Off-topic: Yahoo registration inaccessible to all blind users

[Victor Tsaran]

Hi,
There is really nothing Yahoo can do for you in this case. Unless you have
some ideas on how the subscription process can be changed, send your
suggestion to them. From the programming point of view, there is nothing
they can do to better the situation. I know it sounds harsh, but there is
not much else to say. No kind of alt tag or picture description can be
employed to make the "word" accessible.
Vic

----- Original Message -----
From: "Geoff Shang" <gshang at uq.net.au>
To: <blindcast at yahoogroups.com>; <speakup at braille.uwo.ca>;
<acbri-forum at acbradio.org>
Sent: Wednesday, January 23, 2002 12:23 PM
Subject: Off-topic: Yahoo registration inaccessible to all blind users


> Hi:
>
> This is blatently off-topic.  If you're not interested, hit delete.  I'd
> suggest not discussing it on list unless the moderator deems it on-topic,
> but that's obviously not for me to say.  If you care at all, please feel
> free to spread this around.
>
> It is apparently now impossible for a blind or low vision person to
> independantly register with yahoogroups, no matter what browser they are
> using.  Yahoogroups has implemented a security feature to stop automated
> programs from spuriously registering yahoo accounts.  Unfortunately, it's
>  preventing blind people from registering also ... and they know it.
>
> What they've done is to implement a system where a word is printed on the
> screen as a graphic.  You have to correctly enter this word into the
> sign-up form before you can register.  This is meant to prove that it's a
> human doing the registration, but all it does prove is that it's a sighted
> person able to read print that's doing the registration.  They have a link
> to click if you can't see the word, and this is what that page says:
>
>    What is Word Verification?
>    Visually impaired or blind users: We can help you register. So that a
>    customer care representative can contact you, please provide your
>    phone number in addition to your required email address when you
>    contact us by pasting this URL into your browser:
>    http://add.yahoo.com/fast/help/us/edit/cgi_access
>    By entering the word you see in the box, you help Yahoo! prevent
>    automated registrations. Doing this reduces system loads and ensures
>    better performance of Yahoo! services.
>
>    If no image appears, please make sure your browser is set to display
>    images and try again. If you are not sure what the word is, make your
>    best guess. If you guess incorrectly, you will have an opportunity to
>    enter a different word on the next screen.
>
> This is pretty damning.  They are conceeding that they know it's
> inaccessibal to blind people and expect me as a blind person to hand over
> my phone number so that they can walk me through the registration process.
> Quite aside from the fact that I do not want to give out my phone number,
> I'm highly doubtful that someone's going to spare the international
expence
> to call me in Australia.  And even if someone from Yahoo Australia calls
> me, what if I live somewhere where there is no local yahoo branch?
someone
> will still have to call me, and I wonder how bothered they'll be to do
> that?
>
> So what to do?  Firstly, give yahoo a hard time about it, both the main
> yahoo in the USA and any local affiliates (e.g. yahoo UK, yahoo Japan,
> yahoo Australia, etc).  I'd suggest boycotting them altogether, but I
> realise that's not always possible.  I'd also urge any group moderators to
> stop using any of the features requiring a yahoo ID until this is
resolved.
> If you're a member of a yahoo group, ask your list moderator not to use
any
> of these features, as you as a blind person won't be able to access them.
>
> The yahoo signup page also says that the word verification technology was
> developed in conjunction with the Captcha project (note the spelling) at
> Carnegie Mellon University.  So I think we should give these people a hard
> time too.
>
> Geoff.
>
>
>
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