Accessibility barriers with authentication methods for blind and partially sighted people in the Spanish-speaking world

Abstract

Digital authentication is now an essential part of daily life, allowing users to manage the online security and privacy of their information and digital assets. However, the authentication mechanisms for these processes are not necessarily accessible to blind and partially sighted people, which means that they lose independence or protection. There has been a certain amount of research on the accessibility barriers encountered by blind and partially sighted people in this area, but almost all this research has been done in the English-speaking world. This paper presents an online survey of 34 blind and partially sighted people in Spanish-speaking countries to obtain information on the accessibility barriers they encounter relating to creating, using and changing passwords, using CAPTCHAs, password managers, two-factor authentication, fingerprint and facial recognition, and QR codes. The results indicate numerous severe accessibility barriers which could be avoided by following accessibility standards. It was particularly surprising that even auditory alternatives to CAPTCHAs present accessibility barriers.