Feb 182009
Are you sick of crappy Captchas like I am? Captchas are great for keeping the spam down, but they can also be extremely annoying, especially when they are hard to read. If you insist on using them here are a few tips to improve usability, and conversions.
- Give the option to refresh for a new image
- Reduce the amount of characters to type
- Do not make case sensitive
- Use a simple question instead like what is 2+2.
- Use a unique form ID – An example would be “bwicaptcha”, and not “captcha”.
On sites where I have had spam problems I typically start with the easy question option. This will get 99% of all spambots. It’s also easier to set up. When I get aggressive, I then install captcha script, but limit it to just four or five characters. Any spam after that, and I think it will happen no matter what you do. Hope you take the poll!
Here is the poll: Are you sick of hard to read Captchas?
Ali Imran (5)
Curtis (4)
Graphic Design Co... (1)
Found a site that offers more alternatives: http://www.arraystudio.com/as-workshop/the-captcha-alternatives.html
Please try our CAPTCHA solution – no squiggly letters and very effective against spam. We’ve listened to others with the complaints you mentioned. http://demo.vidoop.com/captcha/
Feedback is invited. jds@vidoop.com
Well I don’t mind that CAPTCHA that I can read but so many of them are just too hard to see so I need to refresh them.
If it takes me more than three attempts I just give up and close the page. Very annoying.