cognitive-captcha

Description

Do not use CAPTCHA which tests the cognitive abilities of a user. CAPTCHAs that involve math problems, word problems, puzzles, memory tests, etc. test the mental skills of the user and hence violate the cognitive-captcha rule.

If a CAPTCHA is essential, use a solution that doesn’t test the cognitive abilities of the user. reCAPTCHA v3 is a good option to thwart bots without troubling users with cognitive disabilities.

The cognitive-captcha rule follows Level AA conformance and allows CAPTCHAs which ask the user to identify images that contain a specific object from a group of images.

Example

Consider the following example in which a math problem is used as a CAPTCHA.

Although this could be considered a simple math problem, it tests the cognitive abilities of the user and hence violates the cognitive-captcha rule.

In contrast, the following signup page uses reCAPTCHA v3. While it effectively blocks bots, users don’t have to perform any task that test their cognitive abilities.

Note that while image verification CAPTCHAs do not break the cognitive-captcha rule, they violate the stricter cognitive-captcha-enhanced rule (Level AAA conformance).

How to fix?

Follow these steps to fix any violations in the cognitive-captcha rule:

• Check if your website uses CAPTCHAs that test the cognitive abilities of a user.
• Replace any such CAPTCHAs with one that doesn’t test the cognitive abilities of a user. The best practice is to use reCAPTCHA v3.

Reference

• WCAG 3.3.8: Accessible Authentication (Minimum)(Level AA)
• cognitive-captcha-enhanced