Internet Radio for Blind and Low-Vision Listeners

Radio was made for the ears, so it should be the easiest thing in the world to use without sight. In practice, many radio websites are full of unlabelled buttons and pop-ups that a screen reader cannot make sense of.

We have tried to build Sur Music so that you can find a station and play it without a mouse and without seeing the screen. This guide explains how it works, and where it may still let you down.

What to expect with a screen reader

It works with TalkBack on Android, VoiceOver on iPhone and Mac, and NVDA or JAWS on Windows. Every station is a button that says what it is, for example "Play BBC Radio 4". The star button says "Save" followed by the station name and "to favourites".

When a station starts, stops or goes offline, your screen reader says so, with the station name. If you open another page on our site, the music keeps playing and your screen reader announces the new page title, so you always know where you are.

At the top of every page there is a "Skip to content" link, which takes you past the menu.

Keyboard shortcuts

These work on a computer when you are not typing in a box:

Key	What it does
K	Play or pause
N	Next station
B	Previous station
M	Mute or unmute
Alt + Up or Down	Volume up or down
/	Jump to the search box

Some screen readers use single letters for their own commands. If a shortcut does nothing, switch to focus mode or forms mode (in NVDA, that is Insert + Space) and try again.

The fastest way to find something to listen to

Scrolling through a long list is tiring. Use these instead:

1. The all stations page lists every country and type under headings, so you can jump from heading to heading.
2. News, talk, world news and sports stations are easy to follow without any picture.
3. Your own country's page, for example the UK, the USA or Pakistan.
4. The search page if you know a name or a city.

Listening with the screen off

On Android, the Sur Music app can keep playing with the screen locked and responds to headset and Bluetooth buttons. On a computer, music on our site continues while you use other tabs. See the apps page for what is available.

What we have not got right yet

We test with labelled buttons and the keyboard, and we fix what we find. But real listeners find things we miss, and we would rather hear it from you than guess. If a button has no name, a shortcut clashes with your reader, or a page is confusing, please write to us. Accessibility problems go to the front of the queue.