Jun 4
Avoid CAPTCHAs!
This is not the first time I've given my opinion on CAPTCHAs.
The problem
So you want to deter the spambots - but don't make your users deal with your problem. People use CAPTCHAs without a thought since they're all over the place, but we need to focus on our users now more than ever.
Alternatives
There are plenty of alternatives. I encourage all developers and web entrepreneurs to carefully consider alternatives before going for the CAPTCHA.
Here are three of many, with the top two being preferred since they don't ask anything more of the user:
- Detect activity on the page
- If it's for comments, use a spam filter instead
- Ask your user a question with a common sense answer
Let me know what you think. Despite using that Google Accounts CAPTCHA as an example, I have to give it to them that they are trying new ideas.
Filed under //
captcha
