On many websites you have to enter a so-called Captcha, but many users do not know exactly what it is.
This is what is meant by a Captcha
A captcha can be used to distinguish whether a human or a bot is visiting a website. The abbreviation CAPTCHA stands for “Completely Automated Public Turing test to tell Computers and Humans Apart”.
- Captchas are used to check whether, for example, a form was filled out by a human or a robot. Computers (“bots”) are sometimes used to improperly make automatic entries on a page.
- Classic captchas consist of randomly arranged numbers and letters that are displayed to the user on a website. They must then type these into an input field and confirm them.
- The captchas are relatively easy for people to read, but this is usually impossible for computers because letters and numbers are displayed in such a distorted way that systems cannot read them.
- In addition, you are sometimes asked to solve math problems and enter the result. Captchas are also common, where you have to click on certain symbols and thus prove your “human intelligence”.
- Since people with poor eyesight often have problems with the captchas, many of them can also be listened to via an audio function.
- Conclusion: Captchas are annoying because they are not always entered correctly on the first attempt or are simply unreadable. However, they are indispensable for protecting a website or service.