reCAPTCHA comparison with google's new account form

ben wrote, quote:
> We don't do anything to ask for quicktime. We simply insert and 
> <DEFANGED_embed> element into the document. Could you take a 
> look at:
> 
> https://www.google.com/accounts/NewAccount
> 
> And click the audio button under Word Verification. Is this any better?
> 
> Does anybody have suggestions as to the best thing to do from 
> the html side?
unquote

aloha, ben!

one of the things about the google new account form, is that the 
edit box informs one that one must either enter the numbers they 
see or the ones they hear, WITHOUT making mention that the 
mechanism for doing so lies outside of the edit box; again the 
containing TABLE would greatly benefit from the addition of a 
descriptive summary, which instructs the user that the audio 
captcha will ONLY play if one activates the image associated 
with the audio CAPTCHA.

here are some things i noticed in a quick pass through the google 
new account document source:

==============================================================
1. ambiguity in the title associated with the text input field
==============================================================

--- extant ----
<input name="newaccountcaptcha" 
title="Type the characters you see or numbers you hear" 
--- proposed ---
<input name="newaccountcaptcha" 
title="Type the characters you see; if you need an audio alternative, 
tab to the next item to activate an audio captcha challenge, and then 
use this edit box to enter the numbers you hear" 

======================================
2. ambiguity in javascripted alt text:
======================================


--- begin extant google captcha javascripted challenge ---
<script type="text/javascript"><!--
    document.write('<a href="javascript:playCaptcha()">');
    document.write('<img src="accessibility.gif" border="0" style="width: 
1em; height: 1.2em;" ');
    document.write('alt="Listen and type the numbers you hear"></a>');
        //-->
 </script>
 <noscript>
 <a href="Captcha?
ctoken=2BP2eac2W25USwDHVTjOdqZgiJfqqsuMETgAhWSsNfbxflQr6t05eORW4-hOT--s%
3AbTS-bmdTzTPxACFW2UP6Zw" target="_blank">
 <img src="accessibility.gif" alt="Listen and type the numbers you hear" 
border="0" style="width: 1em; height: 1.2em;" align="absmiddle"></a>
 </noscript>
  <a href="http://www.google.com/support/accounts/bin/answer.py?
answer=33974" target="_top">
  <img width="1" alt="For more help with screen readers, click here." 
border="0" height="1"></a>
    </div>
--- begin extant google captcha ---

--- begin revision of javascripted captcha challenge ---
<script type="text/javascript">
<!--

document.write('<a href="javascript:playCaptcha()">');
document.write('<img src="accessibility.gif" border="0" style="width: 
1em; height: 1.2em;" ');
document.write('alt="Use this control to listen to an audio CAPTCHA and 
type the numbers you hear into the preceding edit box"></a>');
        //-->
 </script> 
 <noscript>
 <a href="Captcha?
ctoken=2BP2eac2W25USwDHVTjOdqZgiJfqqsuMETgAhWSsNfbxflQr6t05eORW4-hOT--s%
3AbTS-bmdTzTPxACFW2UP6Zw" target="_blank">
 <img src="accessibility.gif" alt="Listen and type the numbers you hear 
into the preceding text entry field" border="0" style="width: 1em; 
height: 1.2em;" align="absmiddle"></a>
 </noscript>
  <a href="http://www.google.com/support/accounts/bin/answer.py?
answer=33974" target="_top">
  <img width="1" alt="For more help with screen readers, follow this 
link." border="0" height="1"></a>
    </div>
--- end revision ---


================
3. nested tables
================

with the page's extensive use of nested tables, surely a summary could be 
provided for that which contains the actual form controls, for again, the 
user is attempting to create an account, through the filling out of a 
relatively simple form, until one reaches the CAPTCHA implementation -- 
in order for it to work, users need to be told:

(A) that there is an audio equivalent available;
(B) where to locate and how to activate the audio equivalent;
(C) where one must be after the audio event has been fired, so as to 
    answer the CAPTCHA challenge;

just my first quick pass-over the document source (although i must admit
that i have been working on google forms accessibility for quite a while 
now)

TOPIC SWITCH - GOOGLE TO reCAPTCHA:
as for the HTML side of things, i still think you could achieve the same 
functionality by using the BUTTON form control defined in HTML 4.01 for 
the tier of alternatives and assistance -- if they were actual, rather 
than pseudo, form buttons, then they would not only be included in the 
tab-navigation, but would also appear in lists of form controls -- i 
discussed the details of the use BUTTON in my first note about reCAPTCHA 
accessibility, archived at:

http://lists.w3.org/Archives/Public/wai-xtech/2007May/0048.html

hope this is of assistance -- would you like me to mock up a dummy 
form, integrating everything discussed so far?  would that be of 
assistance, at least from a comparative point of view -- markup 
a reCAPTCHA form to ascertain what works and what doesn't with 
which user agents and what assistive technology...

gregory.

----------------------------------------------------------
He that will not apply new remedies must expect new evils; 
for time is the great innovator.      -- Sir Francis Bacon
----------------------------------------------------------
            Gregory J. Rosmaita: oedipus@hicom.net
        Camera Obscura: http://www.hicom.net/~oedipus/
    Oedipus' Online Complex: http://my.opera.com/oedipus/
United Blind Advocates for Talking Signs: http://ubats.org
----------------------------------------------------------

Received on Friday, 13 July 2007 23:17:49 UTC