Captcha codes getting too hard for humans 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.

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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Dixie

I'm having a DEVIL of a time deciphering Yahoo's visual codes when I try to sign in! The letters and numbers are nearly blended in with other letters and numbers in the background til it's sometimes nearly impossible to tell the code I'm supposed to type in from the background gobbledegook! So often I have to start over and try it again, because I don't see a button where I get the option to try a different one. Before I can finish with one, I nearly have a headache from staring at the thing trying to tell the code from the background shapes and letters/numbers. I mean, I think to myself, "Am I supposed to type this letter or number or is it supposed to remain in the background??" Yeah, a machine isn't supposed to be able to read it, but guess what? **I** can't read it either!!!

10/03/13 Dixie

2

Kyle

Talk about discrimination at it's finest!

Well if you can't get away with discrimination in real life then how about in the virtual life! :o :o

Life sucks.

01/04/11 Kyle

-11

Kyle

This is not off topic but rather a broader view of things:

This is one of many technological examples to show that there is indeed a MAJOR unbalance of light and dark and if it does not get resolved soon there is going to be MAJOR problems once the ball accelerates.

After enough life experiences I am a firm believer of Ying and Yang and I can tell you right now in the technology department all over the world there is something out of whack which is why we are stuck in this Captcha yuck and Google Yuck.

27/01/11 Kyle

7

John

Seems to me, that they could just enter the letters upside down without all of the camouflage.

07/10/10 John

-13

Lily

Gmail's captcha is the worst I've seen and the audio is miserable on this laptop.

20/02/10 Lily

-7

bob

I totally agree - have a look at the form on gumtree.com for replying to adverts for places to live - omg they are the worst I have EVER seen - and omg I have seen some bad ones

30/06/09 bob

-1

Tallulah

Recaptcha is the one captcha thing I will advocate. It provides you with two easily readable words, and by using it, you help to digitalise books and newspapers. The audio version helps to digitalise transcripts of old radio recordings. Google them, they're pretty cool!

18/06/09 Tallulah

9

Captcha's are a pain

These things are sometimes a right pain to read. You spend ages stairing at this glyph sideways to see if it makes sense only to get it wrong. Just tried to sign up for something that had me identify one of these things at the end. Guess I failed the test!

26/03/09 Captcha's are a pain

-13

Bob

Yeah, I don't see why they have to be so hard to read!

28/02/08 Bob

-13

anon

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.

28/11/07 anon

-2

mikevalesenior

An ideal cannot wait for its realization to prove its validity.

27/11/07 mikevalesenior

-3

Get lost

You lot are so narrowminded. I agree with the writer. The curly wurly text is sometimes totally indecipherable.

26/11/07 Get lost

-3

HAL

Umm... why? Because I can read slightly mangled text?

23/11/07 HAL

-32

Nuff 'bout that

Hal you're an idiot. Can't be bothered to elaborate because any right-thinking person will concur.

23/11/07 Nuff 'bout that

7

simmy276

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!

22/11/07 simmy276

-9

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