Captcha's that are too hard to read
14-May-2008
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Captcha's that are too hard to read

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I really hate web sites that use Captcha's when you need to log-in or fill out a form.  These little blighters can make filling out a form a complete nightmare, almost to the point where you hit the back button before you even go any further.

Problems reading CAPTCHA's?

Captcha's for anyone who hasn't actually come across the term before are those little squiggly images where you need to decipher the text (usually some nonsensical combination of letters) which is hidden in an image and then enter it before submitting the form.

There are so many spammers and bots out there...

I can totally understand the reason behind Captcha's because there are so many spammers and bots out there sending all sorts of rubbish down the line to clog up databases and give webmasters a headache.

These guys ARE the scum of the earth (on the Internet at least!) and in my opinion they ought to be hunted down and... well nasty things should happen to them!

The thing that really annoys me is that so many Captcha's are almost completely unreadable by ME never mind a machine!  The last time I looked I was human so I ought to have a fighting chance at deciphering the code.  I often find myself having to click on a link to request a different image or worse still fill out the whole damn form again!

Some sites don't even provide an audio Captcha's so that visually impaired visitors are effectively excluded from using the page.  How bad is that?

Here's a bit of background info from Wikipedia and Capitcha.net.  Go read up and be amazed, there's actually a lot of interesting information on the Wiki.  I just wish there was an alternative because I personally find them frustrating!


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Yeah, I don't see why they have to be so hard to read!
*Bob  28-Feb-2008 12:02

 
I'm colourblind and sometimes cannot even see the stupid thing! I usually have to call my wife to decipher it for me. I think they serve a useful purpose but there needs to be an equally secure back up system for those that cannot read them.
*anon  28-Nov-2007 09:46

 
An ideal cannot wait for its realization to prove its validity.
*mikevalesenior  27-Nov-2007 16:59

 
You lot are so narrowminded. I agree with the writer. The curly wurly text is sometimes totally indecipherable.
*Get lost  26-Nov-2007 16:39

 
Umm... why? Because I can read slightly mangled text?
*HAL  23-Nov-2007 16:25

 
Hal you're an idiot. Can't be bothered to elaborate because any right-thinking person will concur.
*Nuff 'bout that  23-Nov-2007 13:19

 
I hate Captcha's too but I hate spammers and bots more, even more so since I own a couple of websites! I'm sorry to say but they do their job pretty well and are gonna stick around until something better comes along!
*simmy276  22-Nov-2007 00:08

 
Sorry, you just failed the Turing test.

If they were "easier" they'd be machine-readable and therefore pointless! Obviously an acceptable proportion of the human race seems to manage or the sites wouldn't get any customers. Just go and practice a bit and if you're visually impaired get someone to help.
*HAL  21-Nov-2007 11:57


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