Implementation of OpenID
Recently we’ve been discussing the implementation of a new VLE for a major Government client. One of the issues raised at a recent meeting was to do with password fatigue and so I suggested using OpenID.
OpenID solves the problem of password fatigue by automatically logging the user in through their Google/Yahoo/Facebook/etc account. My experiences of OpenID as a user have mainly been through Stackoverflow where I know many people have been put off by their lack of familiarity with OpenID. They fear they are giving vital usernames and passwords to the owners of the site. For example, to log into the new VLE we are putting in place, a learner may need to enter their gMail details and to the lay-user this is fundamentally counter-intuitive. I am looking for good routes around this. My thoughts so far are:
1. Should we send the user off to eg. Google to log-in there then come back to our site.
2. Should we create a Facebook app, where users seem to be happy to share their information with all-comers!
3. Should we put a plain old OpenID login on the VLE with a little explanation to reassure the user (in my experience the user will not understand or care)
4. Should we look into using Windows Cardspace
Perhaps we should implement all these options and any more we come up with, then those users who understand OpenID (and are probably more likely to have password fatigue) can use that, and other, more casual users can log-in a more standard way.
I’ll let you know how things progress and what eventual solutions we come up with and of course I welcome the view(s) of our zero to many readers.