Still Can’t Comment on Imam Zaid’s Site

Assalamu alaikum, the visual (nonaccessible for blind computer users with screen readers) captcha is still up on the comments section of the New Islamic Directions blog. Would anyone know how I could contact the website administrator directly? Or, has anyone done this already?

This is a test for me, because every time this happens to me, I have to fight the rising levels of indignation I feel, I have to fight the feeling that I’m being locked out, barred, kept from speaking up. A fellow blogger compares it to effectively putting up “no blind people allowed” signs on establishments. Yes, this may sound harsh, but in actuality, that is what it does.

When you use visual captcha with no audio or other alternative for verifying yourself, that is what you are doing, preventing blind people from commenting, signing up for services, or whatever other things you’re trying to prevent spambots from accessing. I need to go and hunt down the link for the web accessibility guidelines, becuase I don’t just want to complain, I want to offer solutions, especially when it comes to sites that I respect, run by scholars that I hold in high regard.

So, while I may have certain feelings on encountering inaccessible sites, I also want to establish dialogue to help actually make the sites accessible, instead of going on and on about how inaccessible they are and doing nothing more than complaining about it.

So, Inshallah, I can find a way to contact the site administrator to point out the problem and Inshallah, we can make the site accessible, while still preventing spam and other not-so-desirable things that the captchas are trying to keep out.