Rick, I've used audio CAPTCHA successfully on Craig's List since it was first implemented. Although I sometimes found it necessary to replay the string because I didn't hear it clearly the first time around, or because Jaws spoke something from Windows Media Player as it launched that drowned out a couple of the characters before I could shut it up, I was always able to deal with it. That's why I asked what it was specifically that frustrated Cal enough so that he posted about this. The way he spoke in his post sounded as if he wasn't simply complaining about the audio CAPTCHA in general, but had just now tried to use it and found it harder to understand than before. I didn't get the impression that he'd never come across an audio version before. But maybe I misunderstood, and the sound character of the little audio file hasn't changed but it just doesn't work for him in general? If so, sorry. From: "Rick Harmon" <rharmon@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> To: <jfw@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> Sent: Sunday, June 22, 2008 12:51 PM Subject: Re: New verification word files on craigslist.com Hi, It's difficult to understand in order to keep spam bots from using speech recognition on them. The bots in many cases employ very complicated measures to stay one step ahead of the sites trying to keep them out. Rick ----- Original Message ----- From: "Yardbird" <yardbird@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx> To: <jfw@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> Sent: Sunday, June 22, 2008 3:02 PM Subject: Re: New verification word files on craigslist.com Hi Cal, People are brining up the same new problem on other lists, too. I don't know why the audio verification has become difficult to understand, and I haven't been there and tried to post anything in order to experience this turn of events. But, ironic as it may seem, I can tell you that the audio function you're saying has become impossible to deal with is itself an accommodation provided after a lot of encouragement or harassment by Craig's List to augment the visual one, precisely for the sake of people like us who are using screen reader. The feature is called a CAPTCHA, and maybe someone else on the list who remembers can explain what the words are that make up this acronym. But the main thing is that the video version of something like this, intended to block non-human programmed attempts to sign up for things and/or distribute spam emails, is not accessible to a screen reader because the characters in that box aren't HTML text that something like Jaws is designed to read. They're graphically generated, and if you were to see them, they'd look all wavy and lumpy and slanted, precisely so that the automated visitors called bots (for robot thingies, sort of) can't interpret them. That's why it's a good and accessibility-minded site that employs the audio alternative. So that's the background. Which doesn't solve this new problem, of course. What exactly is the difficulty about? Is the audio slurred, too soft, too fast, or what? ----- Original Message ----- From: "Cal" <yesitscal@xxxxxxxxx> To: <jfw@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> Sent: Sunday, June 22, 2008 11:18 AM Subject: New verification word files on craigslist.com I just tried to post some stuff on CL and was unable to because they changed their verification word audio to something which, at least for me, is completely impossible to understand. Why can't JAWS pick up the printed verification words. Any suggestions on working around this process? -- JFW related links: JFW homepage: http://www.freedomscientific.com/ Scripting mailing list: http://lists.the-jdh.com/listinfo.cgi/scriptography-the-jdh.com JFW List instructions: To post a message to the list, send it to jfw@xxxxxxxxxxxxx To unsubscribe from this mailing list, send a message to jfw-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with the word unsubscribe in the subject line. Archives located at: //www.freelists.org/archives/jfw If you have any concerns about the list, post received from the list, or the way the list is being run, do not post them to the list. Rather contact the list owner at jfw-admins@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx -- JFW related links: JFW homepage: http://www.freedomscientific.com/ Scripting mailing list: http://lists.the-jdh.com/listinfo.cgi/scriptography-the-jdh.com JFW List instructions: To post a message to the list, send it to jfw@xxxxxxxxxxxxx To unsubscribe from this mailing list, send a message to jfw-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with the word unsubscribe in the subject line. Archives located at: //www.freelists.org/archives/jfw If you have any concerns about the list, post received from the list, or the way the list is being run, do not post them to the list. Rather contact the list owner at jfw-admins@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx -- JFW related links: JFW homepage: http://www.freedomscientific.com/ Scripting mailing list: http://lists.the-jdh.com/listinfo.cgi/scriptography-the-jdh.com JFW List instructions: To post a message to the list, send it to jfw@xxxxxxxxxxxxx To unsubscribe from this mailing list, send a message to jfw-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with the word unsubscribe in the subject line. Archives located at: //www.freelists.org/archives/jfw If you have any concerns about the list, post received from the list, or the way the list is being run, do not post them to the list. Rather contact the list owner at jfw-admins@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx