What is the difference between a final transcript and an editable draft?

• A. The final transcript is longer than the editable draft.
• B. The final transcript is polished and approved; the editable draft is the version meant for editing and QA.
• C. The final transcript is an audio file; the editable draft is text.
• D. The final transcript contains no edits.

Answer: (B)

The key idea is how the document is treated in the recording workflow. The final transcript is the polished, corrected, and officially approved version that becomes the court’s official record. The editable draft is the work-in-progress version used for editing and quality assurance, where changes, fixes, and formatting adjustments are made before finalization.

In practice, you start with a draft to catch errors, verify names and times, clean up punctuation and speaker identifications, and run QA checks. Once everything is reviewed and approved, the document becomes the final transcript, which is distributed as the official record and may be certified or signed. The editable draft isn’t the official record yet and may include marks or notes for editors to address.

That’s why the option describing the final as polished and approved and the editable draft as the version intended for editing and QA is the best fit. It captures the essential distinction between a working document and the validated, official transcript.