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Last week we talked about display advertising in ham radio publications and how blind readers did not have access to it due to postal regulations. There is a resource we discovered that will work for you!
Blind? Try alternative ways to access ham radio advertising content on the web.
Since most of us relish the display advertising in all of the ham radio publications, I'm not surprised that one of the most popular activities at Handiham Radio Camp is our discussion of the display ads in the current magazines. Last week's e-letter and podcast featured some news about what I saw in the latest magazines. Of course that kind of discussion is fun, but it's hardly comprehensive and it probably doesn't cover what you are looking for at any given time. For that kind of targeted research, you turn to the web.The Internet is a big place. That is at once both an advantage when you are searching for something and a disadvantage. There is truth to the saying that you can't really sip information from the Internet - it's more like trying to drink from a fire hose, with the information coming at you fast and at high volume. This is a problem for guys like me who can see the pages of search results, but blind computer users experience the web in a different, more linear way. With screen reading programs providing the necessary interface between the computer and the user, content must be read a line or phrase at a time. You cannot quickly take in an entire page on the screen. That makes searching a challenge, and it means that blind computer users need to have a strategy to target their searches in order to narrow the results more efficiently.
While looking through my December 2013 QST print version, I discovered what is just the ticket: An on line version of the QST Index of Advertisers that appears at the back of every issue. The URL is: http://www.arrl.org/ads/adlinks.html, which takes you to a page entitled "Meet Our Business Partners". This page is open to any user, whether logged in to the ARRL website or not. The thing that makes it really useful is that it closely mirrors the Index of Advertisers in the print version of QST while providing links to advertiser websites, or in some cases, toll-free phone numbers.
Well, if QST has that kind of resource, how about CQ? I know that the print CQ has an "Advertiser's Index" at the rear. Sure enough, a visit to the CQ website did turn up "CQ Amateur Radio Advertiser Links", exactly what I was looking for. The URL is: http://www.cq-amateur-radio.com/cq_advertisers.html. Like the ARRL page, there are links to advertiser websites as well as phone numbers.
"This is a bonanza", I thought to myself. "Is there a third list on the Worldradio Online site?"
Sure enough - the URL is http://www.worldradiomagazine.com/wr_visit_ads.html and the site is called "Visit Our Advertisers".
I suggest that you save all three websites in your browser bookmarks. I have lots of bookmarks, so I've created a "Ham Radio" bookmark folder just for Amateur Radio related pages. Whether you can see the ham radio display ads or not, these bookmarks will prove useful many times as you research new products or simply look for contact information from Amateur Radio manufacturers and services.
Happy hunting!
Patrick Tice, WA0TDA
Courage Kenny Handiham Coordinator
Courage Kenny Handiham Coordinator
