Registered Professional Reporter (RPR) Computer-Aided Transcription (CAT) and Reporting Technology Syllabus

What causes lag (latency) in a realtime feed, and how is it reduced?

Network congestion, weak wireless signal, or cloud-relay delay. Reduce it by using wired/local connections, dedicated networks, fewer hops, and direct serial links instead of cloud streaming when possible.

What is a basic troubleshooting step when an attorney's realtime screen freezes but the reporter still writes?

The receiving connection dropped, not the writing. Verify cable/Wi-Fi link, re-establish the feed (reconnect the COM port/session), and confirm the receiving software is still listening on the correct port/session.

What is a remote (virtual) deposition setup?

A proceeding where participants appear via videoconference (e.g., Zoom) and the reporter captures testimony remotely, often using internet audio, remote swearing of the witness, and cloud realtime/exhibit sharing.

What is a hybrid proceeding?

A proceeding mixing in-person and remote participants—some in the room and others joining by video—requiring the reporter to manage both local and remote audio/realtime feeds.

What is audiosync (audio synchronization) in CAT software?

A feature that time-stamps the audio recording to the steno notes/text so each word links to the moment it was spoken, letting the reporter click text to replay the corresponding audio.

Why is audiosync valuable to a reporter during transcription?

It lets the reporter verify untranslates, inaudibles, and unclear testimony by playing back the exact audio tied to a word, improving accuracy and resolving ambiguities.

What is 'backup writing' in stenographic reporting?

Maintaining a secondary, redundant capture of the proceeding—such as audio recording and the raw steno note file—so the record can be recovered if the primary translation or equipment fails.

What is redundant capture and why is it a best practice?

Recording the proceeding through multiple independent methods (steno notes + audio, plus a backup recorder) so no single point of failure can destroy the record; it protects the integrity and recoverability of the transcript.

What does media management mean in the context of the reporter's record?

Organizing, naming, storing, and backing up the proceeding's files—steno notes, audio, video, exhibits, and transcript—so they remain retrievable, complete, and properly associated with the case.

What is file integrity and how can a reporter verify it?

Assurance that a file is complete and unaltered. Verified via checksums/hashes, redundant backups, read-only archiving, and confirming files open and match originals before deleting media.

What is the 3-2-1 backup rule applied to a reporter's files?

Keep 3 copies of data, on 2 different media types, with 1 copy stored offsite (e.g., cloud), protecting the record against device loss, corruption, or disaster.

Why is data security and confidentiality critical for court reporters?

The record often contains privileged, sealed, or sensitive personal information; reporters must protect it under ethical duties and laws, using encryption, access controls, and secure transfer to prevent breaches.

Name common safeguards for securing the confidential record.

Encryption at rest and in transit, password-protected/encrypted files, secure cloud or transfer portals (not unencrypted email), strong device passwords, and secure deletion of media when no longer needed.

What does CART stand for and what is it?

Communication Access Realtime Translation: the verbatim, real-time conversion of speech into text displayed for people who are deaf or hard of hearing, providing full access to spoken content.

How does CART differ from court reporting realtime?

CART is an accommodation service producing readable verbatim text for a consumer (often deaf/hard-of-hearing) in classrooms, meetings, or events; court reporting produces an official legal transcript of a proceeding.

Differentiate CART from captioning.

CART typically provides on-site, near-verbatim text for an individual or audience and the consumer reads everything; captioning (often broadcast) displays text on screen for media, frequently edited and time/space-constrained.

What is the difference between offline and realtime (live) captioning?

Offline captioning is created after recording, with edited, precisely timed captions for pre-produced media; realtime captioning is produced live as events happen (news, sports) by a captioner writing in the moment.

What is the difference between open and closed captions?

Open captions are permanently burned into the video and always visible; closed captions can be turned on or off by the viewer (e.g., CEA-608/708 in broadcast).

What are CEA-608 and CEA-708?

U.S. closed-captioning standards: CEA-608 (line 21) is the legacy analog standard; CEA-708 is the digital TV standard supporting more styling, positioning, and languages.

What is webcast/streaming captioning?

Real-time captions delivered for live internet broadcasts, where the captioner's text is streamed to an encoder or platform and synchronized with the video for online viewers.

What is voice writing as a method of capturing the record?

A reporter speaks everything said—dictating testimony, speakers, and punctuation—into a covered, silenced mask (stenomask) while speech-recognition CAT software transcribes the voice into text.

What equipment is central to voice writing?

A stenomask (voice silencer with built-in microphone) and speech-recognition-enabled CAT software trained to the reporter's voice, producing realtime text similar to steno-based realtime.

Compare stenographic writing and voice writing as reporting methods.

Stenography uses a steno machine and finger strokes translated by a dictionary; voice writing uses spoken dictation into a mask transcribed by speech recognition. Both can produce verbatim realtime transcripts.

What does ASR stand for, and how is it used in reporting?

Automatic Speech Recognition: AI that converts spoken audio directly into text. It is used as a drafting/assistive tool, producing rough transcripts that a reporter must verify and correct.

What is the reporter's verification role when AI/ASR tools are used?

The certified reporter remains responsible for the record's accuracy—reviewing, correcting, certifying, and ensuring the verbatim transcript is true; AI output is unofficial until the reporter verifies and certifies it.

Why is unsupervised AI/ASR not a substitute for a certified reporter's verbatim record?

ASR misrecognizes crosstalk, accents, jargon, and homophones, cannot reliably attribute speakers or apply legal formatting, and cannot legally certify the transcript or administer oaths.

What is a 'steno theory' and how does it relate to the dictionary?

A standardized system of writing words by sound/rules (e.g., StenEd, Phoenix, Magnum). The dictionary is built on the reporter's theory, defining how outlines map to words.

What is the role of speaker identification (Q&A and colloquy) in CAT formatting?

CAT software formats the transcript by speaker—Q for examining attorney, A for witness, and colloquy/by-line for named speakers—so the record clearly shows who said what; macros and steno entries trigger these.

What is a write-on/scopist workflow in CAT transcript production?

The reporter writes and may rough-edit, then sends notes/audio/audiosync to a scopist who edits/translates the draft in the same CAT software; the reporter proofreads and certifies the final transcript.

In a remote deposition, why should the reporter capture an independent local audio backup?

Internet/platform audio can drop, lag, or be lost if the host's recording fails; an independent local recording (and steno notes) ensures the reporter can still produce an accurate verbatim record.

What is the best practice for transmitting a confidential transcript or media files to a client?

Use an encrypted/secure delivery method—password-protected files or a secure transfer portal—rather than plain email, and verify the recipient, to protect privileged and sensitive case information.