I’ve been wanting to create transcriptions for my podcast content for an extremely long time. For years, in fact. Yet, somehow I’ve just never seemed to get around to doing it.
Until now, that is.
I’m excited to announce that my podcast will finally start having a written form. And it will be available right here, on the Beyond Sight blog.
There are two main reasons for providing transcripts of the shows. First, as a podcast about disability, it has always felt wrong to me that my content excludes those who are unable to access audio, primarily those who are deaf or live with hearing loss. Providing transcriptions will allow them to finally access my library of content in a format that I hope will work for them.
The second reason is far more self-serving. A while back I attended a workshop on ways of improving findability on platforms like LinkedIn, considering both human and AI searches. The presenter mentioned that AI is unable to access audio or video content beyond the metadata, unless transcriptions are provided.
I started adding transcripts to my YouTube videos the following week.
I also began considering how to approach the mammoth task of converting my 160 podcast episodes into text.
Which brings us to this blog post.
From next week I will finally begin posting transcriptions for A Different Way of Seeing. The first transcription will be that of episode 1, which was recorded all the way back in September 2018.
I understand the challenges of starting with the oldest episodes. Some content may no longer be relevant. Some contact details and app names shared by my guests may not even still exist. But unfortunately, it only seems fair to start from the beginning and work my way up to the present.
Which means that it will be some time before you’ll find a written record of the episodes as they’re released. But I will eventually get there. At least, I will do my very best to get there, and in the shortest amount of time.
If it helps, I am already adding transcripts to the videos I’m sharing on YouTube.
In the meantime, I’m trying hard not to feel daunted by the task before me. And I’m slowly but surely working my way through the mountain of episodes that are already out in the world. I’m also grateful to have the assistance of professional transcriber Michelle Nell working with me on some of the episodes, as and when my cashflow permits me to do so.
So, watch out for those transcriptions. And please share them with anyone you know who might appreciate the new format of my content.
Right, I’d best get back to the next transcript. Heavens alone knows there a enough of them!
