SureRadio.com launched a year ago, replacing tired and largely empty pages with a website that doesn’t just provide a wealth of information about an active radio station, but can be taken as a form of entertainment in its own right - even if you don’t have access to the station broadcasts. The website receives high praise not just from within Sure, but also from other organisations and visitors across the web, including several mentions on the Media UK radio forum. SureRadio.com is promoted with a banner at every outside event that Sure Radio runs or attends, and has proved very popular, reportedly accounting for 4% of the university’s served Internet traffic during one RSL. (Source: Alexa.com)

Each show has its own place on the website where visitors can find out about the presenters, the show and its broadcast times, as well as a photo or related picture. Many presenters have added their own features to supplement their show details, for example, DJ Amatthaüs has a specialist dance show and uses his space to show the playlists for his programme, Chris Greg and Izz have a magic 8 ball feature on their programme which has been carried across to the website, and current affairs show The Current Session has used their space to make some of their interviews public. Copies of the current schedule and the daytime playlist are also available online along with the latest station news to further enrich the broadcast information.

SureRadio.com also has many features that go beyond the broadcast, such as photos of presenters and outside events, behind-the-scenes gossip in Off The Duck’s Back, and downloads including screensavers and wallpaper to increase site stickiness and keep listeners returning.

Any student at either of the two Sheffield universities can get involved in the running of Sure, and the website doesn’t just act as an advert for the station, but also tells people what they can contribute, what they can get out of it and how to join in. Combining online features with the radio shows makes students feel like they already know the people running the station.

SureRadio.com doesn’t just look to the future, though - it also takes its history seriously, and has features including station and website histories, previous AGM presentations and links to news about Sure on other websites - such as the world-famous Eminem ban, which is chronicled in depth from archive material. The site also encourages input, be that a listener making suggestions or somebody from the station writing an article or contributing a memory – even if they’ve graduated.

To further enhance the site, SureRadio.com works with third parties to provide a fully integrated search feature on every page with an advanced search only an extra click away, an alumni guestbook which has been signed by many people who have left the station, mobile phone logo downloads to further increase brand awareness and bolster listening figures, and a variety of station merchandise.

During FM and Union broadcasts the website comes into its own. The station now includes a streaming live feed available to any student, and audible on most operating systems since it uses Real encoding. (Many Computer Science students prefer listening on Linux). The Sure RadioBar can reduce the player to a one line scrolling message at the top of the screen, providing information about the current programme as well as context-dependent links which cause a browser to ‘drop down’. (The RadioBar uses some tricks that have been disabled in Internet Explorer 6 SP2, so this feature isn’t available to everyone).

Broadcasts also see almost daily site updates and greater interactivity, such as competitions (both on and off-air), listener polls and one-click shout and track requests, which are routed directly to the studio. During the last broadcast (when these were pioneered) presenters were frequently receiving messages throughout their shows, and commented on how this listener interaction boosted the quality of the programming. Dynamic content, such as the highly visual photographic now/next/later indicator complete with links to related pages, also helps keep the website fresh during broadcasts by providing useful information in a highly consistent but constantly changing way.

Sure have a duty and a legal responsibility to make the station open to all students, and a specially designed accessibility tool is available on most pages to deal with this. Settings can be changed to automatically magnify pages for the visually impaired, convert them to plain text for those using screen readers, and electronically translate pages for those whose first or preferred language is not English.

The server generates pages dynamically using technologies such as SSI and PHP, making it easy to update the site. Pages also utilise client-side JavaScript, and are written in a way that makes them ready for a switch to XHTML with styles applied by CSS. While the site takes advantage of new browsers, it is intended to work with older browsers to at least a functional extent, and attempts to adhere to W3C standards where appropriate.

Since SureRadio.com launched late in the second quarter of 2002 the site has flourished with contributions from many presenters and listeners. The popular website will continue to grow throughout the next year and will provide a valuable link between listeners and the station, especially during the next broadcast in September.