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Re: Proof One Is Not A Spammer

for

From: Max Starkenburg
Date: Oct 31, 2023 9:41PM

I used to frequent LibraryThing as well (not a ton these days), so logged
in to take a peek at how their (rather unique) CAPTCHA works to see if I
could answer that question. (For others' benefit: the CAPTCHA consists of 8
book covers, from which one needs to select those that are related to food
or cooking, in order to complete sign-in.)

Looks like they're a series of <input type="checkbox"> and <label> pairs,
with the label surrounding the book cover images. But the inputs are set to
display:none, and although the labels have tabindex="0" (making them
focusable), and although mouse-clicking a label correctly associated with a
input will check it, I don't think the same is true for keyboard events (at
least not the 2 browsers I checked).

Seems like this might could be remedied by making the checkbox inputs
visually hidden instead fully hidden, or alternatively by adding a custom
JS event handler on the labels, if they're going to leave those as the
visible and focusable element. Then again, the code is showing other funny
business like removing outline styling from label:focus and input:focus
(despite some prominent animated :hover styling). And I learned never to
hold my breath when requesting site changes there in the past.

I was going to file an issue in their Bug Collector or Recommended Site
Improvement groups, but then found there was already a pretty similar issue
in Bug Collectors. It was closed after one of the employees found he was
still able to successfully use NVDA in that interface, and sure enough,
when I installed NVDA and used it on that page with Firefox, I could use
Space or Enter to select items. But then I tried on Safari & VoiceOver, and
no dice (though I could after un-hiding the inputs via the browser
Inspector). I'll go ahead and try to reopen that bug with these findings
and suggestions.

Max
--
Maxwell M. Starkenburg
<EMAIL REMOVED>



On Tue, Oct 31, 2023 at 7:14 PM David Russell < <EMAIL REMOVED> >
wrote:

> Hello WebAIM member,
>
> In the past, I have been a participating member of the online group,
> librarything.com.
> Now, signing in, which I have not done for some time, comes with the
> step to prove one isn't a spammer. However, instead of checkmarks, one
> is given a list of titles which they have to note or accept as proof
> they're not a spammer.
> I tried numerous times but was denied for evidently not selecting all
> the right titles.
>
> I assumed pressing the enter key would register my answer.
>
> Is there a way to get around this using a keyboard and screen reader only?
>
> Thanks for the help in advance.
>
> --
> David C. Russell, Author
> <EMAIL REMOVED>
> > > > >