Many in the deaf and hard-of-hearing community say new FCC rules on closed captioning fall short.

Deaf and hard-of-hearing activists are calling new Federal Communication Commission (FCC) rulings on closed captioning a step forward – but only a small step. The 21st Century Communications and Video Accessibility Act (CVAA) contains multiple loopholes that render the act largely ineffective.

The act, which went into effect Sept. 30, requires producers to add closed captioning to TV and website programming, but issues remain. A few of the top concerns are:

• The new closed captioning rules apply only to regular, full-length television shows on TV or the Internet;
• The law does not apply to Internet shows rebroadcast on websites such as Hulu News;
• Broadcasters must caption full-length newscasts on TV or live streams but are not required to caption short video clips.

“The NAD strongly encourages all content providers, producers and promoters to ensure 100% access to captions for all online video content,” said Bobbie Beth Scoggins, President of the National Association of the Deaf.

Several lawsuits have been filed by or on behalf of the deaf and hard-of-hearing community in the recent past. Last month, the NAD and Netflix reached a binding agreement that requires Netflix to provide 100 percent closed captioning of their streaming content within two years. The Greater Los Angeles Agency on Deafness, Inc. and CNN.com are in an ongoing case over discrimination against people with hearing. And the Coalition of Organizations for Accessibility is working to raise awareness of communications companies watering down legislation by applying for exemptions and waivers to dodge CVAA obligations.

If you’re working toward a closed captioning career, voice your support via Twitter and Facebook using the hashtag #captionthis. And if you’ve not yet begun your career training, contact the Stenotype Institute, with campuses in Jacksonville, Orlando and online, at 800-273-5090 to speak with an enrollment specialist, or enroll online.

Each year, VITAC chooses a classic horror flick to caption and add audio description so that it can be enjoyed by hearing-impaired and vision-impaired cinephiles. This year, it’s the 1962 cult classic, “Carnival of Souls.”

Halloween is a favorite tradition among both candy-seeking kids and partying adults. And for VITAC, one of the world’s largest providers of captions and subtitles, it’s a fun new tradition.

Each year, VITAC chooses one classic horror film to re-release with captions and audio description. Last year, it was Night of the Living Dead, the 1968 George Romero flick in which radiation from a fallen satellite is blamed for the rise of the recently deceased and the townsfolk take refuge from bloodthirsty and flesh-hungry zombies in an old farmhouse.

This year, VITAC chose Carnival of Souls, the 1962 campy cult classic that begins with the beautiful Mary Henry enjoying a carried with friends. When challenged to as drag race, the women accept. But when they’re forced off a bridge and into the murky river waters below, it looks as if all three are lost. Finally, Mary emerges from the river. After recovering, she takes a job as a church organist and sets out to start a new life in a new town. But she’s soon finds herself inexplicably drawn to a mysterious abandoned carnival by a phantom figure. There, Mary is forced to dance with her personal demons.

VITAC began the tradition in recognition of progress being made nationwide to increase audio description and captioning on TV and the Internet as required by the FCC’s 21st Century Communications and Video Accessibility Act. After all, everyone should be afforded the chance to enjoy the frightfully fun cinematic Halloween celebrations.

“I think that this is great that us blind people can be able to know exactly what the sighted person is looking at instead of having to imagine what it is that is scaring them,” says Louis Herrera, of the American Institute for the Prevention of Blindness and a member of the FCC’s Video Programming Accessibility Advisory Committee (VPAAC). “Now we will be part of the viewing audience. This is awesome.”

Are you a student taking captioning our court reporting classes? And are you a fright flick aficionado? Pop in one of your favorite cult classics and add some spooky fun to your realtime transcription practice. In fact, scroll down and start with the theatrical trailer for Carnival of Souls. Not yet enrolled in a court reporting or captioning school? Check out Florida’s Stenotype Institute with campuses in Jacksonville and Orlando. Call 800-273-5090 or enroll online today.

From all of us here at the Stenotype Institute, have a safe and happy Halloween!

After a two-year court battle Netflix has agreed to provide closed captioning for 100 percent of its programming by 2014.

A victory two years in the making was realized this week when the National Association of the Deaf (NAD) and Netflix submitted a joint consent decree to a Springfield, Mass. Federal court ensuring closed captioning for 100 percent of Netflix streaming content within two years. For students at closed captioning schools, it’s all the more proof of a strong growth industry.

“The agreement indicates the parties’ mutual intent to increase access for people who are deaf and hard of hearing to movies and television streamed on the Internet,” the NAD writes on its website.

The case was filed in 2010 by the NAD along with the Western Massachusetts Association of the Deaf and Hearing-Impaired and Lee Nettles, a Massachusetts resident who is deaf. Nettles, who works at Springfield’s Stavros Center for Independent Living, alleged that Netflix discriminates against hearing-impaired customers by failing to provide closed captioning on its streaming service, forcing those customers to pay for Netflix’s more expensive DVD rentals.

Netflix began its closed-captioning program the same year, and has since boosted captioning for 90 percent of hours viewed. In June, the Los Gatos, Calif.-based company argued exemption from the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) on the basis that the company did not exist in 1990 when the act was passed and asked U.S. District Judge Michael Ponsor to dismiss the case. But Judge Ponsor didn’t buy the story and ruled that the case must continue. Now, Netflix has agreed to make its programming equally accessible for all customers, regardless of their hearing ability.

“The National Association of the Deaf congratulates Netflix for committing to 100% captioning, and is thrilled to announce that 48 million deaf and hard of hearing people will be able to fully access Netflix’s Watch Instantly services,” said NAD CEO Howard A. Rosenblum.

If you’re interested in a career that helps bring the enjoyment of film, television and Internet programming to all people, contact the Stenotype Institute, a top rated court reporting and closed captioning school in Florida. Call 800-273-5090 and ask about captioning programs offered at our Jacksonville and Orlando campuses.

Want to be a part of preserving America’s history? Students enrolled in court reporting schools are invited to participate in the NCRF’s Veterans History Project.

If you’re a student currently enrolled in court reporting school and looking for some real-world experience, we’ve got just the project for you. The National Court Reporters Foundation (NCRF) and the National Court Reporters Association (NCRA) recently launched their Student Initiatives Program and are recruiting participants to help transcribe hundreds of hours of oral histories given by America’s military veterans.

As part of the Veterans History Project, the NCRF will fund a 2013 student membership (up to $65) in NCRA for students who volunteer for the Oral Histories Program and complete two Veterans History Project transcriptions. As a participating student, you’ll receive two streaming videos (separately) containing veterans’ oral histories of their wartime experiences. You’ll also get transcript formatting instructions prepared by the Library of Congress, along with a Gratuitous Service Agreement form that must be completed and returned with each transcript. Transcripts run about 40 to 50 pages and each must be completed and submitted within two to three weeks (eight weeks total for both transcripts) after receipt of the video.

A few helpful notes: NCRF and NCRA reps have found that court reporting students who have not yet hit 160 wpm have a difficult time completing the transcriptions in the allotted timeframe, so be sure to let them know at what speed you are currently working. Also, if you are using student version software capped at 50 pages, simply complete the transcript in a second document and mark the electronic version “Part II of the Original Document.” You must turn in both a hard copy and an electronic copy on a CD (preferably saved in Notepad or a similar plain text format program) of each transcript.

NCRA membership affords you many resources for improving your skills, earning various certifications and launching your career. And participation in the Veterans History Project lends the opportunity to help build an important historical preservation and research database that will benefit future generations – something you can be intensely proud of.

If you would like to participate, download the student signup sheet, complete and return to NCRF Oral Histories Coordinator Beth Kilker c/o NCRF, 8224 Old Courthouse Road, Vienna, VA 22182-3808
or fax it to 703-556-6291. Contact Beth at bkilker@ncrahq.org or 703-556-6272 if you have any questions. The Stenotype Institute is an NCRA-certified court reporting school proud to have any of our students participate.

Bill Parsons is on a mission – “to preserve an important part of the history of court reporting for future generations of court reporters.” That part of history is a series of print cartoons by veteran court reporters and cartoonists Mike Bumpus and Bob Hopkins.

Bumpus and Hopkins have penned cartoons based upon their observances of actual courtroom incidents for nearly 70 years, combined. Subjects touch on the daily challenges that court reporters still face today, such as witnesses with long and hard-to-pronounce names, mumblers, malapropisms and witness who you just know you’ll see standing before the judge and jury again. Retired from a court reporting career with the Placerville, California Superior Court, Hoskins began penning related cartoons in 1977. More than 200 of his works have been published in trade journals, local newspapers and several books of humorous works published by the National Court Reporters Association (NCRA). Bumpus, retired from the Northern District Federal Court in Mississippi, has published court reporting and shorthand cartoons since 1973.

“In typical cartoonist humor, Mike has threatened to plop a cartoon every so many pages in his transcripts since they are so boring to read,” says Parsons, who offers an emailed PDF sampling of Bumpus and Hoskins’ cartoons to anyone who requests them by emailing him at williamparsons2@yahoo.com.

Says Parsons, ” Thank you to Bob and Mike for entertaining and giving humor to the court reporting profession for 68 years.”

Take a look – Even though some date back a few decades, we bet you can relate! And if you’re considering a court reporting career, check out the Stenotype Institute, an NCRA-certified and nationally top-rated stenography and court reporting school with campuses in Jacksonville and Orlando, Florida. Call 800-273-5090 and talk with an enrollment specialist today.

Studies show closed captioning helps both youth and adult students better learn foreign languages.

Are you a bona fide linguaphile? Then a closed captioning career may be just the thing for you. Multiple studies have found that bilingual students who view captioned programming while studying a second language perform better than do students who do not get captioned video.

Closed captioning technology initially was developed to help the hearing impaired better engage with the world. But according to the National Captioning Institute, more than half of captioning decoders are sold to the hearing population, including many immigrant families working to learn English as a second language. These sales figures are particularly pronounced in college towns, where informal surveys of decoder sales by sales staff suggest upwards of 80 percent of decoders are purchased by foreign language students looking to boost their language comprehension skills.

Specifically, studies show that captioning helps language students in these areas:

• Word recognition;
• Word knowledge and recall skills;
• Improved sight vocabulary;
• Vocabulary reinforcement;
• Better acquisition of spoken language.

Learning a second language can help make a student more competitive in the job market; increase travel opportunities, social connections and income potential; and boost confidence. You can be a part of that with a career as a closed captioning specialist providing foreign language translation of prerecorded or real-time video. Get started with a call to the Stenotype Institute at 800-273-5090. One of the nation’s top-rated court reporting and closed captioning schools, the Stenotype Institute has Florida campuses in Orlando and Jacksonville, serving students from throughout the Sunshine State and southern Georgia.

Can you help transcribe this shorthand draft written by Charles Dickens?

In one of his most famous novels, David Copperfield, 19th century writer Charles Dickens described the Thomas Gurney system of shorthand as “that savage stenographic mystery.” Now, the Morgan Library & Museum of New York has its own Dickensian mystery to solve.

At just 15 years old, Dickens became a court reporting school student, applying himself “with a celestial or diabolical energy to the study of such things as would qualify me to be a first-rate Parliamentary Reporter,” he wrote in a letter in which he also touted himself “the best Short Hand Writer in the World.” It’s a lofty proclamation for such a young boy, for sure. But he did grow up to become one of the most endearingly popular international literary geniuses. In fact, he worked as a parliamentary reporter from age 18 until the publication of his Pickwick Papers launched his career as a novelist.

Yet, for all his famous words, one of his stenographic works stumps researchers to this day. Sometime before 1913, The Morgan acquired an undated shorthand draft of Dickens’. Written on a single page of letterhead bearing the name “Tavistock House”, it’s believed to be the draft of a letter – an incredibly rare treasure, as Dickens typically destroyed drafts once he had copied letters in longhand. In fact, only two other shorthand drafts of Dickens’ are known to exist, one held by the Charles Dickens Museum in London, the other at the Free Library of Philadelphia. Researchers assume that the draft was written sometime between 1851 and 1860 when he lived at the Tavistock House in London where he wrote A Tale of Two Cities.

Charles Dickens, widely considered the greatest writer of the Victorian era.

But that’s where researchers’ knowledge of the draft ends. As of yet, no one has been able to decipher the Dickens’ shorthand, though Curator Declan Kiely has a guess.

“My working hypothesis is that this text may have been an exercise written for Arthur Stone, the son of Dickens’s friend and illustrator Frank Stone,” Kiely says in a written plea to would-be shorthand sleuths. “In 1859, after Frank Stone’s death, Dickens became a second father to Stone’s sons, Arthur and Marcus, and helped them to advance their respective careers. In 1859-1860 he taught Arthur Stone the Gurney system of shorthand and, in 1864, commissioned his brother Marcus to illustrate Our Mutual Friend.”

Want to try your hand at solving this “savage stenographic mystery” and transcribing Dickens’ draft? Post your best guess at its contents on the Stenotype Institute’s Facebook fan page. And if you’ve not yet begun your own path to a stenography career, call the Stenotype Institute, one of the nation’s most respected court reporting schools, at 800-273-5090 and speak with an enrollment specialist today.

St. Cassian of Imola was officially beatified by Pope Pius XII as the patron saint of Italian stenographers in 1952. Image of Cassian and students from the Lessing Archive.

There are patron saints for actors and astronauts, dancers and dairy workers, butchers, bakers and candlestick makers – even Argentinean military chaplains. So it should come as no surprise that there’s also a patron saint of court reporters and stenographers.

St. Cassian of Imola was a 4th century shorthand teacher and bishop who was martyred for Christ in Italy. Not much is known about his life, but his death is certainly notable. His earliest known work was as a bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Brescia near Milan. At the time, Roman Emperor Julian the Apostate was rising in power and out to punish all Christians who refused to renounce their faith and accept the Roman gods. Cassian fled to Imola, where he took work as a teacher of shorthand.

Cassian taught his young pupils about life and faith, while also teaching them a form of shorthand that allowed them to write as quickly as they could speak. All was going well until an opportunistic local official got wise to Cassian’s past and turned him in – all to win favor with empire’s leaders. Cassian was arrested and offered a chance to deny his faith and sacrifice to the Romans’ idols.

When he refused, Cassian initially was bound for death by sacrifice to the Roman gods. Instead, he was handed over to his non-Christian students who slowly bled him out by binding him to a stake and stabbing him with their pointed iron styli, devices used to mark wooden or wax writing tables. He was officially beatified by Pope Pius XII as the patron saint of Italian stenographers in 1952 and there are periodic efforts to make him the patron saint of stenographers and court reporters worldwide.

Thankfully, things are a little less dramatic in the modern day American stenography and court reporting world. Students of all faiths and political persuasions enjoy lucrative careers in the industry. If you’re interested in a court reporting career, call the Stenotype Institute at 800-273-5090 and speak with an enrolment specialist. We have two state-of-the-art campuses in Jacksonville and Orlando serving students from locales throughout Florida and South Georgia including Naples, Miami, Ft. Lauderdale, Palm Beach, Cocoa Beach, Gainesville, Ocala, Lake City, Ft. Walton Beach, Panama City, Tallahassee, Pensacola, Tampa, St. Petersburg, Sarasota, Albany, Brunswick and Savannah.

Real time captioning for deaf and hard-of-hearing students, plus those with other learning challenges, can make a dramatic difference in their academic and social success.

For those interested in stenography and possessing a penchant for helping others, a captioning career as a CART (Communication Access Real-Time Translation) provider might be just the ticket. It’s been proven that real-time captioning of classroom instruction helps deaf, hard-of-hearing and non-English speaking students better engage with teachers and fellow students, more thoroughly understand content and improve grades.

To see just how impactful real-time captioning can be for struggling students, check out the video below from Ai Media, an Australian company that offers online captioning technology for classrooms. The technology transmits a teacher’s voice to a remote captioner who streams voice-to-text to the laptops of deaf students in real time. Students see text of the teacher’s instruction in less than seven seconds. Trials of the company’s new technology show that real-time captioning can make a dramatic difference in a students’ ability to reach his or her full academic potential, increase social interaction with fellow students and – perhaps most importantly – boost confidence.

“In the first trial, we had a girl go from the very bottom of the class to coming first in the yearly exam in just 10 weeks because she could follow what was being said in class,” said Ai Media CEO Tony Abrahams. “But more significantly, she had access to the notes from the class as an excellent study aid. That has made an amazing difference. Teachers have adapted their teaching style to suit captioning, for example by repeating the question so it comes up in the notes. And the parents can get more involved to help kids with learning through their homework.”

CART realtime captioning also is effective for students who have cerebral palsy, autism spectrum disorder and learning disabilities. And, its growing acceptance and use by schools, colleges and universities mean more high-paying jobs for those interested in closed captioning careers. To get your own career path started, enroll in closed captioning classes at the Stenotype Institute. Campuses are located in Jacksonville and Orlando, serving students from throughout Florida and South Georgia. Call 800-273-5090 to speak with an enrollment specialist today.

A memorial project honoring fallen court reporter Julie Brandau helps fund training of search and rescue dogs.

When someone goes missing, whether in a large-scale incident such as a natural disaster or a more isolated event such as a suspected kidnapping, it’s often search and rescue dogs who prove heroes. So, supporting the Ojai, California-based Search Dog Foundation seemed a perfect way for family, friends and colleagues of the late Julie Brandau.

In 2005, Brandau was working as a court reporter at the Fulton County Courthouse in Atlanta, Georgia when Brian Nichols, the defendant in a rape trial, escaped custody and opened fire, killing Brandau, Judge Rowland Barnes and Police Sgt. Hoyt Teasley. In Brandau’s memory, fellow court reporter Jan Lopez of Los Angeles founded the Julie Brandau Community Service Memorial Project. The project partners with the Search Dog Foundation, a nonprofit organization that rescues dogs from shelters and breed rescues, trains them in urban search and rescue, and then gifts them to firefighters or other first responders at no cost to their departments.

Training a search and rescue dog costs upwards of $10,000. To date, the court reporting industry, via the National Court Reporters Association and its state affiliates, has sponsored the training of seven SDF canine-handler teams with contributions totaling over $75,000 since Brandau’s passing in 2005.

The Stenotype Institute encourages court reporters and court reporting students to support worthy causes. If you would like to help fund a search and rescue dog’s training and honor a fallen court reporter, visit the Search Dog Foundation’s donation page. Complete the form and, at the “In Memory Of” prompt, type either “Julie Brandau” or “Court Reporter.” This will ensure that the memorial project will receive your donation’s dollar credit.