Verification graphics?
Do you have one of these new fangled Verification Graphics in the comments section of your blog? I think it is meant to stop spam. Well it also stops visually impaired people leaving comments too!
Blind people can't read graphics with their screenreaders at all ... and partially sighted people mostly find it too difficult to decode what the graphic says. So there's no way that visually impaired people can tap the word into the edit field because we can't read it!
I urge you, if you have this anti-spam feature on your site ... dump it immediately!
17 comments:
It's good for confusing southpaw too, usually takes me 3 or 4 goes to get the letters in the right order. Sometimes I just give up.
Hmm...If you have verification graphics next time I call by here, I'll know not to come back! Hahahaha.
I'm usually all right with verification graphics, I have had trouble in the past with them but am thinking of taking mine off my blog as you would find them difficult and you are free to visit and make comments!
Katie ... I wanted to tell you that I could do the Ted Rogers 3-2-1 thing but I couldn't leave my message! ;)
Ha! Ha! You win the prize of doing the hardest gesture from 3-2-1! Well done Damon!
I'll help you to reach my blog Damon mate by taking off my verification graphic, shall I?
Hope you are okay!
Am going to a great seminar next week at Scope for the transition Info network. Will think of you being there too.
Have just this minute taken word verification off of my blog for you and others who find it difficult, Feel free to wander back and comment my friend!
Damon, as soon as I tried taking the verification option off my blog I got spam (and an Anonymous I could have done without). So I put both restrictions back on, sorry!
If anyone can think of a way round this, I'd gladly take word verification off.
I think you should Email blogger and ask them to find an accessible alternative.
I resisted turning it on for ages, but, then, last week when I got hit by over 80 spam comments in the space of 24 hours, I could resist no more.
I am sighted and found word verification more than once too cryptic to decipher. They have come up with some completely absurd ideas on how to write letters.
what do Yahoo do for people to get round it? (when you get a yahoo account there's word verification and their is an option - in very tiny writing - to skip it)
I raised this issue on my blog last week (while you had the opportunity to comment on it) but there's really no way round it. My impairment means I can't manage the blog with the volume of spam I was getting without this feature - even though, like Southpaw and Mumpy, I struggle with typing the thing out myself.
I have contacted Blogger on this issue and I suggest you do the same by filling in this form here. However, as I understand it the spam robots can read everything your screen-reader can read...
Ahh, I switched it on in desperation the other day after getting multiple spam messages - too many to handle. It really has gone mad for us on blogger all of a sudden. I feared it might be a problem though - the more we know about why it's a pain the more detailed our complaints to the blogger people can be.
As an alternative I have now switched it off so you can now comment on my blog. I have set up a free online e-mail just for blogger comments, re-directing all comments there so multiple spam comments don't clog up my usual inbox. I don't know if it will be a good solution or not - I suppose now I'll just keep an eye on the comments on new posts to see if anyone 'proper' has left anything.
Soz to cause you a problem. I have also e-mailed blogger on the link The Goldfish provided to ask if they could find a way to introduce an acccessible blocking system.
Dunno if its worth holding our breath though...
Hello! I've not had a big spam problem at all. Wonder why. Just one or two odd bits as you can see ... I delete them.
Turtle: Lots of things you have to sign up to now have this graphic verification thing, including Yahoo, yeah. Yahoo have provided a service for visually impaired people where they will fill it in over the phone or something. I've failed almost entirely to get them to call me tho ... bit of a token gesture I think.
Also ... hotmail have a similar thing. But, and here's the cool bit, they have an audio version too! Click the button and you'll hear the word as well as see it. It's spoken with a speech synthesizer voice like Stephen Hawking. This must be a way forward.
I had trouble signing up for a blog with the verification graphics. I had to just give up and go get a sightie, but I really, really do not relish having to track down a sightie everytime I want to interact online, very few people keep my hours, especially anyone I'm inclined to let in to my apartment.
I think I have word verification turned off in my settings. I hope.
I tested it once and it worked.
I'm sure there ought to be a way of blocking automated replies, which would be much more convenient for users - even us sighties! As for me I don't get many comments anyway so I haven't bothered with it - I can't understand why anyone would want to make it harder for people to comment even if it does mean they get the occasional ad for disinfectant. Grr! also people can just disallow anonymous comments, which would get rid of most of the problems. Sigh.
Damon, my friend, Thought you would like to know that your "desperate Dad" link has a new web address at http://www.dadology.blogspot.com
So if you're missing it, you can visit Desperate Dad there!
I have a difficult time reading those damn verifications, and hate that I put one on my blog.
I will try taking it off for a bit, not that you have been reading mine on a regular basis, but it's not fair to have to rely on them.
Also noticed that you have two spams on this very batch of posts. Sheesh.
Hi Damon,
A blind acquaintance of mine recently moved from Blogger to TypePad for the same reason and is now blogging successfully with them. You can read her blog at: http://quickgm28.blogs.com/
TypePad is based on Movable Type. And yeah, letter images are sometimes indecipherable even for sighted people.
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