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Judicial Court Reporting- Captioning/CART Career-Enhancement Certificate

Judicial Court Reporting- Captioning/CART Career-Enhancement Certificate

This program is available at the Online location.

A one-semester career-enhancement certificate in closed and CART captioning is available upon completion of the Judicial Court Reporting program or with evidence of a degree in court reporting from an accredited college.

This career-enhancement certificate focuses on the skills required in the fields of closed captioning and CART (communication access realtime translation) captioning.  Captioners represent an elite group of practioners who provide communication access to those with hearing loss.

Captioners use court reporting skills on the stenotype machine to provide captions of live television programs for deaf and hard-of-hearing viewers, through realtime technology that instantly produces readable English text.  The Federal Telecommunications ACT of 1996 lists very specific mandates for closed captioning of local programs around the country, including news broadcasts and live sporting events, which has increased the demand for realtime captioners enormously. 

CART is the instant translation of the spoken word into English text using a stenotype machine, computer, and realtime software. The text appears on a computer monitor or other display.  The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) specifically recognized CART as an assistive technology which affords “effective communication access.”  CART captioners provide communication access primarily for people who are Deaf or Hard of Hearing or who are learning English as a Second Language in settings such as K-12 classrooms, college classrooms, conferences, courtrooms, etc.  

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Outcomes and Curriculum

Upon completion of the Judicial Court Reporting-Captioning/CART Career-Enhancement certificate, a graduate will be able to:

  • Transcribe three five-minute, 180 wpm literary broadcast material takes takes with 1.4 syllabic density at 96-percent accuracy.
  • Demonstrate knowledge of and the ability to perform the basic setup and maintenance of captioning equipment.
  • Demonstrate knowledge of basic setup of computer hardware and realtime peripherals, including current remote software applications for text transmission and audio acquisition for maximum benefit of CART recipients.
  • Prepare unedited captioned translations of three 15-minute programs on varied topics.
  • Prepare a realtime translation of two 30-minute segments of CART services on varied topics.
  • Paraphrase and accurately finger spell in realtime using software phonetic translator.
  • Develop and maintain realtime dictionaries to load for proper translations.
  • Interpret NCRA’s Code of Professional Ethics, Guidelines for Professional Practice for Broadcast Captioners, Recommended Style and Format Guidelines, CART Provider’s Manual, and Guidelines for Professional Practice for CART Providers.
  • Demonstrate knowledge of the role of sign language interpreters and oral interpreters.
  • Perform 25 verified hours of actual writing and 15 hours of research and dictionary preparation within a captioning environment AND within a CART environment and summarize each experience in written narratives.
Course Title Credits
JCR 2450 Introduction to Captioning 1
JCR 2501 Basic Captioning/CART 3
JCR 2502S Advanced Captioning/CART (SS) 3
JCR 2600S Captioning/CART Internship (SS) 2
ASL 121S Introduction to Deaf Culture Community-Stark State 3
  Total credit hours 12

Questions? We're here to help!

Robyn M. Hennigan, RPR, CRI Senior Technical Professor and Coordinator, Judicial Court Reporting

937-328-8080 henniganr@clarkstate.edu