online banking with Bank of America: not quite accessible enough

[Janina Sajka]

Well, the answer must necessarily be server and platform dependent. For
the answer relevant to Apache consult:


   Linkname: SSL/TLS Strong Encryption: FAQ - Apache HTTP Server
           URL: http://httpd.apache.org/docs-2.1/en/ssl/ssl_faq.html


Sean McMahon writes:
> From: "Sean McMahon" <smcmahon at usgs.gov>
> 
> As someone who occationally puts together a webpage or two, how do you check
> for encryptian?
> Sean
> ----- Original Message ----- 
> From: "Janina Sajka" <janina at rednote.net>
> To: "Speakup is a screen review system for Linux." <speakup at braille.uwo.ca>
> Sent: Saturday, January 31, 2004 12:12 PM
> Subject: Re: online banking with Bank of America: not quite accessible
> enough
> 
> 
> > Hi, Darrell:
> >
> > I've already written to Lainey about it. Here's the text of my message
> > to her where I also included the message from Cheryl:
> >
> >
> > Hi, Lainey:
> >
> > Are you able to help me forward the concern described in the attached
> > email? I'm afraid the issue is sufficiently obscure, technically, to not
> > make much sense to the first tiers of tech support people. Besides, they
> > wouldn't be in the position to do anything about it.
> >
> > The bottom line here is that they're excluding users based on bad
> > judgement. They've got their log very wrong, technically speaking, and I
> > can prove it.
> >
> > If you read the message this woman is getting--which I also get, it
> > seems very justified--the bank wants you to connect using secure,
> > encrypted communications channels so that your information can't be
> > stolen by someone who's eavsdropping. Unfortunately, the way they're
> > actually determining whether or not the connection is encrypted isn't
> > accurate and yields false results, as in this instance. Technically
> > speaking, they're not actually testing for encryption, they're inferring
> > based on what browser the user is using. My advice to this individual
> > will be to simply lie--something that one can do with these browsers and
> > masquerade as Netscape or IE. But, that's not a proper solution.
> >
> > The truth is that looking at what browser the person is using isn't
> > going to really tell you whether or not they're practicing safe
> > computing. As it happens, the old, and now sometimes denigrated text
> > browser lynx, actually provides twice the level of security available in
> > Netscape and Internet Explorer. Lynx SSL encryption, to be technical
> > about it, provides 192-bit encryption, compared to Netscape and IE's
> > 128-bit. In encryption, the higher this number is, the stronger the
> > encryption is.
> >
> > Frankly, this isn't much different than denying service to someone
> > because they wear the wrong clothes. While the users of these browsers
> > may be a minority, they are a growing minority because of the growing
> > popularity of Linux even among users who are blind.
> >
> > The fix is also not difficult or expensive for B of A to implement. But,
> > it's a decision that obviously needs to be made at a high enough level
> > inside their IT department.
> >
> > B of A has been doing an outstanding job of making their extensive on
> > line services accessible. Every few months I go poke around on their web
> > pages and I'm always gratified to see more and more services being made
> > available accessibly. This is making B of A very attractive to potential
> > customers nationwide. It would be a shame to exclude some of them for
> > bogus reasons.
> >
> > Anything you can do would be much appreciated.
> >
> > -- 
> >
> > Janina Sajka
> > Email: janina at rednote.net
> > Phone: +1 (202) 408-8175
> >
> > Director, Technology Research and Development
> > American Foundation for the Blind (AFB)
> > http://www.afb.org
> >
> > Chair, Accessibility Work Group
> > Free Standards Group
> > http://a11y.org
> >
> > _______________________________________________
> > Speakup mailing list
> > Speakup at braille.uwo.ca
> > http://speech.braille.uwo.ca/mailman/listinfo/speakup
> 
> 
> _______________________________________________
> Speakup mailing list
> Speakup at braille.uwo.ca
> http://speech.braille.uwo.ca/mailman/listinfo/speakup

-- 
	
Janina Sajka
Email: janina at rednote.net		
Phone: +1 (202) 408-8175

Director, Technology Research and Development
American Foundation for the Blind (AFB)
http://www.afb.org

Chair, Accessibility Work Group
Free Standards Group
http://a11y.org