[bcab] Re: FlyBe

Léonie

I've recently seen somewhere a report on an American survey which said that
0.0075% respond to e-mails about viagra and fake watches.  This means that
if a million e-mails are sent out, 75 people respond.  Not much of a return
for your trouble, but as it's all done automatically, I suppose they think
it's worth it.

You say these spammers are almost untraceable, but I think there have been
prosecutions and sentences doled out to certain persons in Russia, for
example.  I think there are organisations trying to get to grips with this
nuisance, and more power to their elbows, I say.

Wendy

-----Original Message-----
From: bcab-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:bcab-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf
Of Léonie Watson
Sent: 27 October 2007 16:42
To: bcab@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [bcab] Re: FlyBe

Wendy,

        To the normal folks on the Internet, spammers are a complete
mystery. We spend our lives deleting emails selling goodness knows what,
asking us for our bank details or inviting us to chat with some lonely
African ex minister sitting on a gold mine. Somewhere along the line though,
I guess they must be making money out of someone.

        Creating multiple email accounts, for example through Yahoo or
Google, means the spammers have thousands of fake email addresses to use to
send out spam to the likes of you and I. They're effectively untraceable,
which means that tracking down the source of a spam email is next to
impossible.

 
Regards,
Léonie. 


 

-----Original Message-----
From: bcab-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:bcab-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf
Of Wendy Sharpe
Sent: 26 October 2007 10:46
To: bcab@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [bcab] Re: FlyBe

Léonie

Thank you for this comprehensive explanation.  I am obviously a very boring,
simple-minded and honest person, because I am very puzzled by spammers and
bots.  Why would anyone (and there have to be people behind these things)
want to create multiple accounts?  What fun do they get out of it?

I can understand the banking scams where they want to get personal details
to use for their own financial gain, but creating multiple accounts on
something like google or yahoo seems pointless.

I have recently had quite a few messages with no subject line, nothing in
the body (or nothing JAWS can read) and just a name in the from box.  Again,
what is the point?

Wendy

-----Original Message-----
From: bcab-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:bcab-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf
Of Léonie Watson
Sent: 25 October 2007 21:47
To: bcab@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [bcab] Re: FlyBe

Evening,

        I thought some background information on some of the aspects of this
thread might help. Grab a cup of tea, there's quite a bit coming up.

        What is CAPTCHA? CAPTCHA is  a system used on websites to prevent
spammers from creating multiple accounts for suspect purposes. It is a
series of characters, such as "0 A H 22 Z", shown in a graphic.

        Spammers create small programmes that can go through the motions of
signing up to a service, like Google mail for instance. These programmes,
sometimes called bots, are even capable of responding to the confirmation
emails sent out by most systems when a new account is created. The idea is
that a computer programme can't access the information in the graphic, where
as a human can. This aims to prevent the bots from doing their dirty work.

        It's essentially the same problem a screen reader has. Like a bot, a
screen reader is a piece of software. When it encounters a graphic, it
doesn't understand what the graphic contains.

        When CAPTCHA was first used, the characters in the graphic were
visually very clear. Then the spammers realised they could use OCR software
to get around the obstacle. The characters in CAPTCHA graphics are now
distorted, cramped close together or blurred slightly. This stops the OCR
from working and creates a successful barrier to keep the bots at bay.

        That of course presents a substantial problem in terms of
accessibility. Screen magnifier users are unable to access the characters
because the clarity is so poor and screen reader users are blocked as
effectively as the spammer's bots.

        Some sites provide an audio alternative to the CAPTCHA graphic.
However, bots are capable of listening to the audio version and can access
the information they need. Consequently, the audio versions are themselves
distorted. Often you'll hear noise, like the static on a radio for example,
in the background whilst the characters are being spoken.
 
        The audio version can help for some people with a visual impairment,
but they are of no help at all to someone with both visual and hearing
difficulties. This naturally leads to the question of discrimination.

        The DDA simply requires that organisations make a reasonable effort
to ensure their services are accessible to people with disabilities. The DDA
itself doesn't specifically mention websites at all. That came later with a
statutory code of practice from the DRC, which confirmed that a website was
a service under the terms of the DDA.

        Here's where it all starts to get a bit tricky. The DDA doesn't
define a clear cut standard for accessibility. In fact, it doesn't even make
any suggestions about following appropriate guidelines. It just says that a
"reasonable effort" has to be made. It doesn't even define what a
"reasonable effort" might entail.

        There are guidelines for web accessibility of course. The Web
Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) form the global benchmark for
building and evaluating accessible websites. The guidelines consist of 65
checkpoints, each one covering a key point of web accessibility.

        Checkpoint 1.1 of the WCAG deals with the provision of information
in alternative formats. For example transcripts for audio content or
alternative texts for graphical content. In other words, it requires that
all images have an appropriate and helpful alternative text.

        So, that's simple, websites should just provide an alternative text
for the CAPTCHA graphic, right? Unfortunately not. In the same way that the
alternative text gives a screen reader all the information it needs, it also
gives the spammer's bots the same access. The barrier to prevent spammers
from creating thousands of multiple accounts very quickly is gone.

        What it comes down to is this. On the one hand you've got a clear
contravention of an established accessibility guideline. On the other,
you've got a good argument why removing the CAPTCHA graphic would be an
unreasonable effort.

        The WCAG have been used in several court cases in the USA and
Australia. In the UK though, we haven't had a single court case against a
website, under the DDA. In practical terms, no precedent has been set. There
is no case law which can act as a guide to what may, or may not, constitute
an accessible website.

        If you made it this far, I hope this all made some sense. It's quite
a bit to get your head around. If anything isn't clear, let me know. I'll
grab another cup of tea and try to help.


Regards,
Léonie.

--
http://www.tink.co.uk/



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