2D Tags and Why We Provide Them

What are 2D tags?

First, 2D tags are similar to the barcodes you see at the supermarket or department store. They are designed to provide information to a computer application through a scanning device.

At the supermaket, you (or the clerk) pass the barcode of a product across a scanner which reads it into the store's computer which then matches it to the name and price of the product.

Similarly, with an intelligent mobile phone and the right application, you can take a picture of a 2D tag and the application will "read" its contents. While this is not yet a common practice in the USA, it is becoming more widespread each day.

Why are we adding 2D tags to pages here?

One of the least favorite things for owners of these intelligent mobile phones to do is type a web address into the phone Internet browser to visit a web site. Now, when a web page includes the right 2D tag you can use your phone to take a picture of the tag and allow an application to read the web page address stored in that tag. Then that application will send the address to the browser, and just like that the site is open on your phone.

While we don't expect a lot of people to use this feature (at least not yet), offering it is a service that we can provide.

We've added a 2D Tag link at the bottom of this page to let you see how it works. If the image is slow in loading, please be patient. It is being created on another server for display here.