Add audio clips
You can embed audio clips in SiteBuilder pages. We recommend you use the .mp3 format for audio, as it's compatible with the majority of browsers and devices.
Important: Accessibility legislation dictates that for audio content published from 23 September 2020 on the Warwick website, you must provide:
- A transcript containing what is said, who is speaking and non-speech information conveyed through sound.
This applies unless the audio is an alternative for text, and labelled as such. You should also provide a transcript if you make changes to a page containing audio that was published before 23 September 2020.
In this article:
Add an audio clip to a web page using the Components Editor
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Browse to the page where you want to add an audio clip.
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Optionally, upload the audio file before editing the page.
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Go to Edit > Edit centre content:
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Place your cursor in the page where you want to add the audio clip.
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In the left-hand menu, select Presentation > Audio/video:
Alternatively, select an existing audio clip, then select Settings in the component toolbar:
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The Add or change a media file (video or audio) pop-up appears:
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Specify the audio file you want to add to the page by doing one of the following:
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Enter the URL of the file you want to use in the Media file URL box. This can be a file on SiteBuilder, or a file hosted on another site or platform.
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Select the Magnifying glass icon next to the Media file URL box to specify an audio file that's already uploaded to your site.
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Drag and drop the file from your computer into the dotted-line box.
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Select Browse in the dotted-line box to locate the audio file on your computer and upload it.
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Select the audio file under Recently uploaded files, if it is present.
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Once you've selected a file, the pop-up displays only the options relevant to the file type:
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Optionally, you can allow visitors to download your audio file by selecting the Provide a link to download the file checkbox.
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Accessibility legislation requires the University to provide transcripts of audio content, including what is said, who is speaking and non-speech information conveyed through sound. Ensure these are available and accurate (automatically-generated transcripts generally require some editing) on any media-sharing service you are using. You can also generate your own transcripts of your audio content.
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Select Add media file.
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The audio/video component is placed on your page, and you can reposition it as required.
- When you've finished editing your page, select Publish.
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Controls on the component enable visitors to your page to listen to the audio using the buttons to play/ pause and stop the recording, or rewind/ skip forward by 5 seconds:
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Add an audio clip to a web page using the old visual editor
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Go to the page where you want to add an audio clip.
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Optionally, upload the audio file before editing the page.
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Go to Edit > Edit centre content or Edit right content:
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Place your cursor in the page where you want to insert the audio clip.
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In the toolbar, select Insert a > Audio.
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Enter the audio file's path in the URL of audio file box – you can use the picker to browse to the audio file you uploaded in step two.
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Leave the Type drop-down list set to Detect automatically.
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Optionally, select the checkbox to Provide a download link.
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Select Insert. You should now see code similar to the following in your page:
[media download=true]yourfile.mp3[/media] -
When you've finished editing your page, select Publish. Visitors to your page can listen to the audio by selecting the play button, similar to this:
Create an audio transcript
A transcript is a separate text version of speech and non-speech audio information needed to understand the content. It includes what is said, who is speaking, and non-speech information conveyed through sound, such as meaningful sound effects.
Your University account provides unlimited-minutes access to Microsoft's Word transcription service, which can create a text transcript of speech, with each speaker separated.
There are two methods to produce a transcript:
Note: This feature is currently only available on the web version of Word. The desktop application only supports more limited voice typing via the Dictate feature.
Record directly into Word
You can record speech directly into Word while making notes in a document, then transcribe the recording.
Note: Word transcribes after recording, not on the screen as you speak. The transcription will appear after the recording is finished and processed.
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Sign into Microsoft 365 using either the Microsoft Edge or Chrome web browser.
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Launch Word from the left menu.
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Create a new Blank document.
Tip: It is possible to transcribe into an existing document, but you may find it easier to create and edit the transcription in a new document, then copy and paste into your existing file.
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On the Home tab, go to Dictate > Transcribe:
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In the Transcribe pane, select Start recording:
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If prompted, give the browser permission to use your microphone.
Important: Ensure you have permission from everyone present before recording and transcribing a conversation.
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The recording starts automatically. Select the microphone button if you need to pause and re-start the recording:
While you record, you can make notes in the Word document.
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Once everyone has finished speaking, select Save and transcribe now.
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Your file is uploaded to the Office servers and transcribed. This may take a while, so keep the Transcribe pane open. You can switch to other tabs or applications while waiting.
Important: Recordings uploaded for transcription are saved in the Transcribed files folder on OneDrive, and can be deleted from there.
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Once the transcription is complete, a preview appears in the Transcribe pane. You can play back the recording with the controls at the top of the pane, and edit the transcript if necessary.
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If you want to re-record the transcription - for example, if you make a mistake while reading a pre-prepared statement - you can select New transcription to start over.
Upload an existing recording
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Sign into Microsoft 365 using either the Microsoft Edge or Chrome web browser.
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Launch Word from the left menu.
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Create a new Blank document.
Tip: It is possible to transcribe into an existing document, but you may find it easier to create and edit a transcription in a new document, then copy and paste into your existing file.
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Go to Home > Dictate > Transcribe:
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In the Transcribe pane, select Upload audio:
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Navigate to the audio file on your computer you want to transcribe. You can transcribe audio from .wav, .mp3, .mp4 and .m4a files.
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Your file is uploaded to the Office servers and transcribed. This may take a while, so keep the Transcribe pane open. You can switch to other tabs or applications while waiting.
Important: Recordings uploaded for transcription are saved in the Transcribed files folder on OneDrive, and can be deleted from there.
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Once the transcription is complete, a preview appears in the Transcribe pane. You can play back the recording with the controls at the top of the pane, and edit the transcript if necessary.
Edit a transcript
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The Transcribe pane displays a preview of a transcribed audio recording.
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Hovering over a statement in the transcription displays a Pencil icon button to edit that transcript section:
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This enables you to edit the speaker's name or the text of the statement, for example to correct words that the software has misidentified:
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When editing a speaker's name, you can select the Change all Speaker checkbox to change all instances of this speaker's name in the transcript.
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Select the tick icon to confirm your changes, or the X to discard them.
Note: The software will attempt to identify different voices and label their statements accordingly as Speaker, Speaker 1, Speaker 2, and so on. We recommend that you check the transcription for multiple speakers to make sure that statements are being correctly attributed.
Add a transcript to a Word document
Use the Add to document menu at the bottom of the Transcribe pane to transfer the transcript to the body of your document:
You can choose to transfer:
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Just text: Only the spoken parts of the transcription are added to the document. There is no indication of breaks in speech or who is speaking:
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With speakers: The transcroption is added to the document with the speakers' names above each statement. If the same speaker continues after a pause or break, their speech is combined into a single block:
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With timestamps: The transcription is added to the document with a timestamp above each statement. There is no indication of who is speaking:
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With speakers and timestamps: The transcription is added to the document with speakers' names and timestamps above each statement. Each individual statement is presented separately, with speaker names displayed only when the speaker changes:
Tip: While the Transcribe pane remains open, you can delete and re-add the transcription multiple times, if you change your mind about whether or not to include timestamps or speakers, for example.