Symptom: Links do not work when you try to use the e-letter audio on the Handiham
website. To test this, check out the links below. You can listen four different
ways,
Via MP3 stream:
http://www.handiham.org/audio/handiham.m3u
Did you hear the audio stream? If not, perhaps you do not have an audio player like Windows Media Player or Winamp installed. Here are links to downloads of the free Windows Media Player:
For Windows XP users:
For Windows 98 and other Windows versions, you may need to use Windows Media Player 9. Use the link above and then look for the link to "see all Windows Media Player downloads".
Another popular free media player is called Winamp. It is easy for blind
users to operate. It may be found at:
http://www.winamp.com/
Next, there is a link directly to the MP3 audio file. When you click this
link and nothing seems to happen, it is probably not because there is anything
wrong, but because the file is large and it may take several minutes to download
on a slower Internet connection. If you want to save the file to your hard
drive, you should right click on it and choose "save target as", then
tell it where to save and what filename. This is useful for listening
later, or to place the audio on your portable MP3 player. Here is where you can
download the weekly e-letter audio in MP3:
http://www.handiham.org/audio/handiham.mp3
Another kind of audio is called "RealAudio". There is a free
player at:
http://www.real.com/
First try the
RealAudio stream:
http://www.handiham.org/audio/handiham.ram
If the stream does not play, you may not have the Real Player installed on
your computer, or your Real Player may be an old version. Be sure your
player is up to date. Another way to listen is to download the Real Audio file
to your hard drive to listen later. However, if you just click on this
link and nothing seems to happen, it may be because the file is large and takes
several minutes to download before your player can open and play it. That
is why we recommend the streaming links instead. When you use the
streaming links for MP3 and Real audio formats, the file will begin to play
sooner, even before the entire file downloads. Here is the
RealAudio download:
http://www.handiham.org/audio/handiham.rm
Another possibility is that a link you have saved on your Windows desktop or in your browser favorites is outdated. Websites, ours included, do move files around and this may cause your links to quit working. Be sure you have the correct links.
Sometimes browsers are set to "cache" web pages to save download times, especially on slower dial-up connections. Cached web pages may have outdated links. The solution is to use the "refresh" command in your browser's menu items. Then re-try the links.
We hope this solves your problem. If you continue to have problems opening audio links to the weekly eletter, please email us at: patt@courage.org and describe in detail what happens when you try to follow a link.