Harvard University – Captioning, Transcription, and Audio Description

Harvard Captioning & Audio Description Overview

Harvard University works with 3Play Media for captioning and transcription of video content.

Accuracy and Quality

3Play Media provides closed captions and transcripts that are at least 99% accurate, even in cases of poor audio quality, multiple speakers, difficult content, and accents. All of our work is done in the U.S. by professional transcriptionists who are native English speakers. We specialize in educational content and our staff of 800+ transcriptionists have expertise across many different domains. Custom vocabulary and instructions can be added for every file, which further improves accuracy and quality. Learn more

Integrated with Lecture Capture and Video Platforms

3Play Media is integrated with many different video players, platforms, and lecture capture systems. You can also use our flexible APIs to build your own automated workflows. Learn more

Audio Description

3Play Media provides high quality, competitively priced audio description services for online video. Once your media files have been uploaded to our system, your audio description will be created by professional describers who utilize our unique workflow, process, and advanced technology. Learn more

Interactive Transcript

In addition to captions and transcripts, you have the option to add an interactive transcript, which lets users interact with your video in an entirely new way. Users can search the video and navigate by clicking on any word to jump to that exact point. It’s even possible to share sections of a video by simply highlighting the text. Learn more

Discounted Pricing 💰

The tiered pricing below covers all Harvard University entities. The starting price is $1.80 per minute for 4 business day turnaround. After the first $250,000 (aggregated across all Harvard University entities) has been processed during the life of the contract, the price will automatically drop to $1.65 per minute going forward. After $500,000 (aggregated across all Harvard University entities) has been processed during the life of the contract, the price will automatically drop to $1.50 per minute going forward. The price will revert to the previous tier if $250,000 is not spent in calendar year period following a price reduction."

Captioning and Transcription Services Pricing Tiers 📺

	Per Minute*	Per Hour*
Pay as you go	$1.80	$108
Surpass $250,000	$1.65	$99
Surpass $500,000	$1.50	$90

*The prices quoted here are contingent on Company choosing the standard turnaround option, which is four (4) business days. Should Company choose a faster turnaround time or other options, Company acknowledges and agrees that Company shall be subject to additional charges, as outlined below.

Captioning and Transcription Pre-purchase Rates

	Per Minute*	Per Hour*
Pre-purchase $50,000 of services	$1.75	$105
Pre-purchase $100,000 of services	$1.70	$102
Pre-purchase $250,000 of services	$1.55	$93
Pre-purchase of $500,000 of services	$1.50	$90

Additional Options

Additional Options	Per Minute	Per Hours
10 Business Day Turnaround Discounted pricing	-$0.10 DISCOUNT	-$6 DISCOUNT
2 Business Day Turnaround	+$0.50	+$30
1 Business Day Turnaround	+$1.00	+$60
8 Hour Turnaround	+$2.25	+$135
2 Hour Turnaround	+$5.00	+$300
Extremely difficult audio Poor recording, heavy accents, background noise, many speakers	+$1.00	+$60
HIPAA (PII) add on	+$0.50	+$30

Audio Description 🔉

Audio description is an accommodation for blind and low-vision viewers that narrates the critical visual information in a video to provide context, clarify speakers, and articulate visual elements. We offer standard and extended description. With the standard description service, descriptions fit into natural pauses in the video’s audio track. With our extended service, the descriptions are not constrained to the natural pauses of a video. The extended service inserts pauses in the video to make room for descriptions, as needed.

Audio Description

Per Minute

Per Hour

Standard Audio Description

5 Business Day Turnaround
Prorated to the run-time duration of each file

$7.00

$450

Extended Audio Description

5 Business Day Turnaround
Prorated to the run-time duration of each file

$11.00

$660

Vertical Caption Placement

Vertical Caption Placement is a service provided by 3Play Media to help overcome instances when onscreen text or other important visual content may become obstructed by captions. This service is referred to as Vertical Caption Placement because affected caption frames will move up or down on a vertical axis in case important visual content is present where the captions would otherwise be.

Automatic Caption Placement	+$0.50	+$30
Manual Caption Placement	+$1.00	+$60