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oTranscribe+ Help

Does oTranscribe+ automatically convert audio into text?

Yes, it does! oTranscribe+ is able to transcribe your audio files, privately using only the resources of your own computer using the speech recognition technology of Vosk. It can also transcribe what you say to your microphone. However the speech to text funcionality for files does not yet work for Chrome.

My audio file doesn’t work!

Try the following steps:

  1. Convert your file to WAV or MP3 format with media.io. (This is an external service and is not affiliated with oTranscribe+.)
  2. Still no luck? You can contact us directly at aina@bsc.es.

Where is my transcript stored? How secure is it?

oTranscribe+ is designed in a way that your data (both the audio file and the written transcript) never leaves your local computer. The transcript is not kept on a remote server or “in the cloud”, but is instead in the browser’s localStorage. The downside is that it is not possible to access your saved transcripts from another computer.

oTranscribe+'s automatic backup system saves the current transcript every five minutes. Click on the button to view backups and restore an old copy of your transcript. Exactly 100 copies are retained; once the 100 backup limit is reached, oTranscribe+ will erase older copies.

oTranscribe+ is not a permanent document store, as browser storage is notoriously unreliable (even with this backup system). Please make sure to export your work regularly to prevent loss of data.

My transcript has disappeared, can I get it back?

The short answer is: unfortunately, no.

The long answer is: oTranscribe+ sometimes loses work for a multitude of reasons (including the user clearing their cache or localStorage becoming full). If your work is not present in the history panel, it's gone for good. Please make sure to export your work regularly, especially when using oTranscribe+ for an extended period of time.

Why is oTranscribe+ is no longer saving backups?

This can sometimes happen when the browser's local storage is full. If you clear the existing stored documents, it should begin saving again. Note that this may affect locally-stored data belonging to other apps and sites.

What keyboard shortcuts are there?

Audio playback

Text editing

Note: On OS X, use Cmd instead of Ctrl.

How can I set custom keyboard shortcuts?

Open settings () to access custom keyboard shortcuts. To add a new shortcut, click the blue “+” next to the name of the function you want to add a keyboard shortcut for, and then press a key combination. To remove a shortcut, click the next to the shortcut you want to remove. Note that you may need to refresh the page to clear the old shortcuts.

What audio formats does oTranscribe+ support?

oTranscribe is limited by the formats supported by each individual browser. The formats supported by your own browser will be listed below the “Choose audio file” button. In general, WAV files are widely supported, and MP3 files mostly work on everything except Mozilla Firefox. Video files for speech recognition is not yet supported.

How do the interactive timestamps work?

Pressing Ctrl+J (Cmd+J on OS X) will insert the audio file’s current time into the document. This timestamp is hyperlinked and will skip to the specific time in the audio file.

Can I use oTranscribe+ offline?

Yes! oTranscribe.bsc.es will automatically save an offline copy of itself in your browser's HTML5 Application Cache when you load up the page for the first time. To use the offline version, simply go to oTranscribe.com without an internet connection. It's that simple.

Note that buttons will look different when offline and some features like YouTube support and Google Drive export will not work.

How do I import and export my transcript?

oTranscribe can only import one type of file, the .OTR oTranscribe file format. This format preserves the clickable time stamps.

Open the export panel by clicking on the button. You can export .OTR files, along with plain text (.txt) and Markdown (.md) files.

Who made oTranscribe+?

oTranscribe+ is based on Elliot Bentley's oTranscribe, and Ciaran O'Reilly's Vosk-browser. oTranscribe+ is a project of the Text Mining unit in Barcelona Supercomputing Center developed with the collaboration of IT workers' cooperative Jamgo SCCL, with the support of Catalan government's Departament de Politiques Digitals de Generalitat.

Additionally we take advantage of the translations provided by over a dozen talented and generous volunteers to original oTranscribe.

Can I help translate oTranscribe+?

Currently no. But we take advantage of the oTranscribe translations and processes. Find out more about providing translations here.

My question isn’t answered here. How can I contact oTranscribe+?

You can contact support directly by emailing aina@bsc.es or tweeting at @projecte_aina. We try to respond as soon as possible, but it can take us a few days to go through all the emails receive and respond.