Ever asked yourself, "How does live captioning work?"
​Read on...

What are Captions?

Captions are a way for people to access the spoken word via text.​
The captions we produce are not a summary of what is said but a verbatim record, in our case created live by a Stenocaptioner. 

Are captions only useful for the deaf or hard of hearing?

Captions benefit hearing users as well.  For example:
  • those who have English as a second language;
  • those who find it easier to understand from reading text rather than listening to the spoken word;
  • note-taking at conferences - captions allow participants to take more accurate notes and can be used to catch something that was missed; and
  • as a complement to the spoken word.
Captions assist users to understand more clearly and leave less chance of misinterpretation.

What is CART?

CART stands for Communication Access Realtime Translation.  It is a form of speech-to-text interpreting that allows greater access and participation for the user.

Is captioning expensive?

The cost of captioning reflects the value of the product.  Stenocaptioners are a highly-skilled and scarce resource but we keep our rates as low as possible so you can afford to use live captioning.  

How do we do it?

Stenocaptioners use a Stenograph machine and  a laptop with specialised software to translate speech into text.  Using a type of shorthand, the stenographer enters the words into the "steno" machine - we call this "writing" - and the software on the laptop translates the input into captions. The translation is almost immediate, so you see the text only moments after the words are said.  The slight delay is because the  stenocaptioner needs to hear and write the words and the laptop's processing time.

Are the captions accurate?

A skilled Stenocaptioner will produce highly accurate real-time captions (over 98% accuracy) while maintaining caption integrity.  Stenocaptioners experience the same audio issues as everyone else in the room and these issues may include poor audibility,  highly-complex content e.g. specialised content or jargon, and poor speakers. 

Why onsite over remote?

Quality, quality, quality.  Having a stenographer attend onsite means that not only do you eliminate most audio and connection issues, you can actually see the captioner.  Often with remote you may discover that the person captioning for you is, in fact, a respeaker.  It is a fact that the best captions are produced by a trained stenographer.  At CaptionsLIVE we only use stenocaptioners so when remote is the best option, you are still guaranteed of getting the best.

Do you want to be a steno?

Click these links to training providers to see
​the opportunities.

What do you need to provide?

In most cases you only need to provide a small table and access to power.  In the case of conference and event captioning you will also need to provide the means of projection and a screen.