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I was banned from the hCaptcha accessibility account for not being blind (2023)

(michaels.world)
405 points blindgeek | 2 comments | 18 Nov 24 10:13 UTC | HN request time: 1.553s | source
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isodev ◴[18 Nov 24 14:57 UTC] No.42172859[source]▶
Why are captchas even a thing still? If folks want to scrape something or build an automation around something, then why not let them do it? They still have to respect the system they're logging in. Not to mention the privacy perk of not exposing your visitors to some captcha service with a dozen or more data subprocessors.
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hifromwork ◴[18 Nov 24 15:14 UTC] No.42173046[source]▶
I assume you never tried to add a contact form to your website.

Explanation: I did, and within a few days bots started sending me spam using that form. I just added a trivial captcha (hardcoded '2+3=' question), but if my scale was bigger that would be untenable. Think also of PM spam, autoregistering accounts to abuse free tiers, etc.

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1. Spivak ◴[18 Nov 24 15:21 UTC] No.42173146[source]▶
I guess I just wouldn't have an open unauthed form and require a CC to use the free-tier. The contact-me form can just be a mailto: link and let the spammers go through the spam filter like everyone else. There are places where captchas is all you can really do but it's not like common use-cases don't have other options.
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2. hluska ◴[18 Nov 24 16:16 UTC] No.42173832[source]▶
You want to put a credit card form in front of a contact form?