After being paralysed from the neck down as a result of childhood polio, Martha lived for more than 60 years in an iron lung – a 7-foot-long, 800-pound iron cylinder that encased all but her head. But rather than letting the situation put paid to her dreams of becoming a writer she determinedly and bravely continued her education. With the support of her parents – to the extent that they moved in to assist her while on campus – she excelled academically and swiftly landed a job as a journalist at a local paper following her graduation, with her articles dictated word-by-word to her mother.

Subsequent events, including the illness and death of her parents, meant that for decades she had little choice but to suspend the career she’d fought and studied hard for – that is, until she acquired a voice-activated computer with access to the web in the mid-to-late 90’s. Suddenly, with the aid of a microphone and associated assistive software, she could at last resume writing – only this time unaided. In 2003 she published her memoirs and in 2005 became the subject of a documentary film “Martha in Lattimore”.

The New York Times, reporting on her death in 2009 aged 71, beautifully summed up the freedom the web-enabled computer gave her:

With e-mail capability and Internet access the computer brought her the world. There, in her childhood home, with a microphone at her mouth and the music of the iron lung for company, she wrote her life story sentence by sentence in her soft Southern voice, with her own breath.

I don’t think there are many better demonstrations of the web improving a person’s quality of life.

So by uploading a publicly licenced video from the Internet Archive, which demonstrates how to download, print, and make a book, I was able to compare my own captions created using the free caption- and audio-description authoring tool MAGpie with those that YouTube had extracted.

The result? Oh dear. Even on a video with a clear audio track YouTube’s machine captions bore little relation to my own. According to their interpretation we were making money instead of a book, ‘downloading’ from the war in Iraq, and killing ‘players’ from the other side of a pond. Ideal fodder for weak puns perhaps, but I was hoping for a little more accuracy.

Captions that are timely and accurate can play an important role for people who are deaf or hard of hearing. YouTube can only claim to provide the former; the latter will always require significant human intervention.

Note: If you’re reading via RSS, you’ll need to visit the blog to access this video content. Transcripts have been provided for those without Flash installed or Javascript enabled.

My captions using MAGpie v2.5.1

Transcript for my captions using MAGpie v2.5.1

How to make a book. Bookmaking with the Internet Bookmobile Setup.

Making a book with the Internet Bookmobile Setup is a very simple process and can be broken down into four main steps: Printing, Cutting, Binding & Scoring, and Trimming.

Printing

Digital books can be found on the Internet Archives website at www.archive.org.

First, select and download your book from the Internet Archive. Once you have found a book you’d like to print click the DJVU Download button to download and view the text. The book should appear in your web browser.

To print the book click File > Print on the browser to bring up the print dialog box. Once the print dialog box has been opened click on the button labelled Properties. Under the Finishing tab check Print on Both Sides and then under the down arrow beneath it select Letter (Left Binding) for a letter sized Western language book. For books that require right binding, for instance Arabic books, click Letter (Right Binding).

Next, download the book’s cover. To print the cover load your printer with a heavier paper simply click the File > Print and then click OK.

Cutting

Once the book has finished printing place the paper in your Triumph cutter, setting the cutter measurement bar by turning the hand crank to half the length of your paper. So, if you have printed on letter paper which is 11 inches, set the cutter to 5½ inches.

Clamp the paper down, close the hand guard, pull the red release, and cut.

Binding & Scoring

In order to bind and score your book you’ll use two machines: a binder and a scorer.

If your book is a western language book place the stack of paper with its left edge into the Powis Parker Model 15 binder. If it is an Arabic book place the book with its right edge into the binder. Press the large green button. Take the appropriate strip and feed it into the purple tray remove the book and place it on the cooling rack for approximately 10 minutes, or until cool to the touch.

To score the cover, measure the width of the book on the orange measuring plate on the Powis Parker scorer. Place the cover into position 1 on the scorer, turn the green ball to the left, placing pressure at the bottom of the motion. Move the cover into position 2 and turn the green ball again to place the next score.

Now, lie the cover face down on a flat surface. Place the book to the right of the scores if it’s a Western language book. If the book is an Arabic book place the book to the left of the scores.

Peel away the top layer of the binding strip fold the cover around the exposed glue, pressing it down firmly. Flip the book and peel the top layer from the other side of the book. Place the book onto its front cover and peel the top layer away from the other side of the binding. Wrap the other half of the cover around the book, pressing the cover firmly against the spine of the book.

Trimming

You should now have a book that is complete except for its ragged edges. To finish the book simply cut all the exposed edges: side, top, and bottom.

When lining up the book remember to clamp down the paper, close the hand guard, pull the red release, and then cut. And now you have a book.

YouTube’s automatic captioning

Transcript for YouTube’s automatic captioning

How to make a buck. Both making with the in an epoch mobile said.

Making a book with the internet but mobile senate is a very simple process and to be broken down into for means that printing, cutting, finding in scoring, and training.

Printing

Digital books can be found in the internet archives web site at WWW that archive Iraq war.

First selecting down load your book from the Internet Archive. Once you have found it but you’d like to paint quickly deja vu down the one to downloading view the text. The book should appear in your weapons.

To print the puck quick file print on the browser to bring up the print dialogue box. Once the print island parks has been opened click on the button label properties. Under the finishing time think both sides and then under the down a rope in needed select letter left finding for a letter size Western language book. For books that require a finding for instance Arabic books correct letter right back.

Next download the book’s cover. The cover load your printer with the heavier simply click the final French have been quick okay.

Cutting

Once the book is finished print it place the papers in your Triumph Carter setting the Carter mission and bar by turning the hand crank to half the length of your paper. So if you have printed on letter paper which is even inches set the cutter to five and a half inches.

Clint the paper down close the hand guard poll the red released and cut.

Finding things going

In order to binding score your book you used to machines: the binder at its core. If your book is in Western dang which book please to stack of paper with its left adage into the Palace Parker model fifteen bind. If it isn’t every a place the book with its wreckage into the binder. Pressed the large green pat. Take the appropriate that and feed into the perpetrator remove the book in place it on the cooling raq for approximately ten minutes all right so cool to the touch.

To score the cover measure the width of the book on the orange measuring plate on the Palace Parker score. Please the cover into position one on this score turn the green ball to the left placing pressure at the bottom of the motion. Move the current position to in turn the green ball again to place the next school.

Now, by the cover face-down on a flat surface. Place the book to the right of the scores if it’s a Western nine which broke. If the book is in Arabic book place the book to the left of the score. If you leave the top layer of the bunch old cover round exposed to precedent down for me. But the book and killed a top player from the other side of the book. Place the book on trips front cover and killed a top player away from the other side of the pond. Rap the other half of the cover around the book on the cover firmly against this time at the puck.

Training

You should now have a book that is concrete except for its ragged edges. To finish the book simply cut all the exposed edges: side, top, and Bob. When lining up the book remember to clamp down the paper close at hand are pull the middle east and then pat. And now you have a book.

Because the modern web offers us an unprecedented level of access to information and interaction through audio and visual media – becoming both an integral part of the overall experience and an important method of delivering content to the end-user – what can we do to help people with disabilities enjoy an equivalent experience?

Without question the most effective way of making this kind of content accessible to the widest audience – including those with disabilities – is through the provision of text-based alternatives. Why? Because information rendered in electronic text can be easily enlarged for people with low vision, spoken aloud so that it’s easier for people with reading disabilities to understand, or rendered in whatever tactile form best meets the needs of a user.

So what are some of the text-based options available to us for different types of audio and visual content? What could we be doing? What should we be doing?

Audio-video content

Live video broadcasts

Any video content on the web that isn’t described in text poses a potential barrier for people with disabilities. So by providing a descriptive label (Level A: to achieve minimum level of accessibility) of the live video content’s purpose you can ensure that, even if access cannot be achieved, a user can at least determine what the non-text content is.

This is really easy to do and it makes such a difference. Don’t forget, it’s more than likely that while planning this content someone, somewhere will have written a more than adequate description anyway. Bash it into shape, tidy it up, and use it.

For UK residents the BBC News website offers a 24-hour live video feed of its rolling news channel (Figure 1). They provide a very brief description of the channel, ways that you can contribute, as well as a polite reminder that you’ll still need a TV licence to stream the feed.

Figure 1 - Live stream of the BBC News channel

Another option might be to offer captioning (Level AA: enhanced level of accessibility) as an alternative to the live audio track. This will enable people who are deaf or hard of hearing to watch real-time audio-visual content. Captioning not only includes dialogue, but also identifies who is speaking and other notate sound effects that affect comprehension.

What’s that? Am I seriously suggesting you go to such lengths as to hire an out-of-work court reporter to relay the dialogue of your live webcast or seminar? I think it largely depends on your audience and the nature of your broadcast.

If you’re, let’s say, a college or university offering a series of live video lectures to your students then it’s more than likely there’s a policy of some kind requiring accessibility of online instructional material (or something to that effect). Whereas if you’re a small start-up conducting a one-off live webcast, presuming you’ve make it clear from the outset that real-time captions are not being supplied, providing everyone with a descriptive label, which introduces the host(s) and lists the topics you’re aiming to cover, will suffice. If you then have plans to publish the webcast in its recorded form at a later date then look at providing captions or a full transcript of the dialogue.

Prerecorded video

Aha. Now everything has been recorded and cut to your exact requirements suddenly providing a text alternative like captioning (Level A) doesn’t seem quite so daunting a prospect does it? You won’t have to worry about the perils of live broadcasting, or whether there’d have been enough time to cross-check the captions for spelling, style, or even legal pitfalls.

Depending on how the content is presented to the user not all prerecorded video requires captioning. The W3C’s WCAG 2.0 recommendations state that:

Captions are provided for all prerecorded audio content in synchronized media, except when the media is a media alternative for text and is clearly labelled as such.

What they mean by a media alternative is content that presents no more information than is already presented in text.

Take this recorded interview on Cricinfo.com (Figure 2), because they’ve offered a clear choice of either watching or reading the interview via a text transcript (Level A) no captions were required. But if the video content had offered a different take to what is represented in text form then they would have needed to provide captions. That’s clear enough.

Figure 2 - Prerecorded interview on Cricinfo.com with full transcript

It’s likely some clients will have concerns about the effect that providing a text alternative to prerecorded video will have on the speed of the publishing process. The way I look at it is this: if you’ve missed the live version of your favourite radio show you know and expect there’ll be a short wait for the recorded version to be cut and uploaded to the web. I don’t believe there’s anything wrong with providing captions or a text transcript at a later date. Just make it clear where and when a text alternative will be available.

There are some excellent resources available for online captioning and since March YouTube have offered an automatic captioning feature for all English language videos. I’m led to believe that a clear audio track can produce some very impressive results. Hats off to them I say.

Now, to paraphrase Napoleon’s revision to the Seven Commandments in George Orwell’s Animal Farm: some alternatives for non-text content offer a more equivalent experience than others. Captions, while an unquestionably important way of providing people who are deaf or hard of hearing with an equivalent experience of prerecorded video content, don’t offer quite the same level of immersion and understanding that an on-screen interpreter can provide for those fluent in a sign language (Level AAA: additional accessibility enhancement). Again, choosing this route depends on your audience, location, policies, and resources.

Audio-only content

Live audio broadcasts

Similar to the challenges posed by broadcasting live video, the use of a descriptive label (Level A) ensures that, even if a user cannot access the live audio-only content, its purpose is clear.

A good demonstration of an effective description for a live audio feeds is the BBC’s iPlayer (Figure 3). They provide the user with helpful information such as the names and time slots of the incumbent and following presenters and a brief description of today’s show.

Figure 3 - Live audio stream of BBC 6 Music on iPlayer

Prerecorded audio

For a person who is deaf or with a mild to moderate hearing impairment text transcripts (Level A) are relied upon for comprehension of prerecorded audio-only content. Furthermore, individuals with visual and auditory perceptual disabilities, including dyslexia, may also benefit from getting information through more than one source at the same time.

Offering more than just a blow-by-blow record of who said what during a sound recording, a text transcript should also contain descriptions of significant sounds and key actions that take place – say if someone produces a mobile phone from their pocket to demonstrate a new ringtone or a door slams shut.

A good example of a text transcript can also be found at Cricinfo.com. Their Cricinfo Talk podcast (Figure 4) is available to play through the website, but they’ve also provided a full transcript of the dialogue.

Figure 4 - Prerecorded audio on Cricinfo.com with full transcript

Again, the thought of having to produce a text transcript for every new piece of audio-only content may concern some clients. But there are services out there that can help you publish good quality text transcripts if you lack the in-house resources or time. If you’ve used a script to create the prerecorded audio content then there really is no excuse. It’ll give you a great starting point and need only require a few corrections for it to closely reflect the actual recording.

Charts and graphs

For a blind or low vision user the information contained in a chart or graph may be difficult or impossible to comprehend without a text alternative.

What form the text alternative takes depends on how the chart and graph has been presented. If one or more have been used to supplement an article, which outlines or explains the data contained within, then that can serve as the text alternative (Figure 5).

Figure 5 - BBC News article using supplementary graphics

But sometimes the text needed to serve the same purpose and present the same information as the chart or graph is too lengthy, or there is limited space. In this instance a hidden or external long description (Level A) can provide the user with helpful information on the type of chart used and a detailed summary of the data, trends, and implications. And, where possible and practical, the actual data is provided in tabular form.

Hiding it can mean linking to a separate page by way of the longdesc attribute within the img tag, but there are CSS positioning tricks you can use to effectively shift the long description from view, but for anyone viewing the page using a text-only browser or having it relayed via a screen reader this information would be visible.

A little daunted? A content strategy can help…

I believe that to stand the best chance of successfully introducing and adopting the processes, technology, and techniques required to provide an increased level of accessibility to our users, we have to take responsibility for the way our web content is planned, created, delivered, and governed. That means assimilating accessibility into a web content strategy.

Because it’s all about breaking our content down into the smallest re-purposeful chunks, for use across a whole host of different mediums and technologies, consider how much easier a web content strategy would make providing text alternatives for non-text content? It’ll allow audio and visual content to be rendered in a variety of ways by a variety of assistive technologies.

It’s also about getting everyone who interacts with web content (surely everyone now, right?) on board. Your technical team may need to make changes to the way content is published so that assistive technologies can recognise it and react to it. Your workflow may need to be altered to reflect the production of text-based alternatives. Your page templates may need to be revised to accommodate further content. All that and more is considered part of the strategy.

So what now? Do you conduct an audit to find out what existing content you could provide text alternatives for? Would a more sensible plan be to start from this point forward? It depends, but you can’t go too far wrong by prioritising. Before you ask how much non-text content already exists you have to ask how much of it is considered integral to the key tasks performed on the website? If that 60 second video demonstration of your web application in action plays an important part in selling its benefits then I believe, regardless of how long it’s been present on the website, you should look to offer a text-based alternative.

Why should I or my clients care about accessibility?

It goes beyond nobility. Whether it’s buying what you sell, making a donation, or simply getting in touch, creating content that is accessible to people with disabilities will allow more people the opportunity to interact, enjoy, and be stimulated by your web presence.

And as the general population in developed nations ages, and with it an increase in the number of people with functional limitations, it is essential that the traditional and existing resources that are being replaced by the web – from submitting a VAT Return to checking your bank balance – are effective, efficient and satisfying for all.

Sources and resources

• Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.0
• WebAIM’s WCAG 2.0 Checklist
• Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI)
• Web Accessibility: Web Standards and Regulatory Compliance

As a small child at infant school (aged around 4/5) I once painted a picture of a tree. It gained some attention. Not because its mature brush strokes and grasp of perspective belied my tender years (it really hadn’t) but because I’d managed to get my colours in a hideous muddle. Now, get a mental picture of your archetypal tree. I’m thinking a rich brown trunk and branches with fresh green leaves and maybe a few cherry red apples thrown in for good measure. Close enough? Well, rather than displaying an early attempt at artistic arrogance I’d simply painted the colours I thought I saw: green for its trunk and brown for the leaves.

Fast forward 7 or so years and you’d find me squinting at a book containing a series of single circles made up of various sizes of coloured dots – I was taking the Ishihara colour test (Figure 1). Asked if I could clearly see a number embedded in each of the circles I confidently read out the first few, but they quickly became more difficult to decipher until I had to admit defeat. After that I was told I was colour blind. ‘Thanks, do I get a sticker?’

Figure 1 - Ishihara colour test plates - can you see all the numbers? Answers below (via Wikipedia).

Colour blindness: what is it and what causes it?

Genetically inherited – or acquired through illness, accident or poisoning – colour blindness is a condition affecting approximately 8% of men and 1% of women in developed nations. The absence or altered sensitivity of one of the three cone receptors at the back of your eyes causes the individual difficulty in distinguishing certain colours from one another. While not a disability, the condition can at times be frustrating. I’m sure anyone with a form of colour blindness has fielded many a ‘what colour does this pencil look to you?’ question ad nauseam.

Blindness is perhaps a misleading description as it wrongly suggests that an individual is blind to colour – or sees things only in black and white. To say they have a colour vision deficiency seems a more apt description of the condition, so I’ll proceed with that.

What are the most common forms of the condition?

Green weakness

• Deuteranopia [doo-ter-uh-noh-pee-uh] is the absence of green sensitivity, causing confusion between red, green, blue, and purple (Figure 2). It only affects approximately 1% of males.
• Deuteranomaly [doo-ter-uh-nom-uh-lee] is a green sensitivity and the most common form of colour deficiency, affecting approximately 6% of males and 0.4% of females. Under certain lighting conditions those affected can mistake darker greens for black.

How might someone with a green weakness see an image?

Figure 2 - A representation of Deuteranopic vision (generated with Vischeck tool)

Red weakness

• Protanopia [proht-n-oh-pee-uh] is the absence of red sensitivity, resulting in confusion between red, green, brown, and some purple hues (Figure 3). It only affects approximately 1% of males.
• Protanomaly [proht-n-om-uh-lee] is a red sensitivity. Those affected will see darker reds to the extent where they can be mistaken for black. It only affects approximately 1% of males and 0.01% of females.

How might someone with a red weakness see an image?

Figure 3 - A representation of Protanopic vision (generated with Vischeck tool)

Blue weakness

• Tritanopia [trahyt-n-oh-pee-uh] is the absence of blue sensitivity, therefore blue and green hues cannot be easily differentiated (Figure 4). This condition is rare, affecting approximately less than 1% of males.
• Tritanomaly [trahyt-n-om-uh-lee] is a blue sensitivity. This condition is extremely rare, affecting approximately 0.01% of both males and females.

How might someone with a blue weakness see an image?

Figure 4 - A representation of Tritanopic vision (generated with Vischeck tool)

How much impact can the condition have on general web use?

While I cannot speak for those with more rarer forms, my colour vision deficiency (Deuteranomaly) has never once seriously impacted on my use of the web. Furthermore, I don’t believe much effort is required to ensure that even those with the most severe forms of the condition can enjoy something approaching an equal visual representation.

Consider the use of extreme hues

Be wary when using pale or dark hues in close proximity to one another. Could that shade of yellow used for highlighting table rows/columns be considered too pale against the dominant white background? Could that very dark green link colour be hidden amongst the surrounding dark grey or black text?

Be aware of the common green weakness

As green seems to be the colour associated with the most common forms of the condition it seems logical to suggest a considered approach when attempting to place it in close proximity with pale yellows, reds, and blues (Figure 5).

Figure 5 - Green is the colour associated with the most common forms of colour deficiency

Test your designs and templates

In the same way you’d test the usability of an interface or the quality of your content, testing for potential visual issues caused by a colour deficiency should also be added to your quality control list. There are some great tools out there that only take a second or two to use.

Recommended tools

• Color Oracle – Colour blindness simulator for Windows, Mac and Linux
• Vischeck – Web-based colour blindness simulator for images and web pages
• etre’s Colour Blindness Simulator – Upload and test images against different types of colour vision deficiencies

Or, better still, ask a colour blind colleague, friend, or sibling for their eyes. We won’t bite, unless of course you’re inquisitively (and with more than a hint of cheek) dangling a red…no that’s definitely green…erm…yellow…pencil.

Sources

• Colour vision deficiency, Royal National Institute of Blind People
• Can Color-Blind Users See Your Site?, Microsoft Developer Network, 9 Oct 2000
• Quick tips, We are Colorblind
• Chapter 8, Readings on Color: The science of color, Alex Byrne and David R. Hilbert, MIT Press 1997

Figure 1 answers (from left to right): 12, 6, 2, and 42. See them all? Lucky you, I can clearly see 12 and can just about make out a 2, but the rest are just a brightly coloured array of dots. Pretty, mind.

Dyslexia Australia’s website has a particularly fascinating page which attempts to describe and demonstrate the visual stresses that occur when some people with dyslexia read. I’m going to try to faithfully re-create some of their observations here.

Attaching mental pictures to words

Some people with dyslexia comprehend certain words by attaching a mental picture to them. Take this short extract is from Oscar Wilde‘s ‘The Importance of Being Earnest‘.

Garden at the Manor House. A flight of grey stone steps leads up to the house. The garden, an old-fashioned one, full of roses. Time of year, July. Basket chairs, and a table covered with books, are set under a large yew-tree.

Now try reading the same extract but only reading the words that emphasised in bold type.

Garden at the Manor House. A flight of grey stone steps leads up to the house. The garden, an old-fashioned one, full of roses. Time of year, July. Basket chairs, and a table covered with books, are set under a large yew-tree.

Sadly not all sentences conjure up as many mental images as my example, but I guess that attaching such images must act as clues as to the subject and direction of a sentence.

Rivers of words

Dyslexia Australia also describe the ‘rivers of words’ that some people with dyslexia see when reading. This next extract is from Charles Darwin‘s ‘On the Origin of Species‘ (Figure 1).

Figure 1 - An extract from Charles Darwin's 'On the Origin of Species'

Figure 2 shows the same extract, but now all of the words are faded into the background and heavy lines have been woven between the words. I’ve used justified text here, with its variable spacing between individual words, to accentuate the point.

Figure 2 - The same extract, but this time with 'rivers of words'

Not so easy to read now is it? This inability to scan freely means you almost have to break it down to a single word at a time. Some people with dyslexia experience these visual distortions when reading, so rather than being drawn to the words on a page they are instead drawn to the spaces between them.

Reading on the web

So how can we help people with dyslexia read more effectively on the web? Some benefit greatly from the synthesised voice output from a screen reader, which helps them scan and track the text on a web page, as well as breaking down pronunciations.

In fact, pronunciations are the real issue here. I was surprised to learn that the main cause or factor in most cases of dyslexia is not to do with vision but phonology – or rather how the person converts what they see into the sound units that make up a single word.^[1]

Some may prefer to use a web browser plug-in which allows them to remove a website’s default stylesheet or override it with a customised version of their own. We’ve all come up against web sites that have an distinctly unhealthy penchant for long line lengths, tiny font sizes and harsh back/foreground combinations.

I often find myself turning to the readability bookmarklet from arc90. It really helps make even the most poorly presented written content more inviting – especially with a pair of tired eyes at the end of a long day.

Some people with dyslexia prefer not to use a screen reader, personal stylesheets or any kind of assistive technology while browsing the web. So how can we help them? I believe you can’t go too far wrong using:^[2]

• Short, sharp sentences – favouring shorter words wherever possible
• Clear Headings
• Bulleted lists – helping to summarise points or entire articles, often at the start to explain what you’re about to read and learn
• Healthy line height and letter spacing – preventing eyes wandering to the next or previous lines
• Static imagery – acting as visual memory aids and helping to enhance contextual understanding

Hang on, isn’t that how we all like to read on the web?

References

1. Dyslexia and Vision – dysTalk
2. Dyslexia Style Guide – The British Dyslexia Association

The advent and subsequent mass adoption of embedded Flash audio and video content, over the last five years or so, has brought with it many challenges, but none more important than the issue of universal access.

Take audio for instance. A person with impaired hearing may find getting the information they need from embedded audio difficult or impossible. How can we ensure that the audio content we publish is as non-restrictive as possible for our users?

This is where the guidance of leading advocacy groups can help. WCAG 2.0, from the W3C, requires the provision of alternatives for pre-recorded audio. It states that:

Unless the pre-recorded audio provides no more information than is already presented in text, you should provide an alternative that presents equivalent information.

WebAIM’s helpful WCAG 2.0 Checklist describes this ‘alternative’ as:

A descriptive text transcript (including all relevant auditory clues and indicators).

This need for text-based equivalents for non-textual web content is strengthened further by government laws. In the US, Section 508, states that all Federal agencies shall:

Provide a text equivalent for every non-text element.

In the UK we have PAS 78 (and later this year BS 8878). Describing what’s expected from websites to comply with the Disability Discrimination Act, it states that:

Developers should consider the accessibility of any audio content on the website.

And goes on to say:

The inclusion of transcripts should also be considered.

So we’ve ascertained the need for word-for-word transcripts for both independent audio content and significant audio-based additions to related textual content. So what does a typical audio transcript look like and how easy are they to produce?

Writing an audio transcript

Listen to the following sample of open source audio (duration: less than a minute). Its narrator briefly talks about the post-Gutenberg impact of the printed book.


A transcript for this audio would look and read like the following:

NARRATOR: After Gutenberg, realms of everyday life once ruled and served by memory would be governed by the printed page. In the late middle ages, for the small literate class, hand-written books had provided an aid, and sometimes a substitute, for memory. But the printed book was far more portable, more accurate, more convenient to refer to, and of course: more public. Whatever was in print after being written by an author was also known to printers, proofreaders and anyone reached by the printed page. A man could now refer to the rules of grammar, the speeches of Cicero, and the text of theology, canon law, and morality without storing them in himself.

The narrator’s clear delivery and considered pauses made for an easy and enjoyable transcription. But this isn’t always the case. You can encounter anything from poor audio quality, loud background noises, voices talking over one-another as well as the uttering of unfamiliar accents and words. They can all make for a frustrating and elongated process of pause…rewind…play…listen…type…repeat.

You mustn’t lose heart though. If you cannot decipher a word or phrase then just remember that anyone listening to the audio itself will, most likely, encounter the same problem. I like to insert a simple [inaudible word] or [inaudible phrase] in this instance, but I’d also suggest offering a means of contact at the foot of your transcript so that anyone is free to provide suggestions if they so wish.

Transcribing a podcast offers a variety of challenges. Roundtable discussions or Skype call-ins will often act as a breeding ground for people cutting-in mid-sentence to offer their opinion – causing voices to momentarily overlap. Using a combination of ellipsis (…) and (over), we can help to re-create some of the chaos. Take these extracts from a copy of BBC Radio 4’s Money Box Live transcript (PDF, 53k):

LEWIS: It’s legally possible now, but the scheme has to agree to it as well…
McLEAN: Absolutely.
LEWIS: …which they don’t all do.

McPHAIL: It still leaves decades of existing workers who are going to be retiring at 62 for years to come.
LEWIS: (over) I thought you might say that Tom.

We’re not looking to produce a literacy classic so try to resist the temptation to tidy things up too much. By all means cut out the inevitable ums and errs, but remember that a person with a language-based learning disability, such as dyslexia, may find it helps to listen to an audio file whilst reading the alternative text content. So you should always look to produce a faithful impression of the original recording.

But what about those incidences when someone has stated something that is factually incorrect? Do you uphold the stance that whatever has been said must be written word-for-word? Not always. If the error is small – say someone’s name as been wrongly pronounced – I’d correct it. But if it’s a personal opinion then, clearly, that has to be included – regardless of severity. If you’re at all worried about printing a deliberately incorrect statement, and don’t want to necessarily give the impression you’re endorsing it, then either insert a traditional [sic] beside the word or phrase in question or a simple disclaimer at the beginning of the transcript. Something like:

The views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of our own. Neither us nor the participants can guarantee the accuracy of this information.

If all this feels too much like hard work – maybe the thought of transcribing a twice-weekly podcast fills you with dread – then, thankfully, there are services that will help you. But always remember to test your transcripts to check that it actually matches the audio it’s representing.

When the spoken word is the message there will always be a need for text-based equivalents. Transcribing audio, where appropriate, should form part of the content planning and publishing process we go through. When we talk about our content having the ability to influence, educate, inform, and entertain; there has to be universal access. You owe it to your avid audience.