Podcasts and Transcripts

Podcast Requirements 

All podcasts must have: 

  • An accurate, verbatim transcript. You can't leave anything out. 
  • A link to the transcript available on each platform a podcast is hosted on. It has to be clear where your transcript is and how to get to it. 

Transcript Deadlines 

All podcasts must have a transcript regardless of the date posted or the number of times it has been accessed. 

Published date Transcript responsibility Compliance deadline
On or after December 2, 2022 Content owner September 2, 2023
Before December 2, 2022 Content owner June 2, 2025

What must I include in my transcript? 

  • All spoken words. Do not paraphrase. Written transcripts need to accurately reflect the audio content. Be sure to use correct spelling, punctuation and capitalization.
  • Speaker identification. Each time someone speaks, clearly show who it is. This is important when there are several people talking. Use spacing, bold, or ALL CAPS to make it obvious when a new person speaks. If you don’t know their name, use labels like Student, Speaker #1, or Audience Member.
  • Important non-dialogue sounds. This includes intro music and critical background noise. 

How do I make a transcript?

Important!: Don't rely entirely on AI or auto-generated transcripts. These tools make mistakes, so a human review is needed to make sure they are correct.  

Hire a 3rd Party Vendor

Please see our Accessibility Vendor help page for our most up-to-date information on recommended vendors. 

Do-It-Yourself

  • YouTube:
    1. Convert your audio file to a video file.
    2. Upload the video file to YouTube and allow YouTube to auto-generate captions for your video. It may take up to 24 hours. NOTE: You can set your YouTube video to "Private" if you do not want it to be publicly viewable.
    3. Edit your auto-generated captions so they're are accurate and grammatically correct. Add speaker identification. Learn more about How to Edit Auto Captions in YouTube. 
    4. Once your captions are edited, go to the video viewing page. Display the transcript by clicking the 3-dot icon below the bottom right corner of the video. Copy and paste the transcript text into a document. 
  • Audioship: If you don’t have a way to convert your audio to video (for YouTube auto captioning), Audioship will convert your file and place it on your YouTube channel for you, where it will be auto captioned.
    1. Use YouTube’s caption editing tool to fix the captions, and then download the transcript.
    2. Next, you’ll have two options:
      • Delete the video.
      • Share the podcast as a video with closed captions as well as a transcript.
  • Google Docs Tool: Voice Typing: If you have clear, high quality audio, it is possible to use this tool to transcribe the audio into text in a Google Document. It will require clean up, but may save you time typing.

Transcript Best Practices

Transcripts and Accessibility

The easier your transcript is to read, the more people will be able to use and understand your work. 

  • Don't include timestamps. You want your transcript to be easily read without additional clutter.
  • Don't write in all caps. Save this for YELLING or speaker identification. 
  • It's okay to remove false starts (like um, ah, mm-hmm), but use discretion. If you're not sure, keep them in.
  • Add [brackets] to describe music and show speaker tone. This adds extra context for your reader. 
  • Use punctuation to show the speed or pace of a sound effect. You can use an ellipsis for extended pauses, commas for brief breaks, and dashes for quick repetition. For example: Oh... my... g-g-god. Oh, Em, Gee.

Examples of Good Transcripts 

Was this page helpful?

Tell us what you think.