reCAPTCHA prevents registration for students in China

[HaroldAmes]

The addition of Google-based reCAPTCHA has made registration impossible for students in parts of the world where Google services are blocked. Having developed a full course with Canvas Free for Teachers for an international student base, this is a very problematic development.

I'm hoping someone in the community can help me find how to put this problem in front of the developers. Any help or direction is appreciated.

[ProfessorBeyrer · Accepted solution]

Per the FAQ document on the Free for Teachers server, it looks like the best option is to select the Help link in Global Navigation to connect with Instructure's support team. Your situation aligns with some of the examples listed on that page.

Another option is to enable enrollment by URL. This is explained in a Canvas Guides document:

How do I enable course self-enrollment with a join... - Instructure Community

I don't know if that process also requires reCAPTCHA.

I’m going to mark this reply as a solution. I realize it does not solve your problem, but it will help our colleagues who have a similar question.

[ProfessorBeyrer · Accepted solution]

Per the FAQ document on the Free for Teachers server, it looks like the best option is to select the Help link in Global Navigation to connect with Instructure's support team. Your situation aligns with some of the examples listed on that page.

Another option is to enable enrollment by URL. This is explained in a Canvas Guides document:

How do I enable course self-enrollment with a join... - Instructure Community

I don't know if that process also requires reCAPTCHA.

I’m going to mark this reply as a solution. I realize it does not solve your problem, but it will help our colleagues who have a similar question.

[HaroldAmes]

Got it. I should have used the "Report a problem" link to begin with. I'll do that now to get their attention.

As far as enrollment by URL, that's what we were doing. Students who have accounts already are fine, but new students who need to register cannot do so because the reCAPTCHA cannot load.

[KevinMeredith · Accepted solution]

If you can send me the course link, and private message me the students who are having trouble, I can potentially lend a hand @HaroldAmes. Please understand that reCAPTCHA is implemented to mitigate nefarious use of FFT. 

[HaroldAmes]

Thanks for the response and offer. Unfortunately, our situation involved 180 Chinese students as new registrants. Sending even just their email addresses to a third party might be interpreted as running foul of China's zealous protection of student data. In the scramble we moved to an alternative LMS solution.

I understand why reCAPTCHA is implemented--it just has the unfortunate side effect of limiting legitimate use anywhere unfriendly to Google services. The same problem is affecting users in China for all services that have chosen reCAPTCHA for their verification needs.