Daily text transcripts of As it Happens now available

Today, CBC Radio is excited to announce that daily text transcripts of As it Happens will be available on a daily basis, free of charge. Every transcript contains embedded audio players, to allow for easy read-along-while-listening. 

This is an expansion of CBC's ongoing efforts to make radio content accessible to as many Canadians as possible. 

A growing library of transcripts has the potential to benefit a large and diverse audience, from English language learners to the deaf and hard of hearing to rural Canadians and post-secondary students.

Where can you find transcripts?

Links to the transcripts are located in several places:

• On the segment page just below the main image in the body of the post.
• On the episode page for each day.
• In the archive, attached to our Past Episodes page.
• There is a Print option, if you don't want to read the transcript online.
• You can also Share the transcript, or provide us with Feedback about the transcript. 

"This is such a welcome development," said As It Happens host Carol Off.  "Transcribed interviews make our programs available to people with hearing disabilities and also to those who might have a hard time following an interview because it's on a phone line. This service also gives new Canadians who are in the process of learning the language another way to access our programs that will enhance the experience for them."

In February 2016, with the help of a grant from the Broadcasting Accessibility Fund (BAF), CBC launched a pilot project to make text transcripts of CBC Radio One's The Current available to the public on a daily basis, and to videotape, edit and post one American Sign Language (ASL)-interpreted radio documentary from the program on CBC.ca each month.

• RELATED: Daily text transcripts of The Current now available

Unprecedented in Canadian media and a first for CBC Radio, the initiative has made public radio accessible to millions across the country who are deaf or hard of hearing. Since the project's launch, The Current's transcripts have been viewed more than 100,000 times.

"As the public broadcaster, CBC exists to serve all Canadians. They want us to be where they are, on their terms, and we take that responsibility very seriously every day," said Susan Marjetti, executive director, CBC Radio & Audio English Services.

"By expanding on what has been a very successful and innovative initiative, CBC is strengthening its commitment to make vital, distinctly Canadian programming more accessible to all."