Category: Let's talk
We ask all of you to review and sign the Yahoo's Accessibility Improvement
Petition at
http://www.petitiononline.com/yabvipma/petition.html
asking the
company to make an audio alternative to its CAPTCHA available so that the
blind and visually impaired will be permitted timely access to the same
services as those already granted the sighted. The use of a telephone
callback scheme is totally insufficient as it does not grant the same level
of instant access as the sighted and Yahoo personnel
do not consistently make contact in a timely manner. It is our ongoing
contention that visual only CAPTCHA schemes without at least an accessible
audio
alternative represent "No Blind People Allowed" signs in much the same way
as African-Americans were deliberately denied entry to restaurants and other
similar public accomodations in the era of segregation. We ask Yahoo to
simply fix their grievous error by promptly adding an audio CAPTCHA to all
its properties as soon as possible as part of the company's ongoing
accessibility initiatives.
Darrell Shandrow - Accessibility Evangelist
Information should be accessible to us without need of translation by
another person.
Blind Access Journal blog and podcast:
http://www.blindaccessjournal.com
So hotmail has got audio. Can we use it? I personally can't. So they might look nice by having audio in their sign up pages but we don't understand it because it is not clear at all. On the other hand yahoo doesn't have an audio but they have got a contact email address so somebody contacts us and creates the account for us.
Ok this might not be quick but with hotmail we also spend hours trying to understand their audio. So personally i would prefer what yahoo and facebook do. At list yahoo stuff don't try to tell you things you already know when you contact them like to make sure your speakers are plugged to be able to listen to the audio. They respect you as a customer. At list this is what i experienced with them. Even the last time i contacted them they removed the verification from my account so if i ever create a discussion group or something to do with yahoo i don't have to enter anything.
I'm definitely with Nikos on this one. As long as Yahoo is making a reasonable accommodation for blind users, which is actually more convenient and reliable than the alternative being suggested, I don't see the point of trying to manufacture an issue, especially when there are so many real issues for blind people to get behind. Moreover, comparing the momentary inconvenience of getting a little extra help over the phone with the systematic injustice of racial segregation is ludicrous and insulting to everyone concerned. Blindness, unlike any racial or ethnic group, is a pathological condition. If being reminded of that and having to do something a little differently than other people causes you emotional distress, then you have real psychological problems.
Yeah Nicos I hate hot mail. English is my native language and I cann can'understand it! Yahoo should do away with it and so should hot mail!
Well said poster 3. Two thumbs up!!!
Nem
Somebody should start one for myspace and their support, or lack of.
Ìå óõã÷ùñåßò Íßêï. I personally hate Yahoo and have for many years, precisely for this reason. I don't believe that I should have to be forced to call people to do something that a sighted person can do without help, and why should I have to give my information to anyone? If places like Craigslist, Adult Friend Finder and Google can do it, so can Yahoo. I'm on many of their lists, but not their groups because of this. Btw, for those who have trouble understanding Hotmail etc, check out the Audio on Craigslist. They're extremely accessible and clear. If we want to encourage Yahoo to do this or to try to get Hotmail to make their audio more clear, we should use Craigslist as a very good example of what to do. They say a letter followed by a word that begins with that letter (b, as in bravo, i, as in India etc).