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In this paper we describe the development of a new audio CAPTCHA called the SoundsRight CAPTCHA, and the evaluation of the CAPTCHA with 20 blind users. Blind users cannot use visual CAPTCHAs, and it has been documented in the research literature that the existing audio CAPTCHAs have task success rates below 50% for blind users. The SoundsRight audio CAPTCHA presents a realtime audio-based challenge in which the user is asked to identify a specific sound (for example the sound of a bell or a piano) each time it occurs in a series of 10 sounds that are played through the computer's audio system. Evaluation results from three rounds of usability testing document that the task success rate was higher than 90% for blind users. Discussion, limitations, and suggestions for future research are also presented.

The SoundsRight Audio Completely Automated Public Turing tests to tell Computers and Humans Apart (CAPTCHA) was developed with the goal of providing a usable and secure audio CAPTCHA for people with visual impairments. Its design requires users to repeatedly identify a specific sound from a group of different sounds (e.g. baby crying and bird chirping) in real time. Adding background noise (sound masks) to the sounds may make it more difficult for automated software to recognise the sounds and therefore, improve security. However, the sound masks may also make it more challenging for human users to recognise the sound. We conducted a user study involving 20 blind participants and 20 sighted participants to investigate the effect of sound masks on the usability of the SoundsRight CAPTCHA. The results suggest that sound masks do have a significant impact on the failure rate and response time. Sighted participants had significantly a higher failure rate than blind participants and were more vulnerable to the negative effect of sound masks.

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US Department of Transportation (DOT) regulations require that persons with disabilities not be discriminated against in the pricing of airline travel. To comply with these regulations, the websites of airlines are not currently required to be accessible for persons with disabilities. However, if an airline website is inaccessible, the airline must offer to customers with disabilities over the phone the same price that is available on the website and may not charge a fee for purchasing tickets over the phone. A 2009 data collection effort (published in 2010) of the application of these government regulations in cyberspace found many cases of airline non-compliance with the regulations, resulting in price discrimination against airline passengers with disabilities. This paper reports the findings of a follow-up study conducted in 2011 to determine if any progress has been made in a two-year period, revealing mixed results in the attention paid to the regulations. Some airlines still are charging higher fares or including call center fees at rates of 30% to 90%. This paper details the findings from the 2011 data collection and analyzes the data in terms of website accessibility, civil rights for travelers with disabilities, and e-government policy implications.