COTIS award recognises excellence of audio transcription services
Adept,
the Bedfordshire based disability equality company, has become the first
producer of commercial audio transcription services to receive accreditation
from the Confederation of Transcribed Information Services (COTIS).
Presenting the TQAS (Transcription Quality Assessment Scheme) award to
Adept, Theresa Hodge of COTIS explained how the scheme is designed to
recognise excellence in the production of audio material for use by people
with visual impairments. She said "The material was assessed for quality
according to stringent standards covering accuracy, ease of navigation,
audio quality and presentation. In order to make an assessment of the
services provided we reviewed recordings of three sample documents, as
well as a document recently recorded for a customer. These were all assessed
by independent visually impaired panellists who regularly use audio as
their preferred format for reading."
The presentation of material in an audio format is one of the important
transcription services provided by Adept. The company also provides letters,
newsletters, magazines and other business documents in Braille, large
print or other formats as requested by organisations in the public and
private sectors. However, audio remains one of the most frequently requested
formats, being the preferred format of people with an acquired impairment
(eyesight deterioration) who cannot read Braille.
The inclusion of services such as tone indexing (a 'bleep' system used
as an aid to navigation), presentation features such as Braille and large
print labels on Cassettes & CDs and the oral presentation of complex tables
and graphs are a feature of Adept's work. The company uses voice artists
chosen for their clarity, distinctiveness and regional accents. All material
is recorded using professional equipment and studios. This ensures that
Adept audio maintains the high-quality finish required to pass the TQAS
assessment.
As Tim Finch of Adept explained, "Attention to detail is important. We
employ people who are audio users as quality checkers and utilise a focus
group of users to vet the presentation and content of our audio recordings.
We are delighted to have received the award. It demonstrates that the
efforts of our employees have been recognised by the industry."
Picture shows: Reader at work in Adept
February 2006