Accessibility and Transcription: Using Descript to Reach More Listeners

Accessibility improves reach. Accurate transcripts, captions, and accessible audio formats allow more people to consume your content. Descript provides practical tools to make accessibility part of your publishing workflow. This guide explains why accessibility matters, how to use Descript to create accessible assets, and policy and technical tips to stay compliant with best practices.

Why Accessibility Matters

Accessible content serves listeners who are Deaf or hard of hearing, non-native speakers, and those in environments where audio playback is impractical. Beyond ethics, accessibility benefits SEO and discoverability, as transcripts provide crawlable text for search engines and create repurposing opportunities for blogs and social media.

“Inclusive audio is not an add-on — it’s an opportunity to reach new audiences.”

Using Descript for Transcripts and Captions

Descript’s automatic transcription is a great starting point. After upload, clean up the transcript by correcting names and technical terms. Use speaker labels and timestamps to improve readability. Then export captions in SRT, VTT, or as burned-in captions for video. Keep captions under character-per-line guidelines and watch reading speed constraints for viewers.

Creating Accessible Show Notes and Posts

Turn cleaned transcripts into structured show notes. Use headings, bolded speaker names, and timestamps. Provide alternative text for images and include brief content warnings when necessary. For long transcripts, add a summary at the top so readers can quickly gauge relevance.

Audio Accessibility: Indices, Chapters, and Descriptive Audio

For narrative episodes, include chapter markers and a short descriptive summary for each chapter. Descript’s chapter export helps players and platforms show navigable segments. Consider offering descriptive audio for visually oriented content — a brief narration describing imagery can help blind and low-vision listeners.

Quality Assurance Checklist

• Run a transcript cleanup pass focused on names, acronyms, and jargon.
• Ensure speaker labels are accurate and consistent.
• Validate SRT/VTT timing on multiple players.
• Include credits and licensing information in the transcript metadata.

Legal and Policy Considerations

Some jurisdictions require accessible alternatives for published media. While podcasting rules are still evolving, larger platforms and institutions often have accessibility standards. Keep documentation of your accessibility work and maintain versioned transcripts as proof of compliance when needed.

Tools and Integrations

Combine Descript with accessibility tools: text-to-speech for previewing transcripts, readability checkers for summaries, and caption styling tools for burned-in captions. Plugins in Descript’s marketplace can help standardize caption exports and check reading speeds automatically.

Case Study: A Radio Station’s Accessibility Push

A community radio network used Descript to create episode transcripts and burned-in captions for clips. They saw a 15 percent increase in page visits and doubled the number of social shares for captioned clips. Listeners reported improved discoverability, especially when searching for guests and topics using keywords found in transcripts.

Practical Tips

1. Set aside a transcript QA pass as part of your workflow.
2. Keep transcript language concise for better captions.
3. Train hosts to enunciate names and spell unusual words during recording.

Conclusion

Accessibility is essential both ethically and strategically. Descript reduces the friction of creating captions, transcripts, and chaptered content. Make accessibility a standard part of your workflow to serve more listeners, improve discoverability, and meet emerging compliance expectations.