What is real-time captioning?
Printable Version Captions, composed of text, are used by people who are deaf or hard of hearing to access content delivered by spoken words and sounds. Captions can also benefit individuals who understand the written better than the spoken word of the language in which a presentation is delivered as well as people who are viewing the program in a noisy (e.g., airport or sports bar) or noiseless (e.g., a work cubicle) environment. Captions that are not “real-time” include those provided on television programming and those made available on prerecorded video that can be rented or purchased. Real-time captions, or Computer Assisted Real-time Translation (CART), are created as an event takes place. A captioner (often trained as a court reporter or stenographer) uses a stenotype machine with a phonetic keyboard and special software. A computer translates the phonetic symbols into captions almost instantaneously and displays them on a laptop or on a large display screen. A slight delay may
