We have often been asked “Why does Scribie charge extra for non-North American accents?” so we decided to clarify and expand on the reasons behind our decision. Here’s what you need to know:
Most files that are uploaded on Scribie for transcription are from the US, or at least the speakers are mostly North Americans–so for that reason, we specialize in transcribing North American accents. Naturally, it makes sense that most of our transcribers are based in the US. And this ensures they are familiar with the accents, which in turn ensures flawless transcription in much less time. The result? Faster turnaround, better accuracy, and happier customers.
Generally, we have a flat rate for all high-quality audio files with North American speakers. However, we do charge a bit extra ($.50 per minute) for high difficulty files due to the time these files are. Similarly, we charge a little more for files with a non-North American accent. The main reason is, these accents require specialized transcribers that are familiar with wider accent patterns and can transcribe files with non-US speakers at the same accuracy level. The problem is that these transcribers are rare, which means, if we get too many files in this category, the files tend to get stuck in the pipeline. And nobody likes that.
Basically, we charge more for these files because it costs more to transcribe these file types. It also keeps the transcribers motivated and encourages them to continue to work on such files.
So in closing, the pay rate occasionally changes, but what doesn’t change is Scribie’s commitment to one of the highest levels of accuracy in the industry Upload your files now and find it out for yourself.
Considering the incredible difficulty that must arise with may southern US accents it seems to me that to call an Australian accent (which is pretty close to a Boston accent in my experience, having lived their when I was younger) difficult is absurd. And what about all those New York accents? I can pretty much guess what city an American grew up in from their accent they are so distinct.
I think you are just being opportunistic in calling an Australian accent foreign and difficult. I have a lot of work available but I will keep looking for other transcribers if yo do not come to your senses over this. I always have to check the transcription because there are people’s names and the occasional technical term in them, but this applies to whomever does the transcription. All of yours so far have been quite good otherwise.
Stephen,
Thanks for the feedback and you are right; some Southern accents are tough. And depending on their severity, some of them are charged extra as well.
I understand why it might look like an “opportunistic” play on our part. That’s what makes this issue such a tough one for us, so let me try and explain.
How Scribie Works
We focus on General American accents because we are based in the US, and the majority of our transcribers live in the US. This is an important distinction because it takes non-native transcribers more time and effort to transcribe outside accents and still meet our 99% accuracy guarantee. Our extra charge ensures that our transcribers are paid a fair wage when they are required to do extra work. Also, we’ve tried recruiting Austrailian transcribers but they also charge a much higher transcription rate.
Who decides what files are too difficult?
We developed our system so this decision doesn’t hinge on one person’s opinion. When you submit your file, numerous individual freelance transcribers listen and rate it according to their opinion on the level of difficulty. All of these ratings are discrete and are then added together. If it passes a certain threshold it’s not marked as high-difficulty, but if enough transcribers rate it as difficult, then it’s marked as so. Moreover, it’s not really a matter of accent as it is more a matter of what the majority of our transcribers can understand and transcribe efficiently.
Again, we apologize for the inconvenience. We are working hard on fixing these issues, but as a small business, these challenges take some time to overcome.
Thank you for your time and your patience.