by Jessica Bewsee
WANTED: Committed, type-A personality with nerves of steel, patience, and an extensive knowledge of politics, history, pop culture, literature and sports. This is not the beginning of a bad personal ad but rather an ideal job description for a stenocaptioner whose job is to close-caption programs like the evening news, sports games, and awards shows for viewers who are deaf or hard of hearing.
Stenocaptioners are trained court stenographers. I worked both in a courtroom and took depositions for two years before I switched to captioning. While there are many reasons why a court stenographer decides to switch from the legal field to broadcast captioning, for me it was because I didn’t like spending eight hours a day in a courtroom and then going home and producing a legal transcript. I like instant results, and seeing my captions come up on a television screen less than a second after I press my steno keyboard is very satisfying to me.
Continue reading Working at the Speed of Sound
