Transcription Quality Control & Proofreading
When you commission a professional transcript, you need confidence that it accurately represents your recording, follows your instructions and is ready to use.
At The Typing Works, quality control is built into our transcription process. Our work is produced by experienced human transcribers and checked by humans. We do not use AI to transcribe, proofread or quality-check client material.
How We Quality-Control Your Transcript
Quality starts before transcription begins. We review your requirements, allocate the work appropriately and follow your instructions throughout the project.
We Review Your Instructions
We check the requirements for your project, including the transcription style, speaker identification, timestamps, anonymisation, formatting and any terminology or templates you have supplied.
We Allocate a Human Transcriber
Your recording is allocated to an experienced human transcription professional. Wherever possible, we take account of the subject matter, type of recording and any specialist requirements when allocating work.
Your Recording is Transcribed by a Human
The transcriber listens to the original recording and produces the transcript in accordance with your instructions. We do not use automated speech-to-text or AI to produce a first draft.
The Transcript is Checked
Human checking forms part of our quality control process. Accuracy, consistency, speaker identification, terminology, formatting and adherence to your instructions are considered before the work is returned.
Proofreading Where Required
The level of additional proofreading can vary according to the project and the service agreed. Where your organisation requires a particular level of independent or second-person review, please tell us when requesting a quotation so that the appropriate process can be agreed.
Final Review & Delivery
The completed document is checked against the project requirements and returned in the agreed format using the appropriate secure delivery method.
What Do Our Quality Checks Cover?
Transcription quality control involves more than running a spellcheck. A professional transcript needs to accurately reflect the recording while also following the client’s agreed specification.
Depending on the project and level of checking agreed, our quality control process can consider:
What Do We Mean by an Accurate Transcript?
Accuracy is one of the most important parts of professional transcription, but it needs to be considered in the context of the original recording.
A clear recording with well-separated speakers can usually be transcribed to a very high standard. Recordings containing heavy background noise, several people speaking at once, very quiet speakers or damaged audio can inevitably contain passages that cannot be heard with complete confidence.
For that reason, we prefer transparency to making a blanket percentage guarantee that ignores the quality of the source material. Our objective is to produce an accurate, consistent and dependable transcript while clearly identifying material that cannot reliably be heard.
If something cannot be heard or identified with sufficient confidence, it should be identified as unclear rather than invented or silently replaced with an assumption.
How Do We Deal With Unclear Audio?
Background noise, accents, overlapping speakers, poor microphones, telephone connections and specialist terminology can all affect the clarity of a recording.
Our human transcribers use context and experience to understand difficult passages wherever possible. Where speech cannot be identified reliably, the passage can be marked as unclear rather than guessed.
This distinction is particularly important for research, medical, legal, investigative and professional material where inserting an incorrect word can be more damaging than clearly identifying that a passage could not be heard.
Quality Means Following Your Specification
There is no single correct format for every transcript. Academic research, medical interviews, focus groups, business meetings and other professional recordings can all require different conventions.
We can work to your supplied instructions or template and agree requirements before work begins.
Information That Can Help Us
Where available, supplying any of the following can help produce the best possible transcript:
- Speaker names or participant codes
- Project terminology
- Acronyms and abbreviations
- Names of organisations or places
- Interview schedules or topic guides
- Your preferred transcript template
- Previous transcripts from the same project
- Specific anonymisation instructions
We Do Not Use AI to Quality-Control Client Transcripts
The Typing Works operates a human-led transcription service. Client recordings, transcripts and other client material are not processed through AI systems for transcription, proofreading, speaker identification, summarisation or quality assurance.
Human judgement is particularly important when dealing with accents, multiple speakers, specialist vocabulary, ambiguous language and unclear audio. It also means your confidential material does not need to be submitted to an artificial intelligence platform simply to check the transcript.
Read our Artificial Intelligence Use Policy →Quality Control Without Compromising Data Security
Quality control must not come at the expense of confidentiality. Recordings and transcripts can contain personal data, special category data, commercially sensitive information and confidential research material.
The Typing Works operates secure UK-based file handling and restricted access procedures and is Cyber Essentials certified. Our data protection and confidentiality arrangements are explained separately so that clients and procurement teams can review them in detail.
Confidentiality & Data SecuritySecurity & Governance
- UK GDPR-aligned processing
- Cyber Essentials certification
- Secure file transfer
- UK-based data handling
- Restricted access controls
- Human-only client transcription
- NDAs available where required
- Data Processing Agreements available
Transcription Quality Control FAQs
Is every transcript checked by a human?
Yes. Human quality control forms part of our transcription process. We do not use AI to quality-check client transcripts.
Is every transcript independently proofread by a second person?
The precise level of separate proofreading depends on the project and service agreed. If your organisation requires a particular level of independent or second-person checking, please tell us at quotation stage and we can confirm the appropriate process.
Do you guarantee a particular accuracy percentage?
We aim to produce highly accurate professional transcripts, but the achievable level of accuracy depends partly on the quality of the original recording. Rather than applying a blanket percentage regardless of audio quality, we identify passages that cannot reliably be heard.
What happens if part of the recording is unclear?
Our transcribers use context and experience to understand difficult passages wherever reasonably possible. If speech cannot be identified with sufficient confidence, it can be marked as unclear rather than guessed.
Can you work to our own transcription template?
Yes. We regularly work to client-specific formatting, speaker-label, timestamp, anonymisation and transcription-style requirements. Please provide your template or instructions when submitting the project.
Do you use AI as part of the checking process?
No. Client data is not processed using AI for transcription, proofreading or quality assurance. Our transcription service is human-produced and human-checked.
Can you meet our organisation’s procurement requirements?
We regularly work with universities, healthcare organisations, researchers, businesses and public-sector clients. NDAs, Data Processing Agreements, confidentiality undertakings and organisation-specific requirements can be considered before work begins.
Have a Specific Quality Control Requirement?
If your project requires a particular checking process, transcript format, independent proofing arrangement or quality assurance procedure, tell us when requesting your quotation.
We will be happy to explain how your project will be handled before work begins.