Does Your U.S. Senator’s Website Have an Inaccessible Captcha?

By Bernard Maldonado

Solona carried out research during the summer to determine if Captchas are used on any United States Senator websites.

First, let me start by saying that there are many good accessibility features built into the Senate.gov website system.  The purpose of this article is not to bash all Senate websites.

For instance, many Senators offer text-only websites.  Some sites provide Section 508 compliance statements.  Many offices are equipped with TDD /  TTY equipment.

I learned about a new service called BrowseAloud, which is offered on the main Senate Website.  Take a moment to learn about BrowseAloud.

The point that I want to make is that many Senator websites offer accessibility features.

However, some Senators’ websites are infected with inaccessible Captchas on the official contact form.

Here is the list of Senators (and their website addresses) that have inaccessible Captchas on their websites:

Senator Jeff Sessions (Alabama) Contact Page
Senator Richard Shelby (Alabama ) Contact Page
Senator Pat Roberts (Kansas) Contact Page
Senator Jim Bunning (Kentucky) Contact Page
Senator Tom Coburn (Oklahoma) Contact Page
Senator Bob Bennett (Utah) Contact Page

Here are some other noted sites with special circumstances:

-Senator Mike Crapo (Idaho) Contact Page - The Captcha has an audio alternative.  Furthermore, the code is always the same:  vc7sr (verified from different machines)

-Senator John Cornyn (Texas) Contact Page - The Captcha is only on the Graphical site. The text-only site does not use a Captcha.

-Senator Jim Demint (South Carolina) – The Captcha was recently deactivated.  Kudos to Senator Demint and his web page team.  Thank you Senator Demint for promoting accessibility and setting a good example for your colleagues.

Why do these Senators use Captchas that represent inaccessible barriers for visually impaired constituents?

If you are  interested in contacting your Senator about the inaccessible Captcha, you may use this Senate Contact Page to find his or her phone number.

Thank you.  Bernard Maldonado

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Tagged as: Bob Bennett, CAPTCHA, Inaccessible Captcha, Jeff Sessions, Jim Bunning, Pat Roberts, Richard Shelby, Senate, Solona, Tom Coburn