BBC Radio Derby demonstrates the dangers of old web pages

As I write, BBC Radio Derby - the nominated communication method for news of local school closures - is directing listeners to its website to check on school closures.

In a hurry, I Googled "Radio Derby Schools" and there was last Tuesday's long list of closures. I knew it was last  Tuesday's list, because I had twice complained last week that Radio Derby were showing this same out-of-date-list. The casual user could readily have missed the date, seen the name of their local school, and assumed it shut. With A level exams today (and virtually every school actually open), that would be a big big mistake with serious consequences.

I rang Radio Derby this morning to warn them. A patient operator explained that I had made the mistake of looking at an old page that Google seemed intent on indexing, and that if I went to the Radio Derby website, then followed the hierarchy of choices, I would find an up-to-date list, I would find the correct information.

How often I come across people who think that all is OK because they can explain to me the recommended method for finding the correct information. They just won't take the point that if there is also wrong information out there waiting to be found, then they are acting dangerously.

The BBC Radio Derby man did have the decency to say that they knew it was a problem, and claimed that they were broadcasting warnings about this. (They certainly hadn't added any such warning at around 0730 this morning when they referred listeners to the website).

So, they knew of the problem but did nothing to fix it. Brilliant.

Lessons to learn:

• When information changes, update the relevant page on your website rather than creating a new one. If you have some rule that prevents your taking down the old info, modify the old page so that there are strong banner messages saying that this is an out-of-date page. Change the text colour to something odd (say pink) so that people can read it but will wonder why it looks odd.
• Listen to your complainants (quickly) and allow the possibility that they are sensible people trying to tell you something you need to hear. I complained to the BBC five days ago about the out of date page. Either the BBC was very slow processing my complaints, or it must have assumed that I was a demented idiot.
• Give your front-line people training to explain the danger of out-of-date information, and give them emergency procedures for getting things fixed in a hurry.

POSTSCRIPT - the BBC responds (after six days) to my complaint that their School Closure list was nearly 24 hours out of date: "... naturally, it can take longer for all of the regional sites to be updated than to read the lists out" .
A perfect example of complaint-handling as a defensive art ("say anything to shut the complainant up") rather than as an intelligence-gathering exercise ("is this person telling us of a problem that we need to fix?")