What is a Captcha?
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A CAPTCHA or Captcha is a type of challenge-response test often used on websites to ensure that the response is not generated by a computer. They're typically images with letters that have been distorted on a colored background, something that computers have a very difficult time reading but that humans can do relatively easily. You'll find Captchas on Atlas Quest when you register for an account (helps keep spammers at bay). You'll find them whenever you see an option to contact an administrator if you are not logged into an Atlas Quest account. (Again, it helps keep spammers from wasting our time when automated robots try to use the contact forms to send us spam.) It is also used on the message boards if your account is relatively new.The Captchas on Atlas Quest always use one of the 26 letters of the English alphabet and no numbers. While the letters may be displayed as lowercase or uppercase letters, you can type in either case—the Captchas are not case sensitive.
Sample Captcha
Computers would have a hard time recognizing these letters as mpZCn, but most people don't have much trouble with it. If you do get a letter wrong—maybe an I looked like an L, for instance, it's not big deal—Atlas Quest will give you another Captcha and let you try again.