IS CAPTCHA DOOMED?

By Bud Wiser

Captcha is a test to determine if the user is human or not. By introducing a image with distorted text and or numbers, the user is required to type what the image shows. The purpose is to stop automated bot programs from abusing systems and services like auto posting on your blogger blogs, or making comments on blogs, or joining a free email account.

The problem is that the creators of this type of filter has not taken in consideration the implications it has to the hearing and seeing impaired people, and it goes against the very core of Section 508 which address this concern. Even the audible versions of captcha fail the hearing impaired! Such filters block free access to services for the hearing and visually impaired people. And it seems no one is giving that much thought, as it appears to be more important fighting spam.

To make matters worse, Captcha filters are getting harder to fight the ever growing bot attacks! Many captcha filters are making it too difficult for even humans with good vision and hearing! And even with tougher filters new captcha attacks continue like the new “Free Porn Attack” (FPA). The FPA scrapes the captcha to a free porn page and asks the visitors there to complete the test to view free porn. The results are then transferred back to the original page and access is granted for what ever service was in question. If the FPA-Bot trick sounds far fetched, think again, it is being used with success. Others are braging about other ways to beat captcha. For some it’s just the sport of the challenge, a game!

What ever your position is concerning the captcha debate, you can not over look the effect it is having on the heaing and visually impaired! They have rights to, but their rights are being over looked on this issue! Currently no laws are being broke with captcha, as Section 508 only requires Government agencies to comply, but I wonder how long it will take before the private sector must also comply. There are many considerations surrounding the whole captcha thing that have even some supporters of captcha agreeing that it’s on borrowed time.

What are your views on captcha?

Related Technorati posts: Article 508, captcha, Free Porn Attack

Posted by Administrator on Monday, December 19th, 2005 at 2:08 pm.