Per our last post, we discussed the benefits of using voice recognition software. However, we understand that part of the process is to go back and correct the errors. Voice writing “on the fly” by a trained professional still only produces captions that are 95% accurate at very best, but usually under 90%. (And this is using software that has been trained to understand an individual captioner’s voice.) Closed captioning remains a field where a trained human professional’s product will surpass any computer program.

So while this new embrace of closed captioning is still a step in the right direction, we encourage companies to remember that accuracy is important especially when it comes to your message. (Also remember that your SEO will be enhanced if the captioning text of your online video is completely accurate.) Why risk having your professional video ridiculed for closed captioning blunders?

To get an idea of just how inaccurate voice recognition captions can be, check out: http://youtubecaptionfail.com/.

I don’t know about you, but I had never thought about any other way of typing than to actually use my fingers and strike the keys on a computer keyboard.  I know I’m not the fastest typer out there, but I’ve always felt proud of my 70 wpm typing speed.  Somehow I managed to write all my college papers without ever missing a deadline. Granted, some of those papers were written the night before they were due and sometimes even printed out 30 minutes before class started, but they were always on time.  Then, of course, I was left walking like a zombie throughout campus for the rest of the day; nothing a good cup of coffee could not fix, right?

About 2 months ago I applied for a transcriber/caption editor position at Aberdeen Captioning, and while going through the interview process I was asked to transcribe an 8-minute long video.   As soon as I opened the video and saw the length of it, I thought, “Piece of cake,” so I started typing away.  After half an hour of changing back and forth between Microsoft Word and Media player, rewinding the video several times, and being nowhere close to being done, I found myself talking to the computer and saying, “Hold your horses!”  Needless to say I needed a break, but I kept thinking, if only I could type faster, or even better, if the people in the video could speak slower, this task wouldn’t be as frustrating.

Within my first week at the job I was introduced to my new dragon friend; Dragon Naturally Speaking.  Doing justice to its epic name, this speech recognition software has made my transcribing experience a lot more interesting from the moment I started using it.  Remember how in the movie Eragon, the dragon Saphira, could read Eragon’s thoughts?  That’s more or less how this program works.  Obviously Dragon doesn’t type what you’re thinking, but after a short training, the program learns how to understand your voice and you’re good to go!  So instead of typing what people say in a video, you speak the words and Dragon types it for you.  Pretty neat huh?

Despite being excited about using a new program, I still had my doubts. Could this voice recognition software really be faster than my 70 wpm typing? I mean, that’s a decent typing speed, right? Besides, when I type I can fix my mistakes immediately whereas with Dragon it’s easier to keep dictating and then go back and fix my mistakes later.  I was skeptical about this dictation program’s effectiveness against my own.  If there’s one thing I remember from my biology classes in college is that I have to test my theories to obtain an answer, so  I decided to put an end to my doubts and find out if all my years of typing would help me compete with this dragon.

Two minutes of typing. I don’t remember ever surrendering so fast, not even when I ran 3 miles under 100⁰ F weather in cross-country! I had to face it; I can speak significantly faster than I can type. The Dragon Naturally speaking software is a great tool that tremendously improves your typing speed, especially if you’re typing a long paper; after all, Dragon doesn’t get tired of typing and I hardly believe anyone would ever get tired of talking.  I mainly use the program to dictate what other people speak, but I can’t help to wonder how much it would’ve helped me in college when I had to write those 10-page papers. This program types words that I don’t even know how to spell, automatically capitalizes words after periods and what’s best, I can keep training it to understand me better every time I notice a mistake; that’s a keeper, if you ask me.

Yo no sé ustedes, pero yo nunca había pensado sobre ningún otro tipo de escribir en la computadora más que el de usar mis dedos para oprimir las teclas de la computadora. Yo sé que no soy la persona más rápida al escribir en la computadora, pero siempre me he sentido orgullosa de mi velocidad de 70 palabras por minuto. De alguna manera siempre logré escribir mis reportes en la universidad sin que se me pasara ninguna fecha límite para entregar los trabajos. Claro, algunos de esos reportes fueron escritos la noche anterior de su fecha límite y algunos fueron impresos 30 minutos antes de que empezara la clase, pero siempre los entregué a tiempo. Obvio después yo me quedaba caminando como un zombi alrededor de la escuela por el resto del día; nada que una buena taza de café no pueda arreglar, ¿Están de acuerdo?

Hace alrededor de dos meses solicité un trabajo de transcriptora/editora de subtítulos para la compañía Aberdeen Captioning y durante el proceso de la entrevista se me pidió transcribir un video de 8 minutos de largo. En cuanto me di cuenta de la longitud del video, pensé, “Regalado,” así que empecé a escribir en la computadora de inmediato. Después de media hora de cambiar continuamente de una ventana de Microsoft Word a la otra del reproductor Windows Media Player, de regresar el video varias veces, y de no estar ni siquiera cerca de haber terminado, me encontré hablándole a la computadora y diciéndole, “¡Espérate!” Sin duda necesitaba un descanso, pero seguí pensando que si tan sólo yo pudiera escribir a computadora más rápido, o aún mejor, si la gente en el video pudiera hablar más lento, esta tarea no fuera tan frustrante.

Dentro de mi primera semana de trabajo se me presentó a mi nuevo amigo dragón; Dragon Naturally Speaking. Haciéndole justicia a su nombre épico, este programa de reconocimiento de voz ha hecho mi experiencia al transcribir mucho más interesante desde el momento en que empecé a usarlo. ¿Recuerdan como en la película Eragon el dragón Saphira podía leer los pensamientos de Eragon? Es más o menos así como este programa funciona. Obviamente Dragon no escribe lo que ustedes están pensando, pero después de un corto entrenamiento, el programa aprende a entender su voz y después de eso, ¡Ya están listos! Así que en vez de escribir lo que la gente dice en el video, usted simplemente repite las palabras dichas y Dragon las escribe. Nada mal, ¿No?

A pesar de estar emocionada sobre este nuevo programa, todavía tenía mis dudas. ¿Podría este programa de reconocimiento de voz ser más rápido que mi velocidad de escribir a 70 palabras por minuto? O sea, esa es una buena velocidad de escribir en la computadora, ¿verdad? Además, cuando escribo en la computadora puedo corregir mis errores inmediatamente mientras que con Dragon es más fácil seguir dictando y después regresar para corregir mis errores. No estaba segura de la efectividad de este programa de dictado al lado de mi propia efectividad. Si hay algo que recuerdo de mis clases de biología en la universidad es que tengo que poner a prueba mis teorías para obtener una respuesta, así que decidí poner un alto a mis dudas y descubrir si todos mis años de escribir en la computadora me ayudarían a competir contra este dragón.

Dos minutos de escribir en la computadora. No me acuerdo nunca haberme rendido tan rápido, ¡Ni siquiera cuando corrían 3 millas bajo un clima de 100 °F en el campo a través! Tuve que aceptarlo; puedo hablar significantemente más rápido de lo que puedo escribir en la computadora. El programa Dragon Naturally Speaking es una gran herramienta que mejora tremendamente su velocidad al escribir a computadora, especialmente si están escribiendo un reporte largo; después de todo, Dragon no se cansa de escribir y me cuesta mucho creer que alguien se canse de hablar. Yo principalmente uso este programa para dictar lo que otras personas hablan, pero no puedo dejar de preguntarme cuánto me hubiera ayudando en la universidad cuando tuve que escribir esos reportes de 10 páginas. Éste programa escribe palabras que ni siquiera sé cómo deletrear, automáticamente usa mayúsculas después de los puntos y lo que es mejor, puedo seguir entrenándolo para qué me entienda mejor cada vez que corrijo un error; en mi opinión, un muy buen partido.

SOBRE LA AUTORA: Clara Mendez es una transcriptora/editora de subtítulos para Aberdeen Captioning Inc. Al haber aprendido el inglés como su segundo idioma, ella se ha vuelto consciente de la importancia de la comunicación intralingüística para poder expresar ideas a una mayor cantidad de gente.  Clara cree en traducir no solo el contenido, sino que también la calidad temática del mensaje y ella valora la exactitud de una buena traducción del inglés al español.  Clara se esfuerza para ayudar a la gente a comunicarse mejor sin importar la familiaridad que ellos tengan con el idioma inglés, y a usar la información que ella obtiene para extender su conocimiento día con día. Para contactarse con Clara, mande un correo electrónico a info@abercap.com o llame al 800-688-6621.  Para más información sobre los subtítulos o closed captions, visite www.abercap.com.

Need multi-language translation for your YouTube video? No problem! Aberdeen will provide a professional and experienced translator to ensure that your message is understood globally.  All you need is a YouTube account.

To learn more about DCMP’s “YouTube Ready” qualification visit:

http://youtubeready.dcmp.org/

Also, watch Aberdeen’s YouTube video for more information on our captioning and subtitling services for your YouTube video at:

http://abercap.com/youtube_captioning.html

Many people have their ethical and political views on outsourcing overseas, but I am not going to discuss in today’s article whether it is the “right” or “wrong” thing to do.  I want to share with you the reason why transcription services for closed captioning and subtitling should stay with native English speakers, whether they live in the United States or elsewhere.

I get sales calls all the time from transcription agencies overseas attempting to convince me of the value of their service.  In the beginning the low rates lured me in to giving them a test run.  From the times I was willing to give it a shot, transcripts from overseas transcribers (Philippines, India, and the like) are nowhere near the caliber of our native-speaker transcribers.  A layman may not understand the intricacies of a good transcription, therefore not understanding the big deal of “quality.”  Let me tell you in terms of numbers.  Our editors with an outsourced transcript spend on average four times as long with a script from a non-native speaker than with a transcript from a native speaker.  In my experience, a non-native speaker doesn’t have the ear for the nuances of the English language as well as the culture and context of the dialogue. I can tell you that I am fluent in Spanish as a second language, and therefore there are things that just aren’t as easy for me to pick up that are a piece of cake to a native speaker.

Cost wise, it doesn’t make sense for our company to achieve the quality we are looking for to use the non-native speakers you get from outsourced transcription companies.  I have had companies promise me that their transcribers can match mine, but it never happens.  If I can get a transcript for half the cost, that is just as good, I would have no problem outsourcing, but the problem is, that just hasn’t happened. Until then, I have learned cost almost always equals quality whether it is for transcription or translation services.  People that are good with experience know it, and charge for it.

What has your experience been with outsourcing?

I believe the Lord gave me this opportunity to work at home, part-time, doing transcription work for Aberdeen Captioning. While I was on maternity leave, after the birth of my daughter in the spring of 2006, I was conflicted and stressed out thinking about how I was going to leave my precious newborn in a day care so I could go back to work. I didn’t know what to do. My sister, who already worked full-time for Aberdeen Captioning, suggested it to me as a possible alternative to going back to my previous employer. I knew it was the answer I was looking for.  

Working for Aberdeen Captioning as a Transcriber has allowed me to stay home with my daughter (and will also allow me to stay home with the baby we are expecting). I love the flexibility of working at my own pace, often while my daughter is sleeping or playing and in the evenings or on the weekends when my husband is home. Often my friends with children tell me they wish they had a gig like mine! However, an even greater gift has been the actual programming that I transcribe. Most of the jobs that I receive are Christian in nature, such as church sermons, Bible studies, conferences, worship services, and youth Christian programming. In addition to my own church life and walk with God, receiving this consistent Biblical speaking and encouragement through my work has been indescribably great! Of all the programming there is out there, what could be better than listening and typing about God?

My work experience prior to this has been in Finance and Credit, including working for a Collection Agency, which was really the exact opposite of what I wanted to do with my English degree. It just wasn’t where my heart was. So I felt like it came naturally for me to do transcription work, not because I was necessarily a fast typist (although now I am), but because I tend to pay close attention to detail and actually enjoy editing and learning new words. I know…I’m a big dork! Nevertheless, there was definitely a learning curve for me in the first couple months until I got down the Aberdeen Captioning style. I was always flipping through my training manual to see when it was appropriate to use ellipses, chevrons and double dashes, not to mention when to spell out a number or not. That took me a while. Luckily, the staff at Aberdeen Captioning was very helpful and patient. After a couple of months, I finally got all the rules down. To avoid mistakes, I always look up scripture in websites like BibleGateway.com to be sure of punctuation and spelling. I also keep Merriam-Webster.com open while I’m working, as well as helpful search engines like Google. 

Thank you Aberdeen Captioning for this opportunity to work for your company. You have been a blessing in my life. I look forward to many more years of working and growing together.

This is an offline captioning term, referring to the person who takes the transcript and turns it into captions.  This person does the bulk of the captioning work.  They do the timing, placement, and research for the closed captions, using a professional captioning software. 

Transcriber

The person who creates a written representation of a program’s audio to be used for captioning.  Transcribers can work remotely and e-mail the caption editor their final transcripts or they can work in-house for the captioning company.

Live Captioner

Live captioners are typically trained as CPRs and use that training to become live captioners.  Live captioners require years of experience to be able to accurately caption in real-time.

Proofer/Quality Checker

This is a seasoned caption editor or manager who reviews the post-production captioning projects to ensure proper style and accuracy.

If you really want to know if the captioning company knows their stuff, ask them what transcription guidelines they follow.  Where did they come up with the guidelines? Are the guidelines tested by the viewing pubic?  Did they make up the guidelines themselves without any research? If they don’t have any guidelines or they made them up with no research to back it, you know you are not using the right company.  Ask them who they are certified with. Unfortunately, all captioning companies use different standards and guidelines (if any at all), but here are some general guidelines (many of these guidelines follow DCMP) transcribers should be following:

Spacing

• Spacing should be as follows:

Numbers

• Numbers one-ten are spelled out.
• Numbers 11+ are numerals.

• Spell out any number that begins a sentence, as well as any other numbers in the sentence.

• Spell out casual, non-emphatic numbers.

• Numerals with four digits can either have a comma or not.  Be consistent throughout the show.  For numerals having over five digits, a comma is necessary.

• Never mix numerals and spelled out numbers in one sentence.  Use numerals in a listing of numbers if one or more is above ten and these occur in one caption or one sentence.

Measurements

• All measurements are numerals.
  • Example: Inches, feet, yards, centimeters.

• Spell out “inches,” “feet,” “yards,” “miles,” “ounces,” “pounds,” “tablespoons,” et cetera.  Do not use abbreviations.

• However, if spoken in short form, symbols should be used.

Time

Time units are considered measurements and should always be numerals.

• Example: hours, minutes, seconds, days, years, centuries, et cetera.

Indicate the time of day with numerals only.

• Always use numerals with a.m. or p.m. Double zeros are not necessary to indicated minutes of the hour when a whole number is used with a.m. or p.m.

Money

• Use the dollar sign plus the numeral for dollar amounts under one million.  For even dollar amounts of one million or greater, spell out “million,” “billion,” et cetera.

Percentages

• Use numerals and the percent sign to indicate all percentages except at the beginning of a new sentence.

Scriptures

• Verse and chapter references are always numerals.

• Scriptures are always written, not exactly how the speaker says them, but in the commonly seen form.

Double Dash Usage

Double dashes are used for the following instances:

• Break in thought

Example: SO THE CELEBRITIES–THESE GUYS ARE EXERCISING POWER THERE.

• Error in speech

Example: ME AND MICHAEL NOW, WE’RE–WE STILL DON’T KNOW EACH OTHER.

• Incomplete sentence

Example:  I GREW UP–I LOVED THE BEATLES.

• Speaker is interrupted mid-sentence by another speaker

Example: >> THE OTHER PERSON NOT GOING TO SLEEP AT 7:30 IN THE CHAIR BEFORE THE MOVIE GETS– >> YOU DON’T DO THAT, DO YOU, GAVIN?

Ellipse Usage

Ellipses are used for the following instances:

• To direct the viewer to watch something on the screen

Example 1: CALL OUR TOLL-FREE PHONE NUMBER AT…

The phone number is on-screen and very large.  If you are in doubt, you may always write this out.

Example 2:  THEN CARRIE OPENED HER MOUTH LIKE THIS…

Speaker is opening their mouth to demonstrate the act

Example 3:  MARK 5 SAYS…

Only use ellipses when the scripture graphic is full screen and exactly verbatim.  It is hardly ever exactly what the speaker says, so this will most likely be written.

• A very long pause mid-sentence

Only do this if the pause adds an effect or changes the meaning.  The mid-sentence pause must be at least a 3-5 second pause to call for ellipses.

Example: AND THEN I LOOKED IN HER EYES AND…I COULDN’T TELL IF SHE REALLY LOVED ME. (In this circumstance, the speaker is really pondering about this and the ellipses add a special effect.)

Slash Usage

• In captioning, we hardly use slashes.  The main examples are words that are in the dictionary with slashes such as:

          -And/or
          -24/7

Note:  For more specific guidelines and more examples, see DCMP guidelines.  If  you are unsure about an English rule, please reference other reference books such as: “The Chicago Manual of Style” or “The Gregg Reference Manual.”

Transcribing Songs

Here is the ideal way for transcribers to caption songs, especially when the audio goes in and out of singing and talking.  These guidelines are set to help the caption editor fix the caption file. When you hear music, write [music] with no chevrons in front of it.  Then, if the speaker starts talking instead of singing, write: >> Talk talk.  Then, when he starts singing, write: [music] again with no chevrons and then write the lyrics with no chevrons. Writing [music] gives the caption editor the hint, and they can leave it in there or take it out depending on the time that the music allows.

Example:

[music] (You may write it in the beginning because the piano has started to play or something)

>> Come on, sing it with me, folks.

[music]

Praise his name; praise the precious name of Jesus.

la di da di do…. et cetera…

>> Let’s hear it ya’ll.  Everybody sing!

[music]

Glory to His name.  Glory to the name of Jesus.

To help you remember this, just think that the caption editor is wrapping the lyrics with music notes, so they need to know when they are singing and when they are not singing before they listen to the song.

Other points to remember:

• Do not write chevrons with the lyrics even if there are different singers throughout, only when they break from singing to speaking.  It is very important that when the song ends you put chevrons when the first speaker comes on after the song.
• Do not put quotation marks in songs.  It’s different than when they are speaking; it looks funny in the song.
• Do not transcribe back-up singers; only the main singer.

Here’s an example from a program of how we caption songs.

>> THANK YOU FOR YOUR

FRIENDSHIP, JESUS.

[MUSIC]

♪ I’M A WARN AND WEARY ♪

♪ TRAVELER. ♪

♪ I HAVE WALKED SO MANY MILES ♪

♪ THOUGH THE PATH IS LONG AND ♪

♪ WINDY. ♪

♪ THANK GOD, THE LORD HAS BEEN ♪

♪ THERE ALL THE WHILE. ♪

♪ THE ROAD HAS LED ME ON ♪

♪ A JOURNEY, A DISTANT LAND SO ♪

♪ FAR FROM HOME, BUT I HAVE NO ♪

♪ CAUSE FOR FEAR FOR MY LORD ♪

♪ IS ALWAYS NEAR. ♪

♪ I HAVE NEVER WALKED ALONE. ♪

>> THANK GOD.

♪ I HAVE NEVER WALKED ♪

♪ ALONE. ♪

>> THANK YOU LORD,

THANK YOU LORD.

♪ I HAVE HELD A SECRET. ♪

>> HE’S ALWAYS THERE.

♪ HE WILL LEAD ME SAFELY HOME ♪

♪ TO THE SHORES ♪

♪ OF THE LAND. ♪

♪ AND THOUGH I HAVE ♪

♪ TO WALK BY FAITH. ♪

>> THAT’S THE KEY TO IT ALL.

♪ THROUGH IT ALL, ♪

♪ I’VE ALWAYS KNOWN. ♪

What Does Verbatim Mean?

In Merriam Webster’s Online Dictionary it states that verbatim means:

In the exact words: word for word

Basically, in captioning we must make sure that we caption exactly what the speaker says to convey the most accurate message to the viewer.  The deaf viewer does not have special privileges—they do not get to read perfected grammar while the hearing viewer listens to poor grammar.  Consider a movie:  One of the characters is an immigrant from a foreign country and speaks broken English.  If we correct their grammar, the deaf viewer is being conveyed a completely different message which can entirely change the storyline.

Here are some examples:

Editing out the stutters

Even though our captions are verbatim, we do not caption any stuttering.  Stuttering is annoying to hear and even more annoying to read. It can make a program very difficult to follow if it is included in the captions.

Here are some examples:

Imagine trying to understand those captions!  The whole point is to convey the message and for the hearing impaired to be able to follow along.  It is much easier to ignore stuttering as a listener, but much harder to overlook it while reading.

Helpful Online resources (helpful when a difficult spelling needs to be researched)

Holman Bible Dictionary

BibleGateway

Merriam-Webster Online

Scripture4All

Google

Chicago Manual of Style

Internet Movie Database (IMDB)

Transcribers are professionals chosen for their linguistic skills and areas of expertise.

Different captioning companies accept different types of formats.  For example, Aberdeen accepts multiple tape formats, DVDs, or digital files.  Transcripts can be delivered via e-mail, fax, or mail as a .txt file or any other word processing format you desire.

Transcripts can be straight transcripts with only text or they can include time code for reference.  You may want a transcript with the time code appearing for every 5 minutes of video for editing reference purposes. Most companies will not charge you extra.  Transcription for video is typically billed in a per minute fashion, but some companies may charge per word.