Home › Learn › What Is Word Error Rate (WER)? — Transcription Accuracy Explained
Word Error Rate (WER) is the standard metric for measuring transcription accuracy. It calculates the percentage of words that were incorrectly transcribed compared to the reference transcript.
How WER is calculated
WER = (Substitutions + Deletions + Insertions) / Total words in reference
A WER of 0% means perfect transcription — every word correct
A WER of 5% means 5 errors per 100 words — considered good quality
A WER of 10-20% is typical for general AI transcription
Human transcription typically achieves 4-5% WER
Talk2Memo transcription accuracy
Talk2Memo uses AssemblyAI's Universal-2 model for English, which achieves professional-grade accuracy. For clear audio with standard accents, WER is typically under 5%. Accuracy varies with audio quality, accents, and technical vocabulary.
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