« Blind Customers Take Action against the Cell Phone Industry | Main | RRTC Web Cast on Pain and Spinal Cord Injury, Monday, August 13 »
August 08, 2007
Yahoo! Asked to Reasonably Accomodate the Blind by Adding Audio CAPTCHA
An online petition is being circulated worldwide asking Yahoo! to implement an audio alternative to their graphical CAPTCHA (visual verification) process so that the blind and visually impaired will be afforded the same level of access enjoyed by the sighted. All Internet users are asked to sign this petition and support the concept that the blind and visually impaired should be reasonably accommodated with respect to multifactor authentication and visual verification systems.
All blind and sighted Internet users are requested to sign the Yahoo! Accessibility Improvement Petition at http://BlindWebAccess.com asking Yahoo! to make available an audio alternative to their CAPTCHA as a reasonable accommodation affording blind and visually impaired people the same access to the company's resources as that currently granted the sighted.
Right now, Yahoo!'s graphical visual verification prevents full independent access by the blind and visually impaired computer user to many of the company's services. Pictures can't be interpreted or automatically conveyed using Braille or speech access devices. Until an accessible alternative is made available, people with vision loss can't see the code to be entered into the box to be granted admission.
Signing the petition tells Yahoo! you want them to provide an alternative way for blind users to verify their human status. If you close your eyes, don't get http://BlindWebAccess.com and sign the Yahoo! Accessibility Improvement Petition today.
Posted by Nancy at August 8, 2007 04:23 PM