Caroline Crampton, a writer for the weekly podcast industry newsletter Hot Pod, builds a solid case for podcast transcription in a recent issue. Crampton observes that “accompanying transcripts isn’t yet a widespread practice in the podcast industry … it feels like the majority of podcasts are simply left untranscribed.”
That’s a big oversight.
“[H]aving text alongside audio means that people who are hard of hearing or with auditory processing issues can still enjoy the show, as can those who aren’t fluent in the original broadcast language,” Crampton notes.
Why aren’t more podcasts doing this? For one, it can be a lot of additional work for producers depending on the show format. Crampton admits that for some round-table shows she works on, “creating a complete transcription of an episode can take all day.” [← bold is mine]
Transcripts also aren’t thought of as vps a requirement for launching a new episode. As the co-hosts of Join the Party podcast explain:
“We all love that podcasting has such a low bar of entry for creators … Transcripts and other features that can improve accessibility, discovery, and potential audience growth are left by the wayside because they’re not required by your podcast host to launch a show.”
This is a quick, smart read. Check it out here.
