By Bernard Maldonado
Last week, an audio captcha alternative was published on the Main Yahoo Registration Page.
This was a major development for accessibility.
For years, screen readers users have been complaining that there was no audio alternative to the graphical Captcha on the sign up page. Other sites like Twitter, Google, and Craigs List all offer an audio alternative to the visual Captcha.
Earlier this year, I wrote an article about how Yahoo Japan offers an audio alternative even though it was not offered on Yahoo USA.
The issue was that the tool was in place, but no audio ever played. It had buttons and tabs, but no sound.
Now, as of today, October 13, the audio works and the tool appears to be functioning as it was intended.
The new Captcha tool incorporates a toggle function between the visual and audio Captcha. Once a user lands on the Captcha, she will notice a button that says “Need Audio Assistance?” Once that button is activated, the visual Captcha goes away, and is replaced by numbers spoken through an audio file built into the Captcha tool. The user can revert back to the graphical Captcha if she so desires.
It does not appear that any plugins are required for the audio to work. This is especially important for cross platform support. This is good for cross-platform functionality among Windows, Mac, and Linux Internet users. Many audio Captchas require a separate plugin that can be confusing for people who wish to use them.
All in all, this is a great development for Yahoo and for people who rely on accessible Captchas.
If you are a screen reader user, and get a chance to try out the Audio Captcha on Yahoo, please comment about it on Twitter or your favorite mailing list or blog. Let others know how it works for you.
It will be wonderful when Yahoo extends this new functionality to groups and other properties that fall under the Yahoo umbrella.
Thank you, Yahoo, for taking this great step towards allowing people to solve Captchas independently, while at the same time, protecting the registration system from automated bots that are ultimately responsible for spam and unwanted Internet activity.
Bernard Maldonado
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