A great newspaper website should be accessible to everyone. Surf CMS includes features and best practices that help make your website easier to use for people with disabilities while improving the experience for all readers.
From keyboard navigation to screen reader support and responsive layouts, Surf CMS is designed to help publishers create websites that are more inclusive, user-friendly, and aligned with modern accessibility standards.
Designed with Accessibility in Mind
Surf CMS incorporates accessibility-friendly design practices such as:
Semantic HTML
Responsive layouts
Keyboard-friendly navigation
Screen reader compatibility
Accessible form controls
Logical heading structure
Descriptive page titles
Support for alternative image text
Clearly labeled links and buttons…
Every newspaper has unique workflows and information to collect. Surf CMS includes a powerful custom form builder that allows you to create virtually any type of online form—without writing code.
Whether you're collecting reader feedback, advertising requests, contest entries, subscription inquiries, or internal staff requests, you can build forms tailored to your exact needs.
Build Unlimited Forms
Create as many custom forms as your organization requires, including:
Contact forms
Reader submissions
Event submissions
Advertising inquiries
Classified ad requests
Subscription support
News tips
Obituary submissions
Legal notice requests
Employment applications
Contest entries
Survey forms
Volunteer applications
Community organization requests
Business directory submissions…
Keep your community calendar full with less work from your newsroom. Surf CMS allows organizations, businesses, nonprofits, schools, churches, and community members to submit events directly through your website for editorial review.
Instead of relying on emails or phone calls, event organizers can submit all the details through a simple online form. Editors review each submission before it appears on the website, ensuring your calendar remains accurate and professional.
Simple Online Event Forms
Create an easy-to-use submission form that collects everything needed for a complete event listing, including:
Event title
Date and time
Location
Description
Admission information
Contact details
Website links
Registration links
Categories
Featured images
Event flyers or PDFs…
Make it easy for readers, advertisers, businesses, and community members to connect with your newspaper. Surf CMS includes flexible contact form tools that allow you to create everything from simple contact pages to detailed request forms without requiring custom programming.
Whether someone is submitting a news tip, requesting advertising information, asking a question, or contacting a specific department, your forms ensure inquiries are organized and delivered to the right people.
Build Unlimited Forms
Create as many forms as your organization needs, including:
General contact forms
News tips
Advertising inquiries
Subscription support
Customer service requests
Website feedback
Classified advertising requests
Legal notice inquiries
Event sponsorship requests
Employment…
Reader submissions are a great feature to highlight because they increase engagement, generate local content, and save newsroom time.
Reader Submissions
Community newspapers thrive on community involvement. Surf CMS makes it easy for readers to submit news, photos, events, announcements, letters, and other content directly through your website. Each submission is routed to your newsroom for review before anything is published, giving editors complete control while encouraging greater community participation.
Whether it's a youth sports photo, a local business announcement, a community event, or a breaking news tip, your readers become active contributors to your publication.
Accept Many Types of Content
Create customized submission forms for virtually any type of content, including…
Encourage Reader Discussion When It Fits Your Newspaper
Give readers a place to respond, discuss, and participate—while keeping your newsroom in full control.
Reader comments can be a valuable way to encourage community discussion, increase engagement, and give readers a voice.
But every newspaper is different.
Some publishers want active comments on stories. Others prefer not to offer comments because of moderation challenges, abusive behavior, spam, or staff limitations.
Surf New Media’s Comments feature is flexible. Comments can be enabled, disabled, limited to certain sections, or turned off entirely based on what works best for your newspaper.
Optional by Design
Comments do not have to be active.
Your newspaper decides whether comments are available at all.
You can choose to…
Turn Website Visitors into Loyal Subscribers
Capture newsletter subscribers, digital members, and registered readers with customizable subscription forms built directly into Surf CMS.
Every visitor to your website is an opportunity to grow your audience.
Whether you're building your email newsletter, increasing digital subscriptions, or encouraging reader registration, Surf New Media's Subscriber Forms feature makes it easy to capture new subscribers and grow lasting relationships with your community.
Create attractive, easy-to-use forms that fit seamlessly into your website while automatically organizing subscriber information inside Surf CMS.
Build Your Email List
Growing your email audience has never been more important.
Subscriber Forms help you collect:
Newsletter Signups…
Give Your Community a Voice
Make it easy to receive, manage, review, and publish Letters to the Editor—all from one integrated platform.
Letters to the Editor have long been one of the most respected traditions in community journalism.
They give readers an opportunity to express opinions, discuss local issues, praise community achievements, and respectfully debate topics that matter to their neighbors.
Surf New Media’s Letters to the Editor feature provides a complete workflow for receiving, organizing, reviewing, and publishing reader submissions while giving editors complete control over what appears in print and online.
Online Letter Submission
Allow readers to submit letters directly from your website through an easy-to-use online form.
Submission forms can include:
Author…
Become Your Community’s Go-To Source for Local Events
Publish, organize, and promote community events with a powerful calendar built specifically for local newspapers.
Community newspapers do more than report the news—they help bring communities together.
Surf New Media’s Events Calendar feature provides a centralized place for readers to discover what’s happening in their area while giving your newspaper new opportunities to increase engagement, support local organizations, and generate advertising revenue.
Whether it’s a city festival, school concert, chamber meeting, charity fundraiser, or Friday night football game, your Events Calendar keeps readers informed and connected.
A Central Hub for Community Events
Create a comprehensive calendar featuring events such as:
Community…
Increase Reader Engagement with Interactive Online Polls
Ask questions. Start conversations. Keep readers coming back.
Community newspapers have always been the center of local conversation.
Surf New Media’s Polls feature helps bring those conversations online by allowing publishers to quickly create interactive polls that encourage readers to participate, share opinions, and engage with local issues.
Whether you’re asking readers about local elections, high school sports, community events, or just for fun, polls create another reason for visitors to return to your website.
Easy to Create
Creating a poll takes only a few minutes.
Simply:
Enter your question
Add answer choices
Choose a start date
Set an end date (optional)
Publish
Your poll is immediately available on your…