So, I have been asked to sign up for google wave... I tried... however, the "verification code" check to see that I was a human and not a machine (or computer-oid!) kept failing.
(As an aside: it's also rrrrrrrrrrrrrreally annoying when systems refresh because you have input some information that it wants to check - i.e. the captcha, and then tells you that you have not entered all the required information. You are correct google wave, I did leave the First Name and Last Name fields blank... this was because I had not got that far before you decided I was a computer-oid!)
Even if we ignoring the fact that even though I entered the code correctly the site didn't accept that I really am a human, I still take issue with how some of these verification processes work. It is not always easy to read these codes, even real humans get them wrong and it is VERY irritating to be repeatedly asked to input codes (which change!) because you get it almost right... but not quite. (I am finding it very hard to avoid referring to Pinocchio and saying "but I am a real boy!" in this post...)
The same visual verification code process is used in many different web applications. The best one I have found is on Ticketmaster. Congrats go out to them. HCI winners! I have purchased a number of tickets from Ticketmaster recently and their method of checking verification codes is vastly superior to Google's or any other that I have come across.
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| Humanoid attempt at entering code: Close but incorrect. Attempt accepted. |
So, on Ticketmaster they use captchas too, but they only require you to be close to getting it correct - not absolutely right. This is clever because the verification codes are actually pretty hard to read! (See the example beside where I think the code wants me to write "comerany chifving" but I intentionally put "camerany chifling". Ticketmaster accepted that I am a human trying to legitimately purchase gig tickets, not a machine trying to automatically purchase on behalf of a ticket tout or something).
To verify that Ticketmaster's check does sometimes work and "correctly" identify those pescy computer-oids I tried pretending to be a computer and input a stupid verification code. The code was vastly dissimilar to the required version. The attempt failed. I received a nice error message explaining what I had done wrong. Not useful if the attempt really was made my a computer-oid, but as I am a real boy I did somewhat appreciate it.
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| Humanoid pretending to be a computer-oid attempt at entering code. Completely incorrect. Attempt failed. |
Congratulations Ticketmaster on being sensible. But Google Wave? I'm afraid you get to be known as my first HCI failure!
Google have stopped supporting Wave, haven't they? I thought they were going to phase it out.
ReplyDelete"they only require you to be close to getting it correct - not absolutely right. This is clever because the verification codes are actually pretty hard to read!"
ReplyDeleteSurely using fuzzy logic defeats the very purpose of a CAPTCHA?
The text has become increasingly obscured over time because OCR is improving and therefore automated spammers can identify ever-increasingly distorted text. Granted, there needs to be a compromise between legibility and distortion, but adding fuzzy recognition means that they are also allowing OCR attempts to contain errors as well. Doesn't that decrease the CAPTCHA's efficacy to reduce spam?
Yes, i think i heard that too.. but i was invited to use it for an important purpose (the organisation of pub lunches!) so wanted to sign up... which i have eventually managed to do!
ReplyDeleteIt may be being phased out, but the verification issue still exists...
@Nick: I suppose there's a trade off between annoying the user and preventing unauthorized access. It depends which is most important to the company... Ticketmaster are erring on the side of the user. I would be interested to see how much computer-oid access they let through. Perhaps i'll contact someone...
ReplyDeleteI guess I'm hoping that someone brainy might one day develop a better verification method. My eyesight is reasonable (although I do wear glasses to correct my vision) and I still struggle with these things, what about older users with even poorer eyesight than mine?
I don't know if you've ever tried listening to the "vision impaired" alternative option.. but I find it almost impossible to identify any of the words they want you to type! And if you consider that many older people will also be hard of hearing as well as being vision impaired....
Basically, I guess i'm just suggesting that the current solution may work for the company reducing spam, but it is really not good for users!
There is one fantastic use for Captchas. And this is it: http://your-free-photos.org/Make-Art-With-Your-CAPTCHA.html
ReplyDelete