Trouble registering with NewsnetScotland?

It is a well known adage that it takes a lot of cost and effort to attract new customers. This is no different for the independence movement or for any web site supporting this cause.

A few weeks ago, I spent half a day trying to create an account with NewsnetScotland.com. I tried different browsers, enabled JavaScript, disabled ad blockers, and enabled Flash, but each time I entered my details I got the same error message:

I was pretty certain that I had been entering the CAPTCHA^[1] sequences correctly. Eventually, after several dozen futile attempts, my registration succeeded. This is not an isolated incident; to-day, a friend of mine encountered the same problem on NewsnetScotland.

CAPTCHA

Sites like NewsnetScotland really need to sharpen their act. Only a fraction of the traffic directed to a  web site will be converted to active users. Few people would have persevered that long just to create an account. The first encounter needs to be made as smooth as possible. A user lost through technical stumbling blocks is an opportunity squandered.

1. ^ A CAPTCHA is a type of challenge-response test used as an attempt to ensure that the response is generated by a human being.