Disadvantages of Captcha

CAPTCHAs are designed to provide effective protection against spam, criminal automated scripts and other malicious activities. CAPTCHAs have been used in their millions for many years. Unfortunately, traditional CAPTCHAs often have a negative impact on the user experience of websites and online services. In particular, CAPTCHAs that work on the basis of solution tasks for end users are increasingly criticized for requiring users to perform pointless, repetitive tasks or disclose data in order to be able to send a message to an organization as a consumer, for example.

The following disadvantages have also been cited in surveys:

• Users experience CAPTCHAs as annoying, time-consuming and frustrating
• CAPTCHAs can be difficult for some users to understand or use due to language and cultural barriers, for example
• CAPTCHAs can be particularly difficult to use for people with visual impairments or other disabilities and for older people
• CAPTCHAs are not compatible with some browsers or may not load properly due to ad blockers or network issues
• CAPTCHAs are even less user-friendly on mobile devices due to smaller screens or the touch interface
• CAPTCHAs are also increasingly perceived by users as invasive of their privacy, as some CAPTCHA services track users or rely on third-party services that raise privacy concerns

It is clear that traditional CAPTCHAs are perceived as a nuisance to a high degree, even if the purpose in the narrower sense is recognized. If technical problems then also occur, so that users cannot access the content or service directly, this leads directly to a deterioration in the user experience, which is again associated with low conversion, low online transactions, higher abandonment, etc. It is estimated that increased friction delays customer interactions by an average of 10 seconds. That speaks for itself.

The disadvantages can also lead to certain people being excluded from online content or services altogether. In a world where digitalization is advancing in almost all areas, including the healthcare sector, this is becoming a social problem.