Transcription

Transcription is the process of converting spoken language from audio or video recordings into written text. In the translation and localisation industry, transcription is often the first step in a workflow that leads to translation, subtitling, or content analysis of spoken content.

Transcription comes in several forms. Verbatim transcription captures every spoken word including false starts, filler words, and repetitions — used in legal proceedings, research, and compliance contexts where the exact spoken record matters. Clean or edited transcription smooths out speech disfluencies to produce readable text while preserving meaning — used for business meetings, interviews, and content production. Time-coded transcription includes timestamps at regular intervals or at speaker changes, essential for subtitling and audio/video synchronisation workflows.

Multilingual transcription adds the challenge of accurately transcribing speech in languages other than English, requiring transcriptionists who are native speakers of the source language and familiar with relevant dialects, accents, and terminology.

Quality challenges in transcription include poor audio quality, overlapping speakers, heavy accents, technical terminology, and background noise. Professional transcription services employ quality controls including verification against the audio, formatting standards, and specialist transcriptionists for technical content.

LEXIGO provides transcription services across 171 languages, supporting workflows that include translation, subtitling, and content analysis. Our transcriptionists are native speakers with experience in legal, medical, corporate, and media transcription contexts.

Accurate transcription is the foundation for all downstream processes — translation, subtitling, and content analysis can only be as good as the transcription they are based on. Errors introduced at the transcription stage propagate through every subsequent step, making quality transcription a critical first investment.

For organisations working with recorded content — from conference recordings and research interviews to legal proceedings and media content — professional transcription ensures that spoken content is captured accurately and made available for translation, analysis, or publication.