Realtime Captioning

CART, which alternately stands for Computer-Assisted Realtime (captioning) or Communication-Access Realtime (captioning), provides equal access to spoken information and allows participants to understand and participate in proceedings and discussions. CART can be utilized by several people at the same time and can assist persons who are hard of hearing or deaf; people for whom English is a second language; people with physical limitations; and, people with processing or learning difficulties.

Captions that are created as an event takes place is called Realtime Captioning. A captionist, is a person who has been trained as a stenographer or court reporter. A Captionist uses a stenotype machine with a phonetic keyboard and specialized software. The software simultaneously translates the phonetic symbols/ steno shorthand into English captions. These captions can then be viewed on a computer monitor, television screen, video feed, overhead projector, or other type of audiovisual device.

For participants attending business or other events who do not sign and have significant hearing loss, realtime captioning is an extremely effective language-access solution. Even in heavily attended situations that might become loud or distracting, realtime captioning can project every word, making the message accessible to everyone. Both in-person or web-based (broadcast) services are available. In addition to being used in a variety of live settings, realtime captioning can also be provided remotely using the Internet. Often, realtime captions are produced at a different location from the programming.