An increasingly popular technique for preventing e-mail abuse is frustrating some visually impaired Net users, setting the stage for a conflict between spam busters and advocates for the disabled.
Many companies have recently begun requiring users to pass a verification test in order to access their services--typically by typing into a Web form a few characters that appear on the form in a guise that prevents a computer or software robot from recognizing and copying them. The technique, now used by Web giants Yahoo, Microsoft, VeriSign and others, seeks to block software bots from signing up for Web-based e-mail accounts that can be used to launch spam and from scraping e-mail addresses from online databases.
The scheme is winning high marks in the battle against unwanted junk e-mail. But it is also increasingly hindering the progress of Web surfers with visual disabilities--raising the ire of advocates for the blind, spurring plans for alternatives from a key Web standards group, and eliciting warnings from legal experts who say that the practice could expose companies to lawsuits brought under the Americans with Disabilities Act.
News source: news.com
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Many companies have recently begun requiring users to pass a verification test in order to access their services--typically by typing into a Web form a few characters that appear on the form in a guise that prevents a computer or software robot from recognizing and copying them. The technique, now used by Web giants Yahoo, Microsoft, VeriSign and others, seeks to block software bots from signing up for Web-based e-mail accounts that can be used to launch spam and from scraping e-mail addresses from online databases.
The scheme is winning high marks in the battle against unwanted junk e-mail. But it is also increasingly hindering the progress of Web surfers with visual disabilities--raising the ire of advocates for the blind, spurring plans for alternatives from a key Web standards group, and eliciting warnings from legal experts who say that the practice could expose companies to lawsuits brought under the Americans with Disabilities Act.
News source: news.com View: View the full article"Europe is under-exposed to the PC market and is therefore not benefitting to the same degree from the seasonal demand improvements," Woolf said. "If a higher exposure to the telecoms market has led Europe to underperform in May, then this increases the likelihood that STMicroelectronics could miss its second quarter revenue target."
Analysts polled by Thomson Financial expect STMicroelectronics to report revenue of $1.7 billion for the three months ended June 30. Some of the weakness in the European market could be offset in coming months by the region's strength in the automotive and industrial markets.
The entire chip market witnessed an unexpected upswing in May with the Semiconductor Industry Association reporting that its three-month moving average figures showed sales improved as the effects of SARS on the sector began to wane.
Actual May chip sales rose even more strongly as unit shipment surged at a double-digit rate. Worldwide sales increased to $12 billion, up 11% from $10.7 billion in the year-ago month. Sales increased from $41.2 billion in April.
"The revenue increased chiefly because of strong shipment of 12% month-over-month and 54% year-over-year," said Jay Kim, an analyst at Goodmorning Shinhan Securites, Tokyo, in a report. "Although the shipment growth of 54% year-over-year is lower than the previous months' 73% in March and 69% in April, strong pricing in recent weeks bodes well for the global DRAM outlook."
On a regional basis, sales in the Americas declined 7%, to $2.47 billion from $2.65 billion in May 2002, continuing a trend that has seen the region lose market share to Asia-Pacific, which grew 12%, to $4.65 billion from $4.16 billion. Japan recorded the strongest year-over-year sales increase in May, rising 26% to $2.93 billion from $2.33 billion in the year-ago month.
It really must suck if yer disabled in any way, wish all people were healthy, but why does the whole world have to adjust now? There are other priorities first, we have to make websites work for the 99% of "normal" (non-disabled?) people first, no one is gonna do something for 1% of audiance first. Really disgusting to say, but it's not our fault and not our problem. I think everything is being adjusted to all kind of disabled people, which is great, every bigger town in the world has all sidewalks and stairs adjusted to disabled, but it'd be nice if they just once appreciated anyting, not just b*tch and threaten with a lawsuit for every dumb reason. But its probably just few of those always-angry people that are whining here, as most of disabled people I know are the sweetest people. But all this is typical american: if you don't like something, go to court.
Last edited by 11188 on 03 Jul 2003 - 08:14
Erm, some of the worlds most respected musicians are/were deaf....
What do you think blind people do all day? Sit in a chair and listen to the radio all day?
The problem is that technology helps the Blind but the same technology might be used to create the accounts they are trying to prevent from being opened.
How do they enforce that? Not all website are in the UK or are they only talking about the .uk domain?
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