Custom transcription involves capturing precisely what is said. Because the way people use informal language is varied and nuanced, you must pay attention to context at all times. The context will often determine what punctuation to use, capitalization, formatting, etc. Developing the skill of having contextual awareness while watching what you are typing (instead of watching the video) is one of the most crucial steps in becoming a good Custom scribe.

As a Custom scribe, you will be transcribing all spoken dialogue as spoken, often including fillers, stutters and nonfluencies where required, depending on job type instructions and reference sheets.

As you scribe, you will run into what we call Special Content, which is content that requires special or unusual stylization (such as non-initial capitalization) and/or is content that is specific, nonstandard or uncommon. There is a lot of information that falls under the umbrella of Special Content. Being 100 percent accurate with Special Content is a core directive of being a Custom scribe. See the Special Content section for more information.

Our general standard is, if dialogue is already captioned on-screen verbatim - that is, the words being spoken are spelled out along the bottom of the screen exactly as spoken - do not transcribe. Text such as this will not be recaptioned, so there is no need for us to transcribe it. Exceptions are:

• placards, precommercial blurbs, quizzes and any other on-screen text that is read aloud
• disclaimers unless they come before a show's title card.
• when instructed specifically by job type instructions or reference sheets (ex: "All captioned dialogue must be transcribed.")

In cases of foreign dialogue, you will insert a properly formatted marker of [foreign] or [ Foreign ], depending on if the speech is inline or standalone. Do not attempt to punctuate around any [foreign] markers with dialogue you could not verify.

Felipe [foreign] my friend?
We attempted to bargain with them, but our French was just not that good.
[ Foreign ]
Wait, did he say seven or 70?

If you can verify any foreign speech, insert an inline [foreign] marker and transcribe.

You've got a serious problem, [foreign] n'est-ce pas?

Sometimes, foreign speech will be classified as special content, eg. cooking terms. In these cases, the [foreign] tag is not necessary.

The dish had a side of boudin blanc de Rethel.

Sometimes, a narrator will be speaking over top of other dialogue or sounds going on in the background. We will treat this narration as of primary importance. Capture the monologue of the narrator. This may render events in the background unintelligible. If you are unable to understand anything happening in the background while a narrator is speaking, you may omit with no sound marker required. Capture any dialogue that occurs before and after the narration.

It can be difficult at first to determine what may be considered background noise that can be omitted. If there is ever any question of whether or not you can safely omit any bit of content, always ask a CSL.

Familiarize yourself with the job's instructions and reference sheet before scribing, but utilize throughout and check through again before sending to ensure you haven't missed an important instruction. Ctrl + F is your friend for finding and correcting typos, fillers, nonfluencies, interruption markers, etc.

Use standard American English spellings. Be thorough verifying special content as you process the job. Often, special content can sound like common English but needs to be stylized specifically. Always seek to produce an original, accurate transcription and do not depend on QA review to fix errors. Mark any tricky areas with the appropriate content markers.

Fix spelling errors as you go, not all at the end. It's faster to quickly verify your spelling via Google while you're transcribing than during spellcheck.

Be especially aware of homophones and punctuation as you transcribe. It's very easy to incorrectly scribe "its" as "it's" or put a period at the end of a sentence that should be punctuated with a question mark.

You should always verify brand names using Google. Never assume you know the stylization of a brand name because it is common in everyday speech.

Make sure the file you transcribe has a clear beginning and end. If the job does not have a clear beginning or end, notify a CSL.

Many Basic Caption jobs will start with the SMPTE color bars and pleasant tone. At some point early on, there might also be some sort of title screen or audio such as "previously, on _ ... " The end of a Basic Caption job usually IS NOT the end of the video. You should only scribe through the end of the credits, up until a fade to black. You are not responsible for scribing dialogue that occurs after the fade to black at the end of the credits.

When you reach the end of your file, attempt to clear all content markers. Refer to the Self-Review section for tips on how to self-check a job. Do not listen to the entirety of the job in your self-review process. If you are unable to clear all the content markers yourself, seek out help from a QA. Asking a QA for help clearing one or two content markers is encouraged. However, the QAs are not responsible for clearing your content markers. Use the context, Reference Sheets, Google and common sense to clear them yourself.

As a reminder, in your hiring documentation, it was agreed to that any information disclosed or seen in transcriptions is to remain in the office and not be discussed outside, whether in person, on social media or the Internet at large, etc. This practice extends to Custom work, as the videos you will be watching have not been released to the public at large and as such may contain spoilers or sensitive information. Discussing information related to any Custom work outside of the office is grounds for immediate termination.

For a full explanation of Copytalk Business Services' nondisclosure agreement, see CBS Employee Conduct Guidelines.