Off-topic: Yahoo registration inaccessible to all blind users

[Victor Tsaran]

What would you suggest instead of just complaining?
Best,
Vic

----- Original Message -----
From: "Steve Holmes" <steve at holmesgrown.com>
To: <speakup at braille.uwo.ca>
Sent: Wednesday, January 23, 2002 7:01 PM
Subject: Re: Off-topic: Yahoo registration inaccessible to all blind users


> That's our whole point! If this kind of shit is used with Yahoo, what's to
> stop other services from using that garbage in the name of tighter
> security? It reminds me of some products introduced some years back that
> would play some kind of hand-eye cordination game with the user to prove
> it is who he says he is to connect to the local dial-up network at work.
> thank God, this stuff was never implemented at my work but they did talk
> about it briefly til I talked them out of it.
>
> A web site or application should *NEVER* *NEVER* use bit mapped text that
> cannot be read by any adaptive screen reader products!  The only good
> thing about that crap was those banner ads we could never read. We didn't
> see them nor hear them so they didn't bother us and we never clicked
> them:).
>
> On Wed, 23 Jan 2002, Victor Tsaran wrote:
>
> > 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.
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > > _______________________________________________
> > > Speakup mailing list
> > > Speakup at braille.uwo.ca
> > > http://speech.braille.uwo.ca/mailman/listinfo/speakup
> > >
> > >
> >
> >
> >
> > _______________________________________________
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>
>
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