While I ideally request professional transcripts for qualitative research studies, it’s often outside either the financial or time budget.

While you could certainly transcribe your audio by switching between an audio playback tool (I typically use VLC) and a word processor, Transcribe by Wreally creates an all-in-one browser-based interface with playback controls similar to a professional transcription device.

For a $20 annual license (and a free trial), you get a web-based audio-player that gives you control over the playback speed of your recording, the ability to skip forward or backwards 2 seconds, the ability to insert a timestamp, and the ability to pause the recording. You type inside of the same window in which these controls reside, so no need to switch between apps, and the software auto-saves every keystroke in your browser's local storage. Files are kept locally on your browser, which keeps everything secure and private.

Transcribe also has a fairly strong dictation function that let’s you speak the text you want transcribed,and “templates” that let you define acronyms for frequently used words and phrases. Transcribe automatically expands these templates into their full-form as you type along.

It's a great tool for anyone who needs to transcribe audio files.

https://transcribe.wreally.com/