Feedback: speech-to-text-pre-recorded-audio-select-the-region

Documentation Feedback

Original URL: https://www.assemblyai.com/docs/speech-to-text/pre-recorded-audio/select-the-region
Category: speech-to-text
Generated: 05/08/2025, 4:24:46 pm

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Claude Sonnet 4 Feedback

Generated: 05/08/2025, 4:24:45 pm

Technical Documentation Analysis: Select the Region

Overall Assessment

This documentation covers region selection adequately but has several areas for improvement in clarity, completeness, and user experience. Here’s my detailed analysis:

1. Missing Information

Critical Gaps

• No explanation of WHY users would choose EU over US beyond “data residency requirements”
• Missing performance implications - latency differences, processing speeds
• No mention of feature parity - are all features available in both regions?
• Pricing differences (if any) between regions
• Data transfer limitations or considerations
• Authentication requirements - same API key works for both regions?

Additional Missing Details

• Error handling specific to region selection
• Migration guidance for switching between regions
• Supported audio formats per region
• Rate limits per region

2. Unclear Explanations

Current Issues

• “EU data residency requirements” - too vague. Explain GDPR compliance, data sovereignty
• “currently only available for Async transcription and LeMUR” - what about other features?
• The note about limited EU availability is buried and may be missed

Recommended Improvements

## When to Use Each Region

### US Region (Default)
- **Best for**: General use cases, fastest global performance
- **Data location**: United States
- **All features available**: Real-time transcription, async transcription, LeMUR, etc.

### EU Region
- **Best for**: GDPR compliance, EU data residency requirements
- **Data location**: European Union
- **Available features**: Async transcription and LeMUR only
- **Compliance**: Meets EU data protection regulations

3. Structure Improvements

Current Structure Issues

• Code examples dominate the page before explaining the concept
• No clear decision-making framework
• Missing troubleshooting section

Suggested Structure

# Select the Region

## Overview
Brief explanation of regional options and their purposes

## Available Regions
[Current table with enhanced descriptions]

## How to Choose
Decision matrix or flowchart

## Implementation
[Code examples - moved down]

## Migration Between Regions
Step-by-step guide

## Troubleshooting
Common issues and solutions

## FAQ
Frequently asked questions

4. Code Example Issues

Problems

• Inconsistent error handling across languages
• Hard-coded URLs in some examples instead of using the base_url variable
• Missing comments explaining region-specific considerations
• No validation of successful region switching

Improvements Needed

# Better Python example with validation
import assemblyai as aai

aai.settings.api_key = "<YOUR_API_KEY>"
aai.settings.base_url = "https://api.eu.assemblyai.com"

# Verify region connectivity
try:
    # Test connection to EU endpoint
    transcriber = aai.Transcriber()
    # Add a simple connectivity check here
except Exception as e:
    print(f"Failed to connect to EU region: {e}")
    print("Falling back to US region...")
    aai.settings.base_url = "https://api.assemblyai.com"

5. User Pain Points

Identified Issues

1. No guidance on region selection - users may choose incorrectly
2. Feature limitations not prominent - EU users may expect all features
3. No performance expectations - users don’t know what to expect
4. Missing migration path - how to switch existing projects?
5. No troubleshooting - what if EU region is unavailable?

6. Specific Actionable Recommendations

Immediate Improvements

1. Add a decision flowchart at the top:

   Do you need EU data residency? → Yes → Use EU region
                                 → No → Use US region (recommended)

2. Create a comparison table:

   | Feature | US Region | EU Region |
   |---------|-----------|-----------|
   | Async Transcription | ✅ | ✅ |
   | Real-time Transcription | ✅ | ❌ |
   | LeMUR | ✅ | ✅ |
   | Data Location | United States | European Union |

3. Add a prominent callout:

   ⚠️ **Important**: EU region currently supports only Async transcription and LeMUR.
   For real-time transcription, use the US region.

4. Include a troubleshooting section:

   ## Troubleshooting
   
   **Issue**: Getting 404 errors with EU endpoint
   **Solution**: Ensure you're only using supported features (Async transcription, LeMUR)
   
   **Issue**: Slower response times
   **Solution**: Choose the region closest to your users for optimal performance

5. Add environment variable examples:

   # Environment configuration
   export ASSEMBLYAI_API_KEY="your_api_key"
   export ASSEMBLYAI_BASE_URL="https://api.eu.assemblyai.com"  # or api.assemblyai.com

Content Additions

• Add a “Next Steps” section linking to relevant tutorials
• Include performance benchmarks if available
• Add links to compliance documentation for EU regulations
• Create a migration checklist for existing users

UX Improvements

• Move the comparison table higher in the document
• Use visual indicators (✅/❌) for feature availability
• Add code tabs for environment setup (development, production)
• Include a “Quick Start” section for each region

This documentation would benefit significantly from these improvements to reduce user confusion and improve adoption success rates.

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