In layman's terms, a podcast is an audio file - usually a mp3 or mp4 - that users can download and access from a computer, portable media player or hand-held mobile device.
Podcasts are often syndicated through RSS, which allows users to be shown the most recent podcast updates and additions to a collection. A popular aggregator for news, podcasts and blogs is Google Reader.
Essentially, providing an accessible alternative to a podcast can aid your search engine optimisation campaign, making it more accessible for users with disabilities.
How to make your podcast accessible
Now that you have recorded your podcast, in order to make your podcast accessible to users with a disabilities, such as those with impaired hearing, it is recommended by the W3C in their accessibility guidelines that you create a transcript of your podcast.
A transcript is a written record (usually typewritten) of recorded speech.
Now that you have a fully accessible transcript of your podcast, you can use it towards maximising your search engine optimisation campaign.
How does having a transcript of a podcast aid search engine optimisation?
Search engines cannot listen to podcasts - they are not that developed (yet). In order for a search engine to extract any value from a podcast, it must be provided with an accessible alternative to the audio file. By providing this transcript, the search engines can view and understand what is being conveyed in the podcast. This additional content will be highly beneficial to your search engine optimisation campaign
Conclusion
Ultimately, providing an accessible alternative to your podcast will not only benefit your search engine optimisation campaign, it will also allow users with disabilities to access the full value of your site.
Podcasts do not yet have markers that allow you to easily jump to certain points within the podcast. By providing this in a podcast transcript, you can easily mark-up headers and times which would then allow the user to quickly jump to the area of the podcast in which they are most interested. The likelihood is that this feature will be introduced in the future as the technology of podcasts develops.
