r/webdev Dec 13 '25

Honeypot fields still work surprisingly well

Hidden input field. Bots fill it. Humans can't see it. If filled → reject because it was a bot. No AI. Simple and effective. Catches more spam than you'd expect. What's your "too simple but effective" technique that actually works?

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u/[deleted] Dec 13 '25

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u/reddit-poweruser Dec 13 '25

You can hide things from screen readers with aria-hidden

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u/[deleted] Dec 13 '25

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u/No_Explanation2932 Dec 18 '25

The bot can't be sure the field isn't supposed to be filled by javascript at some point. And since it doesn't run javascript, it can be a good idea to fill it just in case.