Transcription of Audio Content
Table of contents
Transcription ensures that your audio content is made accessible to everyone. For example, this written text alternative benefits:
- Individuals with disabilities or hearing impairment
- People in noisy environments or who are in a location where they don’t want to disturb others (e.g. on public transportation, in a library)
- People who wish to use the content for studying
- People who don’t speak the language of the audio clip at a native level and who could therefore benefit from reading the information in writing
- Search engines
Search engines are still not capable of reading the content of audio files. Thus, we suggest taking advantage of transcriptions to increase the visibility of your website(s).
Transcriptions can also serve as a study aid. Information that can be not only heard, but also read is better understood and remembered. For example, if you use the audio content for online teaching, you can help your students even more by providing a transcript.
You can use transcription software to support you in efficiently generating accurate transcripts. There are automated and manual solutions available. Many providers also offer a transcription service which you can take advantage of.
Manual transcription solutions
Manual transcription solutions feature various functions to aid you in playing audio files back and typing up the content. For example, some software programs allow you to adjust the playback speed to your typing rate. Plus, you can also save time by creating a keyboard shortcut for repeated phrases. If you want to have both hands free for typing, you can connect a USB foot pedal to control playback.
The major advantage to manual transcription is that there are many free tools available. If your audio file isn’t too large, then this is often the best option.
Helpful tools and licenses
Automated transcription solutions
If you have a lot of content to transcribe and don’t have the capacity to do it by hand, you can also use an automated solution. Simply import the audio file into the tool of your choice and it will generate a transcript for you. You should still schedule time to check the text file since it could contain mistakes depending on audio quality or the number of speakers.
Automated transcription can save time in many cases, but it is not guaranteed to be the best option. Automated transcription programs are available for a fee and since you still have to check each transcript for mistakes, it is frequently not worth using this solution for shorter audio clips.