Evaluation & Quality
Word error rate
A score counting wrong, missing and extra words in a written version of speech.
Example
A written record of speech has five word mistakes compared with a correct 100-word version.
Why people use it
It provides a simple way to compare a transcript with a checked version.
What you'll hear
“How many words did the transcript get wrong?”
What this means for you
Check how numbers and word spellings are handled before comparing scores.
Can you control it?
No
No direct control. This describes a wider issue, concept or result rather than something you can simply switch on or off in a tool.
Common questions
- Can word error rate exceed 100%?
- Yes. Many inserted words can make the error count larger than the reference length.
- Do all word mistakes matter equally?
- The score counts them similarly, but a wrong name or amount may matter much more in practice.
- Can punctuation errors be missed by this score?
- Yes. Depending on the comparison rules, punctuation may be ignored or handled separately.