Podcasts are a major source of entertainment these days and there are more than 48 million Americans that are deaf & hard of hearing.

What is your opinion about making podcasts 100% accessible?

Let us have a look at the new lawsuit.

The Disability Rights Advocates (DRA) and National Association of the Deaf (NAD)have sued three major podcast providers, Stitcher, Pandora, and SiriusXM, for inaccessibility of their podcast services among hard-to-hear and deaf people. The lack of captions or transcripts limits the hard to hear and deaf people from enjoying the podcast programs. Hiring the podcast transcription services can help businesses overcome such issues.

This new lawsuit filed by DRA & NAD against major podcast providers will not go in vain. It has given hope to solve the problem of inaccessibility across the United States.
Transcribing is an easy task specially with the new advanced automated tools. However, hiring professional transcription services provides 100% human transcription guaranteeing error-free & quick transcription of podcasts. 

A Quick Look at the Podcast Service Providers That Were Sued by DRA & NAD

Sirius XM

Sirius XM positions itself as one of the best destinations for exclusive, popular, and original podcasts. It provides the customers with third-party as well as original podcast content. It even offers the audience access the exclusive podcasts of Marvel Entertainment.

Pandora

Pandora is a leading podcast service provider. The company provides the audience with hundreds of podcast episodes. 

Stitcher

According to the “Report of top Podcast Networks for August 2021” released by Triton Digital, Stitcher occupied the top rank. It provides the users with about 451 podcasts.

All three multimillion-dollar companies failed to offer transcripts, thereby limiting the access to podcast programs for deaf or people with hearing difficulties. 

Complaints Raised by Different Plaintiffs

Here are some of the prominent issues raised by different plaintiffs. Let’s take a look!

• According to Jamie Munro, podcasts offer a wealth of information to people, excluding the deaf community. It is important not to exclude them and provide them with equal access to knowledge as everyone else.

• According to Rebecca Alexander, equal access to information from sources such as podcasts is considered to be a fundamental civil right. The inaccessibility to important commentary on the podcast platform makes it a matter of concern for people.

• According to Dr. Amber Martin, access to entertainment as well as information is equally important and interesting for people with hearing difficulties. The interesting content on podcasts sparks interest but the inability to access the content leads to frustration. 

Overcoming the Issues of Inaccessibility of Podcast Platforms

In order to ensure optimum accessibility of people with hearing difficulties to the podcast platforms, transcribing podcast content is the key. Podcast transcription services can help in addressing all the issues and making podcasts enjoyable for people with hearing difficulties. Here are some of the popular benefits of podcast transcription services. 

Allows a Greater Reach

With the help of podcast transcriptions, popular podcast platforms can easily connect with a wider audience and grow their reach. It ensures that every individual, including the deaf or people with hearing problems, is able to enjoy podcast programs and access the content. It eliminates the barriers and expands the audience of the podcast programs.

Creates a Positive Image

Transcribing the podcast content helps in building a positive image of the podcast service providers among the people. It sends the message that the company focuses on creating an inclusive environment and is concerned about the needs of people with hearing difficulties. With a positive brand reputation, attracting more audiences to the podcast programs becomes easy.

Benefits Everyone

Transcribing podcasts will not only benefit people with hearing issues but also those who do not have any such problem. It will allow the people to go through the transcripts and enjoy the podcast programs when they are in a noisy environment. It helps in keeping away all the distractions and ensuring greater focus on the podcast content. 

Effective SEO

Transcribing podcast content can help in increasing the ranking of the podcast programs on Google. This, in turn, will increase online visibility and allow more people to see the content.

Here are the top things to consider when hiring podcast transcription services. 

• Experience of the company

• Experienced transcribers/native language experts

• Turnaround time 

• Cost of transcription

• Use of latest transcription tools

Conclusion

Podcast transcription services are essential for podcast service providers. Hire high quality transcription services and ensure equal access to the podcast content for all the audiences.