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Standard Guide for Captioning
1.1 This guide covers captioning services and products in the marketplace.
1.2 In this guide, providers, students, trainers, and customers are informed of the many types of captioning and their nuanced differences to inform their buying decisions and improve the quality of products and services.
1.3 This guide also gives an overview of court reporting for informational and comparison purposes. This is because realtime captioning is an offshoot of court reporting, and the two industries use similar techniques and technologies.
1.4 While the following items are mentioned, it is beyond the scope and purpose of this guide to discuss them in detail:
1.5 International readers should take into consideration that this standard was developed in the United States.
1.6 This standard does not purport to address all of the safety concerns, if any, associated with its use. It is the responsibility of the user of this standard to establish appropriate safety, health, and environmental practices and determine the applicability of regulatory limitations prior to use.
1.7 This international standard was developed in accordance with internationally recognized principles on standardization established in the Decision on Principles for the Development of International Standards, Guides and Recommendations issued by the World Trade Organization Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT) Committee.
4.1 What is Captioning, and Why is it Important?
4.1.1 Captioning, a speech-to-text service, is a tool that empowers the deaf and hard of hearing community by providing equal access to the spoken word. The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) recognizes captioning as an assistive technology that ensures “effective communication access.” Captioning is an accommodation, setting it apart from other speech-to-text services like court reporting and transcription. Captioning and sign language interpretation are not interchangeable accommodations, nor are they substitutes for each other. Hearing loss exists on a spectrum, and where an individual falls on that spectrum shapes their communication preferences and access needs. Accommodations should be provided based on individual consumer needs. Sign language and captions can be complementary.
4.1.1.1 The European Accessibility Act (EAA) and the Accessible Canada Act (ACA) share a similar purpose with the ADA: Legally mandating accessibility requirements for products and services.
4.1.2 Captions include voices, accents, intonation, surrounding environmental cues, and sounds to provide context, such as laughter, crying, screaming, whispering, sirens, telephones, and other sound effects. This process is not just about translating words, but providing a complete experience. Multiple speakers are identified to facilitate comprehension of a conversation. Traditionally, captioning is performed in the same language as the spoken word. Captioning is a versatile tool that can be used in various environments, fostering full participation and inclusion among deaf and hard of hearing individuals. Studies suggest that captioning benefits those with learning disabilities and other barriers in acquiring language and improving literacy. Regardless of their hearing ability, everyone benefits from captioning in a noisy environment or with soft-spoken speakers, creating a more inclusive and accessible environment.
4.2 What are the Types of Captioning?
4.2.1 There are two basic types or kinds of captioning: realtime and post-production. Realtime captioning provides communication access to live events and is performed simultaneously as the event occurs. Post-production captioning is added after the fact to pre-recorded materials like movies, YouTube videos, and recorded TV shows.
4.2.2 There are several kinds of realtime captioning. Live events can be captioned in person or remotely. Captions can be produced verbatim or condensed and paraphrased. These decisions are contingent on the consumer's needs and the service being provided.
4.2.3 There are multiple technological approaches to producing realtime captions, such as stenography, voice writing, TypeWell and C-Print.
4.2.4 Post-production captions start with a script or transcript that is divided into small blocks of text that are then added to the video at the appropriate time and duration.
4.2.5 The skills and tools necessary for each type of captioning vary greatly. Tools incorporating artificial intelligence have been developed for realtime and post-production captioning.
4.3 Captioning Quality, Training, and Advocacy:
4.3.1 In the United States, the federal government and most state governments do not generally mandate licenses or certifications for realtime captioning. However, voluntary certifications are available from various advocacy organizations, such as the National Court Reporters Association (NCRA), the National Verbatim Reporters Association (NVRA), and the Global Alliance of Speech-to-Text Captioning (see 9.1 – 9.3 for NCRA, NVRA, and GA certifications). Some clients will require a captioner to have certification before accepting them for a job. Others may require proof of satisfactory completion of a relevant academic or training program. Directories of providers and their certifications can often be found on association websites.
4.3.1.1 Canada and the European Union, like the United States, do not mandate licenses or certifications for captioners. While they have voluntary domestic certifications, they also accept certifications from the NCRA (see 9.4 and 9.5 for Canadian and European certifications).
4.3.2 To ensure appropriate qualifications of providers, the focus should be on captioning certifications, not court reporting certifications. Captioning certification exams are more rigorous and cover the realtime captioning environment. The court reporter trains to produce a transcript after the fact, and their certifications (including realtime certifications for court reporters) reflect that. Even if a court reporter’s output is available in real time, it is not considered effective communication access nor is it a substitute for captioning.
4.3.3 After completing a technological curriculum, potential captioners should have additional training in Deaf cultural awareness and sensitivity, D/deaf and hard of hearing individuals’ communication needs and preferences, and best practices for interacting with these individuals. Many captioners are self-trained in these additional topics, as there are few formal academic programs for captioning specifics.
4.3.4 The associations mentioned above also advocate for captioning, educating the general public and the hard of hearing about the existence of this service, and the importance of effective communication access. Additionally, they represent realtime captioners and lobby lawmakers when relevant legislation is being considered.
4.3.5 Post-production captioning requires an entirely different set of skills and tools. There are no formal training programs, certifications, or licensure. Most practitioners are self-trained or are trained by their employers. Typically, each company or client has its own set of requirements and best practices. Accuracy expectations are typically higher than for realtime captioning, because post-production captioning is performed after the fact, and there should be adequate time in the production schedule to edit and ensure a near-perfect result.
4.3.6 In the United States, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) publishes broadcast television best practices for realtime and post-production captions. The Described and Captioned Media Program (DCMP), funded by the Department of Education (ED), publishes best practices for post-production captioning in the educational setting. When there are no other applicable guidelines, these guides may apply to other environments.
4.3.6.1 Often cited as the gold standard in Europe, the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) Subtitle Guidelines offer comprehensive information on how to handle different situations (as do the DCMP best practices).
4.3.6.2 Both the Canadian Association of Broadcasters and the DCMP publish captioning standards for Canadian English language television.
4.3.6.3 These best practices are highly detailed, going beyond any legal requirements.
4.3.7 Factors affecting captioning quality include audio quality, speech rate, cross talk, heavy accents, enunciation, and background noise. Regardless of the captioner’s skill and ability, anything that prevents the captioner from hearing and understanding the spoken word will impact the quality of the captioning.
4.4 Technological Considerations for Realtime Captioning:
4.4.1 Realtime captioners typically provide their own equipment, which varies according to their captioning type. This includes a computer, typically a laptop, with the relevant software. The client needs to provide a connection for audio access and caption delivery. Care must be taken to ensure that all speakers (including any in the audience) are clearly heard. Depending on the consumer needs, some means of displaying the resulting captions may also be provided. This can be the consumer's smartphone, tablet, laptop, or projected on a screen.
4.5 Automatic Speech Recognition (ASR):
4.5.1 ASR is speech-to-text technology, that is incorporated into computer software, that can recognize the spoken word and convert it to text without human assistance or intervention. Many computer applications and platforms, such as those used for video conferencing, have integrated ASR into their functions. Other examples include smartphones and tablets that have apps for portable captioning, and the many TV stations and broadcast networks that have begun replacing broadcast captioning with ASR.
4.5.2 Currently, ASR is subject to the same impediments to quality captions as human-generated captions (audio quality, cross talk, speech rate, background noise, etc.). While ASR continues to have problems with grammar, punctuation, speaker changes, and homonym differentiation, the field of ASR is rapidly changing and developing. Future changes and improvements in performance are anticipated. In the meantime, hybrid captioning systems are emerging, with human editors that supervise the ASR output and make corrections in real time.
4.5.3 Taking into consideration the complex nature of communication and current limitations of ASR, human captioners might better differentiate what is intended and essential in the message and, if necessary, make corrections. These advantages result in overall higher rates of accuracy for human captioners. However, ASR is usually available on demand and is generally less expensive.
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