The Telecommunications Act of 1996 created important changes to telecommunications law. The new law addressed the communications business, but more importantly it also addressed people living with disabilities. This historic legislation included specific language regarding the availability of telecommunications services and equipment that the government deemed as being underserved: the deaf and hard-of-hearing.
The National Association of the Deaf recognizes that captioning is the process of converting audio content into text and displaying the text on a screen or monitor. Captioning can be found on television broadcasts, webcasts, in courtrooms, depositions, and live events. Captioning provides individuals with the textual equivalent of the spoken word, while identifying who is speaking, sound effects, and other descriptions.
The captioner must ensure that all captions:
Are synchronized and appear at the same time the audio is being delivered
Include speaker identification and sound effects
Are accessible and readily available to individuals who need or want them
Are readable, timely, accurate, compete and efficient
The National Association of the Deaf reports that more than 36 million Americans are deaf or hard of hearing, and many millions more have limited English proficiency or are English-language learners. Further, the Association states that captions improve fluency, comprehension, and literacy skills of both adults and children.
Our role in captioning…
The Telecommunications Act of 1996 exposed the need to provide deaf and hard-of-hearing individuals with telecommunication services. And, as a result, the need for qualified captioners has increased over the years. The captioner/stenocaptioneer, who is an educated and trained stenographer, is responsible for providing closed captions of both live and recorded programs, events and proceedings for deaf and hard-of-hearing viewers through the utilization of realtime technology, which translates shorthand into instantly readable English text.