Adding a transcript to your video is beneficial for viewers with audiovisual impairments, as it offers a text-based alternative to the video’s visual and auditory content, improving their understanding.
To ensure your transcript is optimized for these viewers, certain factors should be considered during its creation.
This article offers tips and tricks to help you produce a transcript that includes all necessary information and is effectively tailored for its intended audience.
1.0 | Speaker Identification
When transcribing a video with multiple speakers or a voice-over, clearly identify each speaker to avoid audience confusion.
VOICE OVER:
"Welcome to "Accessibility Insights." Today, we're speaking with Sarah, a visually
impaired user, about her experiences navigating online services. Joining her is
our interviewer, Alex."
SPEAKER 1:
"Sarah, thank you so much for taking the time to speak with us today."
SPEAKER 2:
"Thank you for having me, Alex. I hope my experiences can shed some light on
the challenges many visually impaired individuals face online."Knowing the speakers’ names offers a significant benefit: viewers can easily identify and understand who is saying what.
VOICE OVER:
"Welcome to "Accessibility Insights." Today, we're speaking with Sarah, a visually
impaired user, about her experiences navigating online services. Joining her is
our interviewer, Alex."
Alex:
"Sarah, thank you so much for taking the time to speak with us today."
Sarah:
"Thank you for having me, Alex. I hope my experiences can shed some light on
the challenges many visually impaired individuals face online."
2.0 | Keep Speaker Sections Concise
To improve transcript sidebar accuracy, divide long speaker turns into shorter segments. Without these breaks, the sidebar will highlight the entire lengthy section instead of just the currently spoken part.
Sarah:
"When I attempt to book a flight online, the initial barrier is often the website's semantic structure. Many airline websites lack proper heading
hierarchies. For example, instead of using <H1> for the main title and
<H2> for subsections like "Flight Search," the content might be styled to
look like headings but are actually just paragraphs or <div> elements. This
makes it difficult for my screen reader to provide a clear outline of the page,
hindering efficient navigation. I have to listen to every element sequentially,
rather than quickly jumping to relevant sections.."Breaking down extended sections allows the transcript sidebar to precisely reflect the video’s progression.
Sarah:
"When I attempt to book a flight online, the initial barrier is often the
website's semantic structure."
Sarah:
"Many airline websites lack proper heading hierarchies. For example,
instead of using <H1> for the main title and <H2> for subsections like
"Flight Search," the content might be styled to look like headings but
are actually just paragraphs or <div> elements."
Sarah:
"This makes it difficult for my screen reader to provide a clear outline
of the page, hindering efficient navigation. I have to listen to every
element sequentially, rather than quickly jumping to relevant sections."
3.0 | Distinguish Speech from Actions
Transcripts often describe on-screen elements or actions not evident in the audio, such as speaker actions or specific visuals.
Including these details is crucial for viewer comprehension of the video’s events.
As with the previous tip, differentiate actions from spoken words.
4.0 | Begin Transcript with a Video Summary
To enhance accessibility for impaired viewers who may not grasp a video’s content from its thumbnail and title alone, we recommend beginning the transcript with a concise summary.
This practice allows these viewers to quickly understand the video’s subject matter and determine its relevance to their needs.
5.0 | Check Your Transcript
Reviewing the transcript once it has been generated is crucial. Watch the video with the transcript displayed, imagining yourself as someone with impairments.
Check whether the timing of text segments aligns with the video content. Consider breaking lengthy sections down for better readability. Verify that the terminology used matches the video’s subject matter.
Our transcript editor simplifies these minor adjustments, significantly improving the experience for users who depend on transcripts.