Verbatim Voices
Accuracy and limits
The recording is a convenience copy of a document. It is useful, and it is not perfect. Here is exactly where it can go wrong.
The voices read what the text says
The voices read the words in your file. If the transcript has a typo, a wrong name or a wrong word, the voice reads it that way. We do not fix, add or remove what a transcript says.
Scans and OCR can misread
A typed PDF with selectable text is read directly. A scanned page has to be turned into text by software (OCR), and OCR can mistake characters, such as an "l" for a "1", or drop a line. When a scan looks too poor to read reliably, we stop before making any audio and tell you. A scan that passes can still contain mistakes.
Speaker labels and voices
Each speaker gets a distinct voice, based on the labels in the transcript (like "THE COURT:" or "MR. SMITH:"). If a transcript labels people unclearly, or the same person under two labels, or an unlabelled stretch, the voices can be mismatched. A voice is a computer voice. It does not copy how the real person sounded or how they felt.
Pronunciation, numbers and abbreviations
We expand common legal shorthand and Latin phrases from a built-in list, but uncommon names, citations, case numbers, dates and abbreviations can still be said wrongly or oddly.
Not the official record
The audio and the listen page are not the court's official record, and they are not legal advice. The written transcript is the record. If it matters, check the document.
Our own check, and what it cannot do
After a recording is made, a program on our own servers listens to it and compares what it hears with the page. If a piece does not match, it can be spoken again a limited number of times. This catches many slips, not all of them. It is a safety check, not a guarantee.
Coming later: places a person should check
We plan to give you an accuracy report titled "Places the listener still wants a person to check": a plain list of the spots where the recording and the page still did not agree. It is not available to users yet. Until it is, please check anything important against the written transcript, especially names, numbers, dates and quotations.
What we ask of you
- Use the recording to follow along, review and find the right spot. Then confirm the exact wording in the document.
- Have a person check any place you plan to rely on, quote or file.
- Tell us about errors at [email protected], so the lists can improve. Please do not email us the document itself unless we ask.