WebAIM - Web Accessibility In Mind

E-mail List Archives

Re: Towson University Gets Patent For Technology to Help Blind Internet Users

for

From: Birkir R. Gunnarsson
Date: Nov 4, 2014 1:36PM

It is always good to have more options.
I hope we are nearing the era of fingerprint identification, codes
sent to a registerred email address or cell phone number, or other
more secure forms of identification where that is needed.
At least providing CAPTCHA puzzles accessibly in two different
modalities includes a lot more users than only one.



On 11/4/14, Mallory van Achterberg < <EMAIL REMOVED> > wrote:
> So the blind are also deaf/hoh still can't use this, or does the
> doctor have something for them as well that I missed in the
> article?
>
> _mallory
> On Tue, Nov 04, 2014 at 01:07:12PM +0000, Clark, Michelle - NRCS,
> Washington, DC wrote:
>> This came from the Maryland NFB newsletter. I found it interesting and
>> hope it is for those of you out there working on the woes using the
>> internet can bring.
>>
>>
>>
>> Michelle
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> Towson University Gets Patent For Technology to Help Blind Internet Users
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> Team creates audio CAPTCHA
>>
>>
>>
>> Editor's Note: The following article from the Baltimore Sun shows that
>>
>> thanks to the efforts of Jonathan Lazar and his students at Towson
>>
>> University, we are making slow, but steady progress in eliminating the
>>
>> CAPTCHA barrier to navigating websites. Many Federationists participated
>> in
>>
>> Dr. Lazar's CAPTCHA sound study. He has been a champion of an accessible
>>
>> Internet for the blind for many years. We look forward to seeing the
>>
>> SoundsRight CAPTCHA being widely adopted.
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> Description: Anne Taylor and Dr. Jonathan Lazar
>>
>>
>>
>> (caption for image) Anne Taylor, Director of Access Technology, Jernigan
>>
>> Institute, National Federation of the Blind, uses braille and QWERTY
>>
>> keyboards in the International Braille and Technology Center for the
>> Blind.
>>
>> Dr. Jonathan Lazar, professor of Computer and Information Sciences at
>> Towson
>>
>> University, is working with her on a technology that makes CAPTCHA, a
>>
>> website security feature, accessible to blind people. (Kim Hairston,
>>
>> Baltimore Sun / April 14, 2014)
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> By Carrie Wells, The Baltimore Sun
>>
>>
>>
>> April 27, 2014
>>
>>
>>
>> While blind people can browse the Internet through a variety of means,
>> there
>>
>> is often one thing that stops them cold-a security feature known as a
>>
>> CAPTCHA that's designed to distinguish human users from robots.
>>
>>
>>
>> CAPTCHAs, in which a user must identify the letters in a distorted image,
>>
>> are commonly used to block automated bots from grabbing up all the
>> tickets
>>
>> for an event, signing up for thousands of email addresses in a short
>> period
>>
>> of time or unfairly swaying the results of an online poll. They have
>> drawn
>>
>> criticism from advocacy organizations for the blind for being too
>> difficult
>>
>> to use, but last month, Towson University
>>
>> <http://www.baltimoresun.com/topic/education/colleges-universities/towson-un
>>
>> iversity-OREDU0000148.topic> secured a U.S. patent for a new kind of
>>
>> CAPTCHA that's intended to be easier for those with limited or no
>> eyesight.
>>
>>
>>
>> With Towson's SoundsRight CAPTCHA, users listen to a series of 10 random
>>
>> sounds and are asked to press the computer's space bar each time they hear
>> a
>>
>> certain noise-a dog barking, a horse neighing-among the other sounds. The
>>
>> developers say it is superior to Google's
>>
>> <http://www.baltimoresun.com/topic/economy-business-finance/computing-inform
>>
>> ation-technology-industry/google-inc.-ORCRP006761.topic> current audio
>>
>> alternative CAPTCHA, citing studies showing that version's failure rate
>> of
>>
>> 50 percent for blind users.
>>
>>
>>
>> "Blind people are capable of doing everything that a visual person can on
>>
>> the Internet," said Jonathan Lazar, a Towson professor who has led a
>> group
>>
>> of graduate and outside researchers on the project. "We just try to come
>> up
>>
>> with some equivalent features that make it easier."
>>
>>
>>
>> "Some people are unaware that blind people can use the Internet," Lazar
>>
>> added.
>>
>>
>>
>> The SoundsRight CAPTCHA is still in a "beta" version, Lazar said, and the
>>
>> developers are hoping a real-world rollout will help identify any
>> necessary
>>
>> tweaks.
>>
>>
>>
>> The Towson researchers worked closely on testing with the National
>>
>> Federation of the Blind, which is headquartered in the Riverside
>>
>> neighborhood of Baltimore. Anne Taylor, the Federation's Director of
>> access
>>
>> technology, said there are several types of software available for blind
>>
>> users to read the text on a web page aloud. Taylor, who is blind, said
>> not
>>
>> being able to use visual CAPTCHAs could impede a blind person's ability
>> to
>>
>> enjoy the benefits of the Internet and hurt their ability to hold a job.
>>
>>
>>
>> A sighted person could help a blind user with the visual CAPTCHAs, she
>> said,
>>
>> but the blind want to be independent on the Internet. Further, since many
>>
>> CAPTCHAs are on web pages that ask for personal financial information,
>> she
>>
>> has concerns about privacy.
>>
>>
>>
>> "The Internet is such an important and integral part of our daily lives
>>
>> now," Taylor said. "Just think of how many hours you spend on the web as
>> a
>>
>> sighted individual. Would you really want to have someone with you all
>> that
>>
>> time?"
>>
>>
>>
>> CAPTCHA, which stands for Completely Automated Public Turing test
>>
>> <http://www.baltimoresun.com/topic/science-technology/computing-information-
>>
>> technology-industry/alan-turing-PEHST00000279.topic> to tell Computers
>> and
>>
>> Humans Apart, was introduced as a concept by computer scientist Alan
>> Turing
>>
>> in 1950. The term was coined in 2000 by researchers at Carnegie Mellon
>>
>> University who developed an early Web page test program for Yahoo. The
>>
>> CAPTCHAs protect from automated hacking programs that can also leave spam
>>
>> comments on blogs, attack protected passwords and send junk email.
>>
>>
>>
>> Tim Brooks, the chief software developer on the SoundsRight project since
>>
>> 2010, said the audio CAPTCHA can be embedded into any Web page and
>>
>> customized by the webmaster. Brooks said its script could be tweaked to
>> be
>>
>> used in any number of different languages or have users identify any
>> number
>>
>> of sounds. An organization for train enthusiasts, he said, could
>> potentially
>>
>> have users identify the sounds of different types of trains.
>>
>>
>>
>> The SoundsRight CAPTCHA is just as secure as the traditional visual
>>
>> CAPTCHAs, he said. Sighted users can use the audio CAPTCHA as well, or a
>> web
>>
>> page could give the option of either a visual CAPTCHA or the SoundsRight
>>
>> CAPTCHA, he said. The only potential downside to the technology is that
>> it
>>
>> takes about 30 to 40 seconds to complete, versus less than 10 seconds for
>> a
>>
>> visual CAPTCHA, Brooks said.
>>
>>
>>
>> "A lot of people don't have that kind of patience," he said.
>>
>>
>>
>> The Towson CAPTCHA project was the brainchild of then-undergraduate
>> student
>>
>> Jon Holman in 2007 as a class project, Lazar said. In a 2007 focus group,
>>
>> blind users identified visual CAPTCHAs as the biggest impediment to their
>>
>> using the Internet independently. Several other students, faculty members
>>
>> and outside researchers have assisted in developing the technology since
>> the
>>
>> project began.
>>
>>
>>
>> "We've always done the evaluation with blind users at every step," Lazar
>>
>> said. "This was research that was done because blind users were telling
>> us
>>
>> this was important."
>>
>>
>>
>> The project was partially supported with a $50,000 grant from the
>> Maryland
>>
>> Technology Development Corp., Lazar said. The researchers went through
>>
>> several different prototypes, rejecting those that weren't found to be
>>
>> secure enough.
>>
>>
>>
>> The SoundsRight CAPTCHA is in use on the National Federation of the
>> Blind's
>>
>> website, and the organization is working to encourage various groups and
>>
>> businesses to adopt it.
>>
>>
>>
>> "We are all one step away from a sudden disability, so why not make the
>>
>> Internet an inclusive place for everybody?" Taylor said.
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> Thank You,
>>
>>
>> Michelle Clark
>> Information Technology Specialist
>> Section 508 Coordinator
>> Office of the Chief Information Officer
>> USDA / Natural Resources Conservation Service
>> 1400 Independence Ave. SW.
>> Rm. 1669-S
>> Washington, DC. 20250
>>
>> O: 202 2609014
>> E-mail: <EMAIL REMOVED> <mailto: <EMAIL REMOVED> >
>> To learn more about Section 508, go to
>> www.section508.gov<;http://www.section508.gov>;.
>>
>> "Because your own strength is unequal to the task do not assume it is
>> beyond the powers of man; but if anything is in the powers and province of
>> man, believe it is within your own compass also!"
>>
>> Marcus Aurelius Antoninus
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> This electronic message contains information generated by the USDA solely
>> for the intended recipients. Any unauthorized interception of this message
>> or the use or disclosure of the information it contains may violate the
>> law and subject the violator to civil or criminal penalties. If you
>> believe you have received this message in error, please notify the sender
>> and delete the email immediately.
>> >> >> > > > >


--
Work hard. Have fun. Make history.