Get Your Video Captioning and Transcription Ecosystem Rolling!

When it comes to your video captioning and transcription ecosystem, many factors contribute to how an organization begins the journey. 

Captions and transcripts are not a one-size-fits-all solution, and if you get started down the wrong path with a captioning and transcription strategy, it can be a challenge to correct course. That stated every organization that we work with begins their captioning and transcription program at a different stage and most importantly, with unique needs. There is always an opportunity to get started and responsibly grow your program.  Let’s examine the eco-system in further detail.

The Video Captioning Transcription Ecosystem Wheel

Think of a captioning and transcription ecosystem as a wheel with a number of different spokes that all represent a unique element of your strategy. Each of them is critical but may not be weighted the same at every organization. Every company begins its program with some combination of the video captioning and transcription ecosystem.  And while it is ideal that all areas ecosystem segments are addressed, that is not always possible.

Below we outline each element of your captioning and transcription ecosystem program:

Compliance

Before you begin any captioning and transcription program, you need to know your compliance requirements per state, federal, and international laws. Universities, government agencies, and global corporations all face federal requirements, as do many news and entertainment companies. Meeting these regulations must be built into your plan.

Use Cases

Arguably understanding your own use case/s may be the most crucial step in ensuring your organization proceeds in developing the right solution for your needs. Once compliance requirements have been determined, you need to consider how you are going to use video captions and audio transcripts. The type of video or audio content you create will lay the foundation for determining your captioning and transcription needs. Some typical use cases include distance, online learning, and inclusive design, lecture capture, marketing, and promotional video, 3rd-party training, television, sports and entertainment, research, podcasting, and more. Sometimes your use cases will be determined before your compliance is understood and then be retrofitted for compliance regulations.

Budget

Now you can define your budget. This comes after use cases and compliance because those are non-negotiable factors that create a framework around how much you’ll have to spend – bare minimum. For example, if you’re a learning institution, you are required to have high accuracy captions and transcripts on all video or audio content. You can’t set a tiny budget for captioning and transcription, but you can figure out where your base is.

Strategy and Policy

Your media captioning and transcription strategy might stem from a pre-determined compliance policy. That’s because compliance can dictate priority order. To build a strategy, you will first select the initial wave of media content you want to caption or transcribe – considering which videos have the most significant impact on your overall needs and growth goals.

If a compliance policy is a part of your strategy, you’ll begin with the most critical content for meeting regulations. You’ll then build a roadmap for captioning or transcribing any previously created video or audio content, as well as new to-be-produced content, and define a monthly media captioning quota. You will also want to determine who within your organization will be responsible for the program, which leads directly into execution.

Hand in hand with strategy comes your plan for onboarding and execution. For example, your institution might be multi-tiered, with numerous departments who will need access to the captioning and transcription program but each with their own unique sets of needs and ownership. Or perhaps you’re a global organization but with a small marketing department that will oversee all content development internally, and only one to two people will be actively using the transcription platform. The differences that arise from an operational standpoint are significant. And if compliance is a part of your program, every person involved needs to understand your requirements.

Technology

Finally, now that all your needs have been outlined, you need to consider your technology requirements. Some critical factors to consider include whether or not you have a video library management platform if you use or support multiple video players, the size of your video library, and how many users will need access to your captioning and transcription tools.  Answering these questions will allow you to confidently select the captioning and transcription platform with the right set of features, flexibility, pricing and support that you need to make your video captioning and audio transcription program a huge success!

Where You Climb On The Wheel

It’s prevalent for companies to begin their captioning and transcription program at different points on the wheel. Organizations that aren’t obviously held to compliance requirements will often start with use case identification, whereas compliance requirements almost always lead universities. Some organizations bypass every step before technology, diving headfirst into captioning and transcription, and are now trying to work backward to make their solution fit their needs.

The good news is that if you find yourself somewhere in the middle, this wheel will still roll. And you can address each element of the program according to your unique order. The most critical thing is to consider each step to end up with a fully effective captioning and transcription strategy that meets all your needs.  The benefits of working with a caption and transcript provider that is experienced in not only flexible planning at every stage of development but the execution of your unique program needs can not be understated.  The fact is there are so many benefits to adding captions and transcripts to your media that working with a knowledgable team on execution is well worth your time and effort. 

Getting Your Media Captioning and Transcription Program Rolling

cielo24 proudly works with companies and organizations across the globe on video data solutions that boost engagement, improve SEO, and increase conversions for digital content. For more information on our video captioning and video intelligence solutions, you can contact us online or call us at 1-855-243-5624.

Getting started with a video captioning and audio transcription strategy is much easier than you might think. In this blog, we will break down where to begin and how to build upon the basics to end up with a full-scale captioning and transcription process. Read the full article here >>