Realtime court reporters record the verbatim proceedings of a courtroom, deposition, hearing, arbitration, or meeting and provide an accurate transcript of the proceedings.

Realtime captioners are specially trained court reporters called stenocaptioners. They provide captions of live television programs and other media, or classes, meetings, conferences, doctor appointments, church services, etc., to provide instant conversion of speech to text for people with hearing loss.

These high-tech career fields utilize a steno machine, specialized machine shorthand theory, and computer software to translate the spoken word to readable text via digital output or transcripts.

Realtime transcription delivers a high level of proficiency in text entry/transcription of recorded material and is an intermediate-level, steno-based realtime skill that offers potential employment opportunities in the expansive field of transcription services.

Green River College’s Court Reporting and Captioning program is approved by the National Court Reporters Association. All students entering the program must be high school graduates or have earned a GED certificate. A spelling placement test score of 90 percent accuracy or higher or ENGL 90 is required.

Completion of the Associate in Applied Arts in Realtime Transcription will provide the foundation for seamless entry into the Realtime Reporting: Court Reporting & Captioning, BAS program, which further prepares students with the skills and abilities to work as realtime freelance or official judicial reporters or broadcast or educational captioners.