A Banbury teenager has become an overnight sensation after his Wash Your Lyrics coronavirus advice website went viral.
Banbury and Bicester College computing student William Gibson created the website in less than a day in a bid to encourage more people to wash their hands amid growing nationwide healthcare concerns.
The website automates a handwashing infographic alongside song lyrics from Queen's Bohemian Rhapsody.
This is based on inputting a chosen artist and song title within the generator tool.
William created the website after seeing a digital poster featuring lyrics from his favourite band, 100 Gecs.
READ AGAIN: What can we expect from today's budget
He shared the image online and the positive response inspired him to create his own website.
William said: “I wanted to make a poster for every song that I liked and instead of copying and pasting, I decided to automate it on a website because it would be so much quicker in the long run.
“It’s quite crazy that the website has gone this viral.
"I thought it would pick up some traction, but this is like actually crazy and the database has been totally overloaded.
"I was pretty great with computers before I came to Banbury and Bicester College, but it’s been a great place to create and bounce ideas off one another in class and try new things.”
READ AGAIN: Coronavirus fears at primary school
The Wash Your Lyrics website has been so popular that servers have intermittently crashed throughout the day.
William is working quickly to address the database issue and allow people to continue using it.
Rob Kavanagh, computing teacher at Banbury and Bicester College, said: “William is a bright, proactive and dedicated learner with a thirst for knowledge.
"He has made some interesting projects which he has self-initiated and developed from the ground up.”
Outside his studies, the 17-year-old student is a freelance website developer and designer and has even started his own company.
READ AGAIN: Man stole hundreds of pounds of alcohol from city shop
He is completing work experience organised by Banbury and Bicester College at local digital development and design company, Synoji.
Rich Hancock, creative director at Synoji, said: “Will was always going to go far, and we’re very lucky to be part of the start of his early journey to success.
“The Wash Your Lyrics website is a perfect example of how Will is able to use his expert knowledge of technology at all levels and combine it with his understanding of the world.”
William plans to work as a freelancer full-time once his studies are complete and currently has no more plans to create any more viral or trending websites.
If you would like to learn more about computing programmes available at Banbury and Bicester College, please visit activatelearning.ac.uk or contact Activate Learning on 0800 612 6008.
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here