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@pitermach@dragonscave.space
Post #2393155
2026-05-10 18:27 UTC
Reading about the new generation of Recaptcha requiring android phones to pass google play attestation and I'm thinking this will have accessibility implications for blind users. Beyond the point that this will lock out custom roms and mobile devices that aren't iOS or Android, at least where I live for example there's a lot of people who use Blind Shell phones (which are essentially an Android phone with a oldschool keypad to work more like a Nokia phone of the past.) And those don't have google services either which is increasingly causing more problems. How that OEM is handling the software aside, something else Google will apparently do is if you use a computer is a verification will require scanning a QRCode on a compatible phone and oh boy that's gonna be fun. Many blind people run their computer without a screen, and even if you do have one, scanning a QRCode can be a crapshoot. It might take a few seconds if it's big and you have enough lighting, or it might take a few minutes or not work at all if you don't or the code is obscured by some other window you're not aware of. And I bet the service will have a timeout so if you're not good at scanning QR codes you could just be locked out.
So yeah, things are going great. The service that used to previously be the most accessible might be far less so going forward. That then leaves cloudflare turnstyle, which is also very accessible but can really screw you over if you use a VPN and isn't liked by privacy concious website operators for very valid reasons. I hope this doesn't push more companies to adopt HCaptcha which advertises itself as the most privacy friendly ReCaptcha alternative... Unless you're blind in which case if you're lucky you might get a text challenge which has to be enabled by the website, otherwise you have to give them your Email address, send a text to a US phone number to request a cross-site accessibility cookie which now doesn't work in most web browsers. Things are going great!
Replies (6)
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@pitermach@dragonscave.space Hi Petty its been a while. You still live in NL land? Meh QR codes!
Open ##2554224
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@pitermach@dragonscave.space Yep, accessibility is definitely been put in as an after thought.
Open ##2554225
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@pitermach@dragonscave.space wow, just wow
Open ##2554226
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@pitermach@dragonscave.space altcha, bro, why they're not using altcha!
Open ##2554227
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@pitermach@dragonscave.space
Something else Google will apparently do is if you use a computer is a verification will require scanning a QRCode on a compatible phone and oh boy that's gonna be fun.
This is absolutely insane, smartphones are not a thing everyone has contrary to popular belief.
You can't rely on everyone having access to a smartphone.
Open ##2731132
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@pitermach@dragonscave.space @sparksexist@dragonscave.space If it helps, I do have a way of contacting the HCaptcha team and I had a pretty encouraging conversation with them. The mainline support are pretty useless but writing them a very strongly-worded email that detailed exactly how fed up we all are with the service and how they keep ignoring suggestions to change (and accidentally sending it from my work email, which maps to an org that does accessibility work) actually seemed to do the trick. It may be time to follow up with them.
Open ##2731134