Reid My Mind

I still have not heard anything from the folks at Blog Carnival regarding their use of a visual only CAPTCHA.

In addition to Lon who is hosting the Assistive Technology Blog Carnival, Penny from the Disabilities Carnival is aware of the issue and I hope will spread the word among other disability bloggers.

Below is this week’s email to Blog Carnival. I guess I will have to keep up a weekly email until BC decides to respond or make the form accessible.

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You should be aware that this is the fourth time I am writing to you regarding the inaccessibility of your submission form. This form requires the user to complete a visual only CAPTCHA in order to complete the submission process.

As a computer user who is blind, I am unable to complete the process independently.

Others in the visually impaired and blind community have written to you requesting a change.  Most often, in cases of inaccessibility based on visual CAPTCHA’s, the issue is based simply on an inexperience and ignorance to the problem these graphic only tests cause people who are visually impaired and blind. However, the refusal to acknowledge is sending a much different message. Blog Carnival is essentially saying to the blind community that they are not wanted on this site and the inability to use it is not a concern.

The accommodations that can be made to allow independent  submissions are readily available and have been pointed out by myself and others.

You should be aware that individual blog carnival hosts have been contacted and are planning to remove their carnivals if BC does not respond to the request.

I will continue emailing and blogging on this subject until I hear from someone in the BC management. In addition, I will continue informing current BC customers about BC’s unwillingness to work with the blind community.

T.Reid