Section 1: Most Common Requirements 5/18

 

Section One- Most Common Requirements

Rule	Instruction	Example
Clean Verbatim Transcription Your transcripts provide captions for deaf and hard of hearing viewers!	Transcribe the audio content exactly as heard, but leave out Disfluencies (um, uh, ah, eh); Filler words (hm, you know, like); Please Note: Filler words are minor words that do not change the meaning of a sentence Stutters, stammers, unnecessary repetitions, and false starts (where the speaker changes idea mid-sentence). Exceptions: Nonconsecutive repeated phrases should not be removed Leave deliberate repetitions in the transcript. Use correct American English spelling and grammar. No exceptions. When transcribing dialogue, leave out any filler words that interrupt the primary speaker.  *You may be directed to transcribe True Verbatim (transcribe exactly as said) on jobs with Special Guidelines pop-ups	Spoken: I, i, It, it, was in two, 2000, uh, 2015. Transcribe as: It was in 2015. Spoken: Person 1: I, I, I was um, uh, wa- waiting outside and it was sooo cold, ya know? The sky was the colour of slate- Person 2: Hm. Person 1: And I had this idear… Transcribe as: I was waiting outside and it was so cold. The sky was the color of slate and I had this idea, Spoken: So you know, like, what do we do when we have text files, CSV files? Transcribe as: What do we do when we have text files, CSV files? Spoken: If you launch it at too high of an engine rpm, like 1201 RPM, you incinerate the rear tires. Transcribe as: If you launch it at too high of an engine rpm like 1201 RPM, you incinerate the rear tires. Spoken: I don't think, Paul, I don't think that's the case.  Transcribe as: I don't think, Paul, I don't think that's the case
Transcript Format  Beginning of HIT End of HIT	Always capitalize the first letter of the first word in a HIT, even if it's not the start of a sentence. Always close a HIT with a period, unless you're sure that it's the middle of a sentence, then leave it open or with a comma. Never close a hit with a dash (- or --) or ellipses (...).	To send the report. I need it by tomorrow morning at We will call them back tomorrow.
Transcript Style Consistency is key!	Use the video to guide style, formatting (i.e. capitalization), and spelling in your transcript. If the speaker references something on screen, transcribe it as shown. Transcribe elements of a computer interface as they appear on screen.
Sentence Format Beginning Punctuation Interruptions Dialogue Spacing Sentence Breaks	Always capitalize the first letter of the first word. Separate sentences with a period. Use a dash to indicate an abrupt interruption mid-sentence by another speaker. Never use a dash to indicate a stutter. Leave out stutters in Clean Verbatim. With spoken dialogue do not transcribe verbal tics (like habitual mm-hms) that interrupt the primary speaker’s sentence. Use a single space between sentences. Break up run-on compound sentences, and join fragments into complete sentences when possible.  Do your best to make coherent sentences out of the speaker’s speech patterns. It is perfectly acceptable to start a sentence with ‘And’ or ‘But’ in CrowdSurf transcripts.	So tomorrow we will see the Challenger- >> Yes, the Challenger Jobs Report. Spoken: >> But before I can do the install, I- > >> Mm-hm. >> Have to first make sure the server is up- >> Mm-hm. >> And running and then Transcribe as: But before I can do the install, I have to first make sure the server is up and running and then Spoken: Now you can see that once again we've got, you know, the preview going on if I click submit you can see that it does not ah, make uh, it, it doesn't make a request, and query string, you can see actually, that when I click submit, uh actually, it's gonna, you know, make the network request in the background. Transcribe as: Now you can see that once again we've got the preview going on. If I click submit you can see that it does not make a request, and query string. You can see actually, that when I click submit, actually, it's gonna make the network request in the background.
Names and Industry Jargon Use the CrowdSurf Glossary for help with technical terms.	All person, product, and company names must be spelled and formatted correctly. If unsure of the spelling, Google the word. Capitalize all place names and proper nouns. Exception: Some company, software and other names are not capitalized or contain unique titles with numbers etc. Represent them as they represent themselves. Note that the logo is separate from the company name.	Massachusetts, freemium The people working at Apple are very nice. W3 Communication is located over there. My iPod is broken.
Acronyms	Do NOT use (.) in between letters. As with all names and proper nouns, represent them as they represent themselves.	Example: US NOT U.S. Spoken: Call triple A Transcribe as: Call AAA Spoken: N C double A Transcribe as: NCAA
Speaker Change Flag for tasks with Multiple Speakers	Each time there is a new speaker in the media, indicate the change with a double chevron >> If only one speaker, do not use a >> in the transcript. If more than one person is talking at the same time, use your best judgment as to where to put the >>. Where the dialogue is not transcribable due to overlap use [CROSSTALK]. Use >> to indicate a change in speaker with human-made sounds like [LAUGH], [COUGH], [APPLAUSE], etc.	Hey Charlie. >> Hello Amy, how are you? >> Just fine Charlie. >> [LAUGH]
Punctuation Marks	Do not use quotation marks (“ “), semi-colons (;), colons (:), ellipses (…), em-dashes (--) in CrowdSurf transcripts. Exception: If specifically shown on-screen in a title or a line of code, then these punctuation marks may be included.	I was talking to him and he said yeah, I'd love to go see The Wizard of Oz.
Silence, Sounds and Non-Verbal noises All plot-relevant audio content should be recorded in your transcript.	Use one tag per uninterrupted period of silence, sound, music, or non-verbal noises. Use bbb (for BLANK_AUDIO) when there is no audio, silence, or non-relevant sounds (like static) for 3 seconds or more in a clip. Use mmm (for MUSIC) to indicate music and singing in the media. Do not use this for background music played simultaneously with speaker. Insert a music tag when there is only music or song for 3 seconds or more in the media. Use speaker changes with ccc (for COUGH), lll (for LAUGH), aaa (for APPLAUSE), etc. Use sss (for SOUND) or nnn (for NOISE) for distinct, plot-relevant noises in transcripts. Use Aah! to indicate a scream.	Check your sound settings before submitting [BLANK_AUDIO]. All sound tag shortcuts available on the right side of media tool. Do not make up your own tags. Spoken: I know that we all want to work towards equality, (audience applauds for a second or two, overlapping the speaker's next word or phrase] but it's not always easy when Transcribe as: I know that we all want to work towards equality, >> [APPLAUSE] >> But it's not always easy when
Static In Audio	Ignore it. Don't type sss to denote sound. If the clip is nothing but static, then use bbb.	[BLANK_AUDIO]
Noisy Lecture Halls	Ignore it. Don't type sss or nnn to denote the noise. (It is not relevant to the content of the lecture) If the clip contains unintelligible crowd noise, please use bbb.	[BLANK_AUDIO]
Audio Issues and Cut Off Words	If the audio quality is too challenging, please skip the HIT. If the cut-off word is obvious based on the portion of it you heard and the context of the sentence, then complete the word. If you cannot discern the cut-off word, type iii or [INAUDIBLE]. If the word is cut off at the beginning and you can't hear it, do not type anything.

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