Design Domination Podcast Episode #193: Ultimate Guide to Creating a Transcript for Audio and Video Content

Music: https://www.bensound.com

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What a Transcript Is

Let’s start off by clarifying what a transcript it. A transcript is simply a text version of spoken words and important non-speech sounds from an audio or video file. This text is an alternate way for users to get the information in the audio or video file.

Use Cases for Transcripts

It my shock you to find out that data from Nielsen show that U.S. adults spend six hours a day consuming video content!

If your media isn’t accompanied by a transcript, it will be much less accessible to everyone, not just certain users.

Here’s why…

1. Individuals with hearing impairments

Individuals with hearing impairments are one group served by transcripts.

According to the World Health Organization:

By 2050, nearly 2.5 billion people are projected to have some degree of hearing loss, and more than 700 million will require hearing rehabilitation.

They may include deaf or hard-of-hearing individuals and those who are deaf-blind.

For those who are deaf-blind and therefore unable to read as an alternate method, assistive technology can present the text in the transcript as braille to them, so they can still access the content.

So there is reason number 1 to include a transcript.

And you may be surprised about these other use cases.

2. Visual learners

Reason number 2 is people who have challenges processing auditory information (more visual leaners) also find them helpful.

I definitely have always been more of a visual learner. I can remember so much more of something that is written down rather than if I just hear it.

3. Individuals who prefer to read

Reason number 3 is that some users just want to read. They might read faster than listening to the audio or they’re just short on time.

I often hear from followers of my podcast that they often read the transcript/article on my website instead of listening. They usually do it because they can read faster.

4. Ability to search

Reason number 4 is that a transcript gives users—all users—the ability to search for content.

This is especially helpful if someone hears about a product on a podcast while driving, for example, and then visits the episode page when they get home later.

This is also helpful if they hear a name mentioned in the audio but aren’t sure how to spell it. They can find it in the transcript.

5. Ability to select text

Reason number 5 is that transcripts provide users the ability to select text.

Why does that matter?

It means that all users are able to highlight and define (like when you right- or Control-click a word in the browser or certain programs) to look up the definition of a word.

Not only that, but a transcript enables non-native speakers of a language to copy words or phrases into a translation app.

Beyond that, being able to copy and paste text from a transcript also allows you to repurpose your content more easily.

6. Situational accessibility

Reason number 6 is situational accessibility.

A user may not be able to hear the audio in the podcast or video due to their surroundings, such as being in a noisy restaurant or they don’t want to wake a sleeping baby.

7. Search engine optimization (SEO)

Reason number 7 is that transcripts can enhance search engine optimization due to on-page text with keywords and the addition of hyperlinks to the content.

This expands the reach of your content, because it will be more easily found by new people.

WCAG Requirements for Transcripts

You may be wondering what the accessibility requirements are for transcripts.

The Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) address transcripts for audio-only, video with audio and video-only content.

Audio-only Content

For audio-only media, such as a podcast that is pre-recorded, transcripts are required at level A, the lowest level of conformance.

For live audio, transcripts are required at level AAA, the highest level of conformance.

Video With Audio

For video with audio content that is pre-recorded, transcripts are a level AAA requirement.

Video-only Content

For video-only content, meaning video with no audio, if it’s pre-recorded, then a transcript describing the video or an audio description is required at level A.

How to Create a Transcript

When it comes to creating a transcript, there are several ways to do it.

While you could create a transcript by typing one up from scratch, that is the most time-consuming method.

If you already have captions, you can use that file (usually an SRT file) for the transcript. Some services will allow you to even export captions without the timing, so they are just the text. That can then be used for the transcript.

Resources for Creating Transcripts

There are a variety of tools out there that can generate transcripts for you quickly, such as:

• Otter,
• Rev,
• Happy Scribe,
• Descript.

What to Include in a Transcript

So what should you include in a transcript?

As I mentioned earlier, a transcript is a text version of spoken words and important non-speech sounds from an audio or video file. For example, a door slamming or a dog barking could be important to include if someone in the audio or video is reacting to them.

If there is more than one speaker, you want to identify who is speaking. Usually, you do this when the speaker changes and put their name and a colon after it. You don’t need to do it at the beginning of every single paragraph.

Certain circumstances may call for transcripts to be verbatim, such as legal or medical reasons, for example.

In other situations, you may wish to take out any filler words, such as “um,” “you know,” etc. I do this with my podcast content, so it reads more like a professionally written blog post or article. Including filler words would make it harder to read and understand.

Whether or not the transcript was manually typed by a human or generated by a service using AI, you always, always, always need to check it for accuracy—but not just checking the words. You need to check:

• spelling;
• names of people, products, places, etc.;
• punctuation; and
• edit it per any editorial style guidelines, if applicable.

Best Practices for Transcripts

There are some additional best practices that will make for a more reader-friendly transcript.

One is to break up the text into short paragraphs of two to three sentences. Long paragraphs are daunting for some people to read.

It’s also good practice to add headings to guide users. This also makes it easy for users to find content later as well.

You can add hyperlinks to the websites of people, places or products, etc., that are mentioned in the audio or video. It can also help with SEO when linking certain words or phrases in the text to other articles on the same website.

Once the transcript is complete, be sure to insert it on the same web page close to the audio or video file. This will make it easy to find.

OK, so that’s my ultimate guide to creating a transcript!