G144Sufficient technique WCAG 1.1.1 Level A Partly scanner-detectable

Offer a second CAPTCHA in another modality

G144 asks the page to carry a second CAPTCHA that serves the same purpose through a different sense, so somebody blocked by one has a real chance at the other. Visual and audio is the usual pair. W3C lists this as sufficient for 1.1.1 Non-text Content at Level A, together with the technique that describes the CAPTCHA in text, and neither of the two counts on its own. There is a limit worth being honest about. A visual test and an audio test between them still fail anyone who is deafblind, and they are hard for people with cognitive disabilities either way. W3C's own guidance on this rule recommends going past two modalities and considering approaches that are not CAPTCHAs at all, which is usually the better engineering answer.

How we find it in an audit

Our reviewers try to complete registration and login using only the alternative. That means finding it, operating it by keyboard, and actually passing it. Audio challenges fail this often, through unreachable controls, distorted audio nobody can transcribe, or a refresh that resets the visual test and leaves the audio behind.

How affected users experience it

A single visual challenge locks blind users out of the account entirely, and there is no workaround from their side. An audio alternative helps, and it is not a solved problem, because the audio is deliberately degraded and often harder than the picture. Deafblind users get nothing from either. That is why the strongest answer is to stop relying on a puzzle and use a method that does not test the senses.

Passes vs. fails

Passes: managers and paste welcome. Fails: a memory test at the door.

Passes

Users choose between the visual challenge and an audio challenge serving the same purpose, and both are operable from the keyboard.

Fails

Registration is gated by a single visual challenge asking users to type distorted characters, which locks blind users out entirely.

How this gets tested

The W3C publishes test rules that define what a checker looks for here.

Element marked as decorative is not exposedA tool can check this
Image accessible name is descriptiveA tool finds candidates, you decide
Image button has non-empty accessible nameA tool can check this
Image has non-empty accessible nameA tool can check this
Link has non-empty accessible nameA tool can check this
Object element rendering non-text content has non-empty accessible nameA tool can check this
SVG element with explicit role has non-empty accessible nameA tool can check this
Image not in the accessibility tree is decorativeA tool can check this

Other ways to satisfy this rule

39 guides on this site are filed under 1.1.1 Non-text Content. W3C lists this one as sufficient for that rule only alongside G143, so the pair is what passes and neither half does on its own.

This guide is our interpretation of W3C technique G144: Ensuring that the web page contains another CAPTCHA serving the same purpose using a different modality. W3C publishes its techniques as guidance rather than as the standard, and says so on every one of them. The success criterion is what conformance is measured against, and a technique is one documented way to meet it.