Sometimes I just don't understand!

[TheOriginalH]

Ok - found a site that seems to be making the effort with captchas, but.... they also seem to have ballsed it up.

The site in question is our old friend Paypal. To see what I mean (and I couldn't find way of linking directly), have a look at www.scrounginggit.com and hit "donate" (Or any other site using the paypal "donate" button that you know of).

Bottom of the screen is a capcha. Next to it is a "help" link. Which.....doesn't open without javascript on and throws you a pop-up when it does work..... why?????

Inside the pop-up is a very usful link " listen to the security characters." - which either opens or prompts download of a .wav file. A damn sensible solution, encapsulated in a potentially inaccessible way....I am perplexed. Anyone think of a good reason that link couldn't be put next to the original capcha?

[redux]

did you want some cheese with that whine ?
seriously, this shows quite a common attitude i've found working here as webmaster at the university, and advocating (or should i say "mandating") accessibility. in most cases, as soon as i start saying how something should be made accessible, i get the person in question saying "oh, i know, i can do some nifty bit of javascript that sniffs the browser, writes out the code, blah blah"...then i hit them over the head with a clue by four and tell them js is part of the problem, not the solution.

ok, so in the case of paypal they want to open the helpful little description, plus the link to the wav, in a separate window so the "flow" of filling out the form is not interrupted. fair enough. however, there are indeed nicer ways of doing this (e.g. perfect-popup technique).
also, the "help" actually fulfills the dual purpouse to explain what the heck a user is supposed to do, AND give an alternative "audio captcha" feature. paypal would be best advised to uncouple the link to the wav from the help, and stick it right next to the visual captcha, as you suggest. they can then still keep the popup link for the help, if they wish...

time for an email to paypal, methinks...(although they may be busy at the moment http://yro.slashdot.org/article.pl?s...=thread&tid=98 )

[redux]

ok, sent a message to their customer services...

Hello,

it's nice to see that you have made an effort to make the signup process more accessible to visually impaired users by providing an "audio CAPTCHA" as an alternative to the normal "visual CAPTCHA"...however, I am puzzled by your choice of providing the .wav file in the help page, which is launched via a javascript popup. Reliance on javascript is, of course, against accessibility guidelines. It would make a lot more sense if:
a) the link to the audio CAPTCHA was located right next to the visual one, and not on the help page
b) the link to the help page was written so that it works even when javascript is disabled (the so called "perfect popup" technique)
In fairness, I have seen that many other parts of the paypal site seem to rely on javascript, so possibly the above problem is ont high on your priority list. I mention this issue, however, because it pains me to see a good idea completely wasted because of some quick and unnecessary bit of javascript coding.
Regards, Patrick

let's see if they respond

[TheOriginalH]

Hehe - great email....

(Who's got the richer whine now? )

[xhtmlcoder]

I can only assume by using JavaScript it would also hinder the 'Auto Robot' capacity to follow the link and successfully read the 'help data' thus still protecting the link…

I was wondering about donating negative value amounts then I might actually get the positive amount donated to myself.

[redux]

well, some robots (as far as i remember) can actually read / scan for http:// addresses in javascript as well, so i don't see the benefit of "hiding" it with some js.

H...i knew i should have put that email under your name

oh...and here's what "ryan" had to say

Dear Patrick,

Thank you for contacting PayPal.

We appreciate the time you've taken to write us with your comments
about our service.

PayPal continuously strives to provide you with the highest quality
website features and navigation system. We carefully consider every
feedback email we receive and appreciate your suggestions.

Thank you very much for your feedback, and we hope that you continue to
enjoy using PayPal!

If you have any further questions, please feel free to contact us
again.

Sincerely,
Ryan
PayPal Tech Support
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