have mobile phones. US and Canadian members can confirm their mobile phone number with Facebook, and thus, that you are indeed a real person, therefore they can remove CAPTCHA’s from your account. There is no need to verify you are a fully rounded human being every time you want to do something interesting. Hopefully, this feature will be extended to everyone else in the world as well.
Until then, you can just email Facebook, and they will sort it out for you. Writing on the Access-UK list, Vanja says that, “I'm very impressed with Facebook! I emailed them telling them that I have difficulties signing up because I'm blind and asked if they could help. Less than 5 hours after my email they set up my account for me! I wish all website companies were so responsive.”
So hats off to Facebook. We’ve looked at a lot of websites on Access 2.0 where the administrators have been far less enthusiastic about accessibility issues and it makes a refreshing change to report some good news. It also shows that some issues can indeed have solutions. Facebook’s answer to CAPTCHAs is one that other website owners could learn from.
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Facebook continues to fail to incorporate an audio CAPTCHA, which would represent the current state-of-the-art in CAPTCHA accessibility for blindpeople. Waiting 5 hours for access to something instantly available to the sighted just is far from acceptable. Press for audio CAPTCHAs!
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My company builds websites and I came across a piece of software called reCaptcha a while back that makes this so easy. I wrote about it on my blog here. https://blog.markhopwood.com/2007/05/30/recaptcha-one-of-those-things-that-makes-working-with-geeks-fun/
Facebook should consider it. It's easy to set up!
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Unless you are deliberately deluding people and are in cahoots with the CIA - you need to view this.
https://www.albinoblacksheep.com/flash/facebook
The CIA has massive media resources including many magazines and sub[front] organizations.
If you know anything about the CIA then you do not want to have anything to do with anything remotely connected with them.
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