What information should you include in your transcript?

Transcripts provide a text version of information in your audio or video content:

• A basic transcript should contain a text version of all the important audio information, including both speech and non-speech audio. You should write a basic transcript for audio-only media and videos with audio content.
• A descriptive transcript should also contain a text version of all the important visual information in your multimedia. To meet the WCAG Level AA standard, a descriptive transcript is not a replacement for having audio descriptions in your video.

Any text included in your captions should be included in your transcript. Provide a copy of your transcript (either on the web page itself or as a linked document) in close proximity to your audio or video content.

Formatting your Basic Transcript

• Create a Word document (.docx), plain text file (.txt), or provide your transcript directly in the HTML of your web page.
• Identify speakers or a change of speaker.
  • Use their name if you know it or use an identifier like "Student 1".
  • Separate the speaker name from the text with a colon (:).
• Indicate sounds using square brackets.
  • For example: [students laughing].
  • For music, provide the name of the song or the lyrics.

Sample Transcript Formatting

Instructor: Hi, class. Today we’ll be moving on to the next chapter. We've got a lot of ground to cover, so let's go ahead and turn to page—

[student coughs]

Student: Excuse me, can I ask about the homework first?

Instructor: Sure, what’s your question?