ReCaptcha is live !!

[tuuulia]

Systems has implemented ReCaptcha on Fanlore to prevent spambots from signing up with new accounts. ReCaptcha is an image captcha that is supposed to be more effective against spam than our old math captcha.

Anyone who already has a Fanlore account should never see ReCaptcha. Let us know if you do encounter ReCaptcha, or if you see anything weird, or if (heaven forbid) you see an uptick in spam activity.

Comments

[facetofcathy]

ReCapthca is considered fairly accessible--it includes an audio option, for example--but some people will not be able to solve either the visual or the audio test.

Is there a procedure in place now for people wanting accounts who struggle with ReCaptcha tests?

Will there be a useful error message for would-be editors if they fail the test on account creation that leads them to this alternate procedure in an accessible way?

[liviapenn]

Would an automated email to the Gardeners list be an ok alternate procedure? We could set up an account for the new user, and then once they're logged in they can change their password without using a captcha.

[facetofcathy]

I don't really know, I guess that would depend on how the user experienced it. It would be important to make sure the user knew right away that there was an alternate method of account creation, and it needs to be accessible to everyone.

The worst case is an uninformative error screen with no indication of what the user should do next.

Best case would be not making users who already know they can't do ReCaptcha most of the time not have to try it first, fail, and then find out what the alternate method is.

And just to make a more general comment here--this is why a successful organization has an accessibility/diversity/usability policy.

This kind of thing should always be built into the thinking stage of design, and a policy helps people remember they're not just designing for themselves as a typical user. Accessibility and usability by design is cheaper and faster and easier than fixing it later.

[liviapenn]

I don't really know, I guess that would depend on how the user experienced it. It would be important to make sure the user knew right away that there was an alternate method of account creation, and it needs to be accessible to everyone.

So, maybe on the captcha page itself, something like, "If this captcha does not work for you, click *here* to send an email to the Gardeners requesting a Fanlore account. Please include your preferred username."

As far as an accessibility policy, you're right-- it should probably be its own page included in the category http://fanlore.org/wiki/Category:Fanlore_Policies ?

[facetofcathy]

I think your idea of an email link on the page itself is likely very workable. To be honest, it's so long since I signed up for my account, I can't really remember how it was set up.

I don't know what I think about just a Fanlore accessibility and/or diversity policy. Does the OTW itself have one? Should it be the same cross-project? I don't have the insider knowledge to make an informed opinion on that.

But as a Fanlore-specific example, we put a lot of images up on Fanlore without alt text. A policy that reminds us to think about all users might have led us to require alt text on images out of the box and given us a better site today without it ever having been a big deal for editors who were encountering alt text for the first time.

good idea

[aethel]

I just edited the recaptcha instructions, so now everyone who goes to create a new account should encounter the message:

http://fanlore.org/w/index.php?title=Special:UserLogin&type=signup&returnto=Special:UserLogin

Re: good idea

[liviapenn]

Er... that link goes to a page that requires the user to enter a captcha.

Re: good idea

[tuuulia]

Above the recaptcha it says:
To help protect against automated account creation, please type the two words you see in the box below. (Note: If the captcha doesn't work for you, please click here to send an email requesting a Fanlore account.)

Re: good idea

[liviapenn]

Yes, but when you "click here to send an email requesting a Fanlore account," it takes you to ANOTHER page where you have to enter a captcha in order to send a message to the Gardeners.

Re: good idea

[tiyire]

Huh, you're right, I didn't notice that. (At least it's an easier one? ^^) I'll ask if there was a specific reason why we didn't publicize the gardener mailing list address.

Re: good idea

[tiyire]

I asked and it turned out that we set up the webform this way because the mailing list got a lot of spam before. I can't think of any alternatives immediately and none of us is an accessibility expert, but we'll look for options.

Re: good idea

[liviapenn]

But the spam was coming through the OTW site, right? So if we just put the email to the gardeners list in plaintext on the Fanlore account creation page (instead of a link to the form on the OTW site) that wouldn't be a problem.

Re: good idea

[tuuulia]

A while ago, the OTW (webmasters committee, we think) set up web forms and told us to replace all mentions of the actual email address with a link to the form. We used to get a lot of spam email, and the webform prevents this.

I don't know anything about this, cause it happened before my time on Committee, but these where the words of Aethel (I just changed them a bit).

Re: good idea

[liviapenn]

Alternately, we could try putting the email address on there, but hiding it from spammers by using Javascript?

http://womeninbusiness.about.com/od/internetmarketingseo/a/tips-obfu-java.htm

http://javascript.about.com/library/blemail1.htm

Re: good idea

[tuuulia]

Mm, maybe. Once again we need to think about this and how it affects to everything else, like how complicated it is to us to install it XD But hey, like I said, I don't know much about this and these are just my opinions. Aethel and Tiyire are the experts of this category (:

Thanks for your suggestions, we'll always love them and try to use them if possible *hearts*

[facetofcathy]

Can I get you to clarify something for me? You are a Gardener, not a member of the Fanlore committee or an admin or a staffer or someone involved in Systems? Is that correct?

[liviapenn]

Me? Yes, that's right, I've been a Gardener since Dec 2010.

[facetofcathy]

Thanks, I was just getting confused by who was committee and/or staffer and who was speaking (or not speaking) to whom.

[tuuulia]

In this post me, aethel and tiyire are from wiki committee, but we're also gardeners on fanlore XD (who are replying to your comments at the moment)

[esteefee]

Systems is reading, though. ;)

->Arrow

[tuuulia]

yay systems \o/

[espresso_addict]

Hugely in favour though I am of getting these spambots out of our hair, I've just looked at two of these ReCaptchas (using the link liviapenn posted above) & could solve neither of them. I don't usually have a problem very often with image captchas -- are these set to be particularly tricky?

[tiyire]

Not as far as I know. We didn't have much choice between different kinds of image captchas because we wanted one that also offered an audio version. (Why we didn't use the same one as on this site - neither we nor Systems thought of it? And we're not going to change it immediately if we can help it, testing was a pain.) We're aware that this one is tricky, but every new user only has to solve it once, and we thought less spambots was worth the minor hassle.

[espresso_addict]

I've tried about twenty refreshes now. Several didn't seem to be displayed properly (one of the words was just two part lines) and there's only been two or three I was fairly sure I could do. I am rather worried that this will completely stop genuine fen from signing up.

The OTW contact form seems much clearer.

[aethel]

What browser are you using?

[espresso_addict]

Firefox 14.0.1.

[tiyire]

None of us who were testing used this browser version, so we might have overlooked something. We'll take a look and then contact Systems. Thanks for telling us!

[tuuulia]

I tested this and was able to solve it without any problems. Are you using PC or Mac? dunno if there's any matters of what computer you use, it was just my thought XD

Also did you try the audio-captcha? is that one working?

[espresso_addict]

I'm on a PC. The audio version is completely impossible, but I have difficulty hearing words over noise, so I'd always prefer the visual.

[tuuulia]

Hmm, okay. Well we try our best to get this solved and hopefully we can come up with something that will erase this problem (:

[espresso_addict]

As I wrote to someone upthread, the captcha used by OTW comment form was a lot more usable -- I tried the audio for that one also, and it was very clear.

[tuuulia]

But would it be even easier for spam bots to solve that one (captcha used buy OTW) ?
I don't know for sure, it was just a thought.

Systems knows about these things more, so if you guys are reading; feel free to say something. (;

[espresso_addict]

Well, it's another image/audio captcha rather than the simple sum, so I'd imagine it would be more difficult for bots. But I bow to the technical people...

[tuuulia]

Well, I was able to solve both of them - but I think Aethel knows more about this (or Tiyire). I will talk with them. We tested recaptcha several times and when we did a final test, everything worked out just fine, so that's why I'm a bit surprised that it isn't working now when it's live. But we talk about it and see what we can do.