STONE DEAF PILOTS – the deaf technology blog. A blog by Kathryn Hill about deaf technology, assistive technology, and tech-related accessibility issues faced by the deaf and hard of hearing.

One of the most popular internet technologies today is podcasting, which is the act of creating and sending audio files over the Internet. Podcasts are used for media such as radio shows and audio blogging. Users can listen to podcasts over the Internet, or download them to a MP3 player like an iPod.

Unfortunately, not all podcasts come with a text transcript, which means that the deafies get left out. I’d love to know what’s being said on the now-defunct Penn Jillette Show, as I’ve been told that it’s quite funny. I’m also interested in The Splendid Table and This American Life. Sadly, none of these shows provide text transcripts that I can find.

NPR and American Public Media offer text transcripts for a fee. Apple offers hundreds of thousands of podcasts at their iTunes Store for free, and yet I cannot find any text transcripts.

So, after much Googling, I found a few services that offer text transcribing for audio podcasts:

• Casting Words – transcription services that start at $0.75 per minute
• Automatic Sync Technologies – they make captions for iTunes. You have to contact them for a price quote.

I can’t seem to find a service or software program that transcribes audio podcasts to text without charging fees. Right now, text transcripts fall within the realm of the podcaster deciding whether they want to provide a transcript or not. Obviously, there is a need for no-fee transcripts.

So far, I have only found two podcasts offering no-fee transcripts – thank you! Hopefully more podcasters will follow their example.

• Violet Blue’s Open Source Sex
• CNN

Deaf people are interested in reading the content of podcasts. All media – whether its content is emergency information, news, or entertainment – should be accessible to everyone. Everyone has a right to knowledge & information, and access to it. Podcasts communicate information that should be made available to all audiences.