Add and Edit Transcripts in EchoVideo


Table of Contents

About the auto-generated transcript feature of EchoVideo

EchoVideo at UMass Amherst captures and delivers lectures, featuring an Automatic Speech Recognition (ASR) tool powered by Amazon Alexa to generate transcripts from audio recordings.

These transcripts are added to your media as interactive text, allowing students to read along, search for key terms, and jump to specific parts of the lecture. Transcript accuracy may vary depending on recording quality, speaker characteristics, and specialized vocabulary.

You can edit transcripts to improve their accuracy and usability. Edited transcripts can also be added as closed captions.

For students requiring transcripts or captions due to disabilities, please refer them to Disability Services for professional captioning support.

Transcript Standards

Transcripts help students find information, study, and engage with your content effectively. To ensure clarity and usefulness, please follow these guidelines:

Step 1: Enable Automatic Speech Recognition (ASR) in your EchoVideo course

The ASR (Automatic Speech Recognition) feature is available only for EchoVideo courses and must be enabled individually for each course.

Once enabled, all new recordings uploaded to the course will be automatically transcribed.

To get transcripts for existing recordings, you must Share (Publish), Unshare, and then re-Share the media within the course to trigger transcription.

Note: If a co-instructor or TA will be making edits to your content, you must Allow All Instructors and Teaching Assistants to Edit Course Media.

  1. Navigate to echo360.umass.edu and log in with your NetID and password.
  2. Select Courses on the top tool menu.
  3. On the Courses page, select your course. The Class list page will open.
  4. On the Class list page, select Settings (top right). The Settings page will open.
  5. On the Settings page, select Features.
  6. On the Features list, toggle the ASR Course Media on. 

Step 2: Review the transcript

After enabling ASR for your EchoVideo course, sharing (publishing) and unsharing media will trigger automatic transcription. Processing time varies from a few minutes up to 3 hours, depending on media length and system demand. If the Edit Transcript page shows “No transcript available” for recently added media, please wait until transcription is complete.

In a Course:

  1. Navigate to echo360.umass.edu and log in with your NetID and password.
  2. Select Courses on the top tool menu.
  3. On the Courses page, select your course. The Class list page will open.
  4. Find the recording and click the playback icon.
  5. From the dropdown menu, select Edit Transcript to open the Transcript Editor and edit your ASR transcript.
  6. Note: If it shows “No transcript available,” please wait—transcription may still be processed.

In Your Library:

  1. Navigate to echo360.umass.edu and log in with your NetID and password.
  2. On the Library page, find the recording you would like to view or edit the transcript of.
  3. Click the blue ellipsis (...) button on the recording tile.
  4. Select More Actions > Edit Transcript to open the Transcript Editor.
  5. Note: If it shows “No transcript available,” please wait—transcription may still be processed.

Step 3: Edit the ASR transcript

Once the transcript is ready, review and edit it for accuracy. Accurate transcripts are essential, as some students rely solely on the text for learning. Aim for at least 99% accuracy and verbatim transcription.

  1. On the Transcript Editor page, click Edit Transcript (top right, blue button).
  2. Press the play button to listen to the recording. We recommend pausing while typing to ensure careful edits.
  3. The transcript appears on the right and syncs with the audio.
  4. Click any text line to make corrections.
  5. Continue reviewing and editing the entire transcript as needed.
  6. When finished, click Save As New Version.
  7. Confirm by clicking Apply on the pop-up.

Step 4: Apply transcripts to closed captions

After editing and saving your transcript, you can add it as Closed Captions for students.

  1. On the Edit Transcript page, make any necessary edits and select Save As New Version.
  2. Click Apply To CC to enable captions for students to view.
  3. Note: If you re-edit the transcript later, you must click Apply To CC again to update the captions.