The captions are horrible! Why can’t they spell? These are the valid questions asked when watching live closed captioning of a TV broadcast. Let’s briefly look at the behind the scenes of live closed captioning. Live closed captioning, in the majority of cases, is completed by a human. Live captioners, called writers, write to a steno machine (keys are all based on sounds). The steno machine is connected to live captioning software that has an extensive dictionary to take the steno strokes and convert to English words. A dictionary is not just imported from Webster’s to the software but rather created per writer based on their writing theory. So how do they know the difference between words that sound the same such as to, two and too? They have to remember the stroke they gave that word when creating their dictionary. So when writing 200-300 words per minute the human behind the machine can mistroke the word and you could see errors such as:
prays Hymn when it should be praise Him
mall mighty God when is should be almighty God
top or pop
There are other times when a word may just clearly not be in their dictionary and it would show up as:
graph fight when it should be graphite
authentic cater when it should be authenticator
you know sex when it should be unisex
ear gates when it should be irrigates
Aberdeen’s live Abercap department strives to write every show with a 98% or better accuracy rate. This is completely possible as long as the following is provided:
1) Show information such as key words, hosts, guests, websites and phone numbers
2) Clear audio feed to the live captioner so they can hear the audio they are to write well
98% accuracy means you may see 4 errors per minute when the speaker is speaking at 200 words per minute.
To see a live demo of a live writer, watch this clip: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dCPEjz--BvE
If you are interested in learning more about our live captioning department or any other of our broadcast services, feel free to send us a note here.
If not, you may want to encourage them to do so. The process is simple, and it provides accessibility to one of the most important ceremonies of one's life: GRADUATION. Read below for some answers to some common questions I get regarding captioning for these important life events.
What is the purpose for captioning commencements?
The purpose of closed captioning commencements is obvious: to provide access to viewers who are unable to hear the ceremony.
Who views the captioning and where do they view it?
Captions are usually present on screens at the commencement itself, on the web for live viewing, and potentially broadcast on a local station and viewed by the family or friends of graduates, graduates themselves, or perhaps the faculty members of the school. If not present at the ceremony, viewers can connect to the ceremony from a home computer or from portable devices like laptop computers, PDAs, Smart Phones, et cetera.
For the captioner, what preparation goes into captioning for a commencement ceremony?
A live captioner will usually want to get names of speakers, especially the keynote speaker and valedictorian, and whoever else may be speaking during the ceremony. The captioner should familiarize themselves with the city the commencement is located in and its adjoining cities, as these names may be mentioned during the ceremony. Depending on keynote speaker, the captioner will do some online research about the speaker's history and life so they can learn where she/he lives, works, what their "claim to fame" is. This information will need to be defined in their dictionary.
How long are commencement ceremonies?
They can vary from three to six hours, depending on the size of the school and graduating class.
Does one captioner do the entire commencement? If not, how do they transition?
Many times, one captioner will caption the entire commencement. If it is extremely long, then two captioners will work on the captioning. Usually at a predetermined point, for example, at the top of the hour, the first captioner will sign off with a [pause in captions] on the screen, until the second captioner dials in and gets linked up and they take over.
Does the captioner get a list of graduates beforehand? If not, how do they caption the names?
They usually do NOT get a list of the graduates. When the graduates are announced, they are usually instructed to not write during that time, although sometimes they may write something like [names being read].
What does a captioner do if they do not know how to spell somebody's name or they do not have it in their dictionary?
The captioner will usually phonetically spell the person's last name as opposed to the first name.
Which universities and colleges currently caption their commencement ceremonies?
Many schools caption their commencement ceremonies, but some specific school who we have captioned for or will caption for this year include:
"A graduation ceremony is an event where the commencement speaker tells thousands of students dressed in identical caps and gowns that 'individuality' is the key to success." ~Robert Orben
For more information on closed captioning commencement ceremonies, contact us.
Each captioning company will categorize their levels of captioning differently, but a fully operating captioning company will offer at these three types of captioning: live captioning, live-to-tape captioning, and post-production captioning.
Here are descriptions of the different types of captioning:
Live Captioning
Just like it sounds, live captioning is written by a live captioner in real-time. The live captioner is trained as a court reporter and uses a stenograph machine to caption live. They do not type using a keyboard. The live captioner writes at the same time the show is being broadcasted. The live captioner dials in directly into a T.V. station.
Live-to-tape Captioning
This type of captioning is written by a live captioner in real-time. Instead of dialing into a station, they dial into an encoder and an audio line and write in the same “live” style. The show is recorded in real-time, but is mailed out to the station and broadcasts on a later date. This type of captioning is used mainly for extremely tight turnarounds and to reduce cost to the client. The accuracy rate is much lower than post-production captioning.
Post-Production Captioning
Post-production captions typically get transcribed by a transcriber using a video and audio file that has been digitized. Many transcribers work remotely (from home) or on location. Typically, a caption editor close captions this type of captioning. Within post-production captioning, most companies will offer different levels of quality to meet the needs of their clients.
