Captcha identify

[Chris Angelico]

On Wed, Aug 13, 2014 at 9:39 PM, Eric S. Johansson <esj at harvee.org> wrote:
> you are clear but also missing a really good reason to break captchas.
> handicapped accessibility.  Captchas are a huge barrier to access and in
> many cases push disabled users away from using a service  with captchas.
> For me (very acute vision, crap hands) it take me 2-5 tries before I get an
> image I think I can read reliably, then it take 2-3 tries to type the
> letters in (slowly and with hand pain) correctly. My mom (80yr and going
> strong) sees a captcha and gives up on using the site unless I tell her what
> to type.
>
> one major tests for accessibility is "can I automate common user tasks
> including tasks with context based decisions".  Captchas fail that test as
> do many authentication system user interactions and, if one is entirely
> truthful, entire applications.  Automating captcha solving would be a boon
> for the disabled or aging user.
>
> try taking this moment as a challenge.  build an authentication system+ui
> that works for the disabled/aged and you will have an authentication system
> that will work better for everybody.  for example, use an equivalent of
> ssh-agent to supply credentials to sites needing them.  I can automate
> ssh-agent and we can make the process+UI easy enough for my mom to use it or
> automate it for her too.
>
> eliminate captchas, 35+million disabled people would thank you as would many
> more millions of the not-yet-disabled like your future self.

I agree with you, and I don't use CAPTCHAs on any of my services,
anywhere, and never have. (Partly because they *are* broken by people
writing scripts, and/or by just grinding them with human solvers; but
also because of the problems they cause for legit users, even those
with perfect eyesight.) However, the accessibility argument is one for
the removal of the captcha, *not* for its automated solving. I will
not support a scripted captcha solver for any reason. If you move away
from a site because you can't use it, so be it. If you get a chance,
tell the owner that there are alternatives to barely-readable images;
tricks involving page layouts are almost always safe, and there's
infinite room to play around in them.

There is no valid reason for automating something that's specifically
to prevent automation. The admin needs to provide an alternative,
instead.

ChrisA