Google Accessibility Issue

Note: I am posting this article that was forwarded to me. This is an
important issue that we all need to do something about. If each of us
contacts Google, I am sure they will respond. -- Bill Drew

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The article below was prepared by a colleague of mine, JoanMarie
Diggs of the Carroll Center for the Blind Technology Program. It clearly
explains an accessibility issue and makes recommendations on a course
of action for people to assist in advocacy. Please do what you can to
help.

Kim Charlson, Director
Perkins Braille & Talking Book Library

Captchas Limit Equal Access to Information

If you are like most people, you've probably never heard of a
"captcha." But if you've ever registered for a free service online,
there's a good chance you've seen one. The most frequently-used
captchas are pictures of somewhat distorted letters and/or numbers.
You, the computer user seeking to register for the service, are told
to "type the characters you see in this picture." By successfully
completing this task, you are proving that you are a human being and
not a computer program seeking to exploit the service in question. Of
course what you're really proving is that you are a *sighted* human
being -- or someone with access to a sighted human being. Captchas
significantly limit equal access to information for users who are
blind or visually impaired.

Captchas -- completely automated public Turing test to tell computers
and humans apart -- are becoming more and more common thanks to the
proliferation of spam. First there was email spam, then instant
messaging spam, and now -- believe it or not -- blog spam. I don't
like spam any more than you do and believe that it is in everyone's
best interest that spammers be thwarted. Most people agree. And
that's
why, when Google introduced a captcha as a requirement for creating a
new account at blogger.com, the blog-using public was thrilled. The
problem is, of course, that a blind computer user wishing to start a
blog no longer can -- at least not without sighted assistance. And
adding this requirement to blogger.com is not Google's only use of
captcha; simply their most recent. A blind user wanting to sign up
for
Google News Alerts, which is a very useful way to access the
information you want or need, must get sighted assistance. The same
is
true for using Google's newest tool: My Search History.

Google is not the only company to implement the use of captchas. For
instance, Microsoft requires them of anyone wishing to sign up for a
Hotmail account; Yahoo does the same for their email service. But
Microsoft and Yahoo provide alternatives for users with visual
impairments. Microsoft's alternative is to provide a link labeled "I
can't see this picture." Follow it and you'll receive an auditory
representation of the characters on the screen. This, of course, does
not remove the access barrier for users who also have a hearing
impairment, but at least it's a step in the right direction. The
alternative provided by Yahoo is to have the user fill out a form
requesting that a customer service representative contact him/her by
phone. This, of course, means that the visually impaired user does
not
have immediate access, but again, it's a step in the right direction.
Google does not provide any such alternative: You either type the
characters on the screen, or you don't get to use the service.
Period.

There are undoubtedly other companies which have implemented captchas
without an alternative means of access, and that must certainly be
addressed. But Google has become a leader in the field of web-based
access to, and communication of, information. As a result, their use
of captcha means that users who are blind or visually impaired are
denied access to one of the most widely-used services available. And
as a leader, what Google implements is more likely to be implemented
by others. That is why I feel it is critical for Google to understand
that the use of captcha without an alternative means of access is not
only wrong -- or to use Google's term, "evil," but it is in direct
violation of their corporate mission "to organize the world's
information and make it universally accessible and useful."

Prior to the implementation of captcha on Blogger, I had written
Google about this issue, and I know a few others have as well.
Apparently we were not heard -- or if we were heard, the needs of the
few users who are blind were outweighed by the needs of the many
users
who are affected by the very real problem of spam. That is why I'm
asking for your help. Google needs to hear from all of us. And not
just individual consumers, family members, and service providers, but
the companies for which we work, and the organizations to which we
belong. If we can take a large enough stand to get noticed, perhaps
we
can put a stop to this latest, growing barrier to access.

Ways to contact Google:

1. Send feedback to blogger support:
http://www.blogger.com/problem.g?skiplogin=yes

2. Send feedback to Google Accounts support (signing up for an
Account requires passing the captcha test):
mailto:accounts-support@google.com

3. Send feedback to Google labs about My Search History, the latest
(and highly-publicized) Google tool that requires a Google Account:
mailto:labs+hist-feedback@google.com

4. Write, call, fax Google Headquarters:

1600 Amphitheatre Parkway

Mountain View, CA 94043

phone: 650-623-4000

fax: 650-618-1499

To contact Joan Marie Diggs -- joanmarie.diggs@carroll.org