Transcripts

The Standards

Section 508 Standards:

  • Standard 1194.22, a “A text equivalent for every non-text element shall be provided (e.g., via “alt”, “longdesc”, or in element content).” (Section508.gov)

WCAG 2.0 Guidelines:

  • Guideline 1.1: “Provide text alternatives for any non-text content so that it can be changed into other forms people need, such as large print, braille, speech, symbols or simpler language.” (W3C)
  • Guideline 1.2.1 “Audio-only and Video-only (Prerecorded): For prerecorded audio-only and prerecorded video-only media, the following are true, except when the audio or video is a media alternative for text and is clearly labeled as such: (Level A)” (W3C)

Why is it important to include a transcript?

Providing a transcript of media helps individuals with disabilities and many individuals without disabilities. Listen to the Why are transcripts important? podcast or read the accompanying transcript for more information on this.

Best Practices for Transcripts

It is recommended to include in the transcript:

  • All dialogue from the media. Usually you want to transcribe the dialogue as it is presented, even if it is not grammatically correct. There are some cases where you should even add the disfluencies ( ‘ahs’ and ‘ums’ in the speech), but not all types of media require this level of accuracy. It is recommended you determine the degree of accuracy before starting the transcription.
  • If a person’s tone of voice or how they are speaking is relevant then include that information in brackets.
  • Important non-dialogue audio (baby crying, car horn honking, fire alarm, music, etc.)
  • The names of all the speakers in the transcript. Also include their official titles if that information is relevant and available. Just add the full name and title before their first line of dialogue and then use shorthand for the rest of the transcript.
  • Descriptions of content-bearing visuals in the media. An example would be descriptions of graphs, charts and maps. For audio files or videos with unimportant decorative images then descriptions are not needed.
  • Clarifications and elaborations on visual instructions in the audio. For example, the narrator in a screencast video might say “Go over here for contact information.” In the transcript you could clarify where “here” is in the video. You might write in brackets or parenthesis, “Scroll down to the footer of the website to get the contact information.”
  • Features of an accessible text document or webpage. This includes a proper heading structure using the built-in styles, high contrast color combinations, descriptive hyperlink text, and a table of contents for longer documents.