Have you ever noticed how fast you speak sometimes? I know we all notice the speed at which we drive down the freeway, even if we pretend not to, but have you ever stopped to think about the speed at which you speak? And more so, could a dragon help you realize this?
I don’t know about you, but I had never thought about any other way of typing than to actually use my fingers and strike the keys on a computer keyboard. I know I’m not the fastest typer out there, but I’ve always felt proud of my 70 wpm typing speed. Somehow I managed to write all my college papers without ever missing a deadline. Granted, some of those papers were written the night before they were due and sometimes even printed out 30 minutes before class started, but they were always on time. Then, of course, I was left walking like a zombie throughout campus for the rest of the day; nothing a good cup of coffee could not fix, right?
About 2 months ago I applied for a transcriber/caption editor position at Aberdeen Captioning, and while going through the interview process I was asked to transcribe an 8-minute long video. As soon as I opened the video and saw the length of it, I thought, “Piece of cake,” so I started typing away. After half an hour of changing back and forth between Microsoft Word and Media player, rewinding the video several times, and being nowhere close to being done, I found myself talking to the computer and saying, “Hold your horses!” Needless to say I needed a break, but I kept thinking, if only I could type faster, or even better, if the people in the video could speak slower, this task wouldn’t be as frustrating.
Within my first week at the job I was introduced to my new dragon friend; Dragon Naturally Speaking. Doing justice to its epic name, this speech recognition software has made my transcribing experience a lot more interesting from the moment I started using it. Remember how in the movie Eragon, the dragon Saphira, could read Eragon’s thoughts? That’s more or less how this program works. Obviously Dragon doesn’t type what you’re thinking, but after a short training, the program learns how to understand your voice and you’re good to go! So instead of typing what people say in a video, you speak the words and Dragon types it for you. Pretty neat huh?
Despite being excited about using a new program, I still had my doubts. Could this voice recognition software really be faster than my 70 wpm typing? I mean, that’s a decent typing speed, right? Besides, when I type I can fix my mistakes immediately whereas with Dragon it’s easier to keep dictating and then go back and fix my mistakes later. I was skeptical about this dictation program’s effectiveness against my own. If there’s one thing I remember from my biology classes in college is that I have to test my theories to obtain an answer, so I decided to put an end to my doubts and find out if all my years of typing would help me compete with this dragon.
Two minutes of typing. I don’t remember ever surrendering so fast, not even when I ran 3 miles under 100⁰ F weather in cross-country! I had to face it; I can speak significantly faster than I can type. The Dragon Naturally speaking software is a great tool that tremendously improves your typing speed, especially if you’re typing a long paper; after all, Dragon doesn’t get tired of typing and I hardly believe anyone would ever get tired of talking. I mainly use the program to dictate what other people speak, but I can’t help to wonder how much it would’ve helped me in college when I had to write those 10-page papers. This program types words that I don’t even know how to spell, automatically capitalizes words after periods and what’s best, I can keep training it to understand me better every time I notice a mistake; that’s a keeper, if you ask me.
What Does Verbatim Mean?
In Merriam Webster’s Online Dictionary, it states that verbatim means: In the exact words: word for word
Your captioning provider must make sure they caption exactly what the speaker says to convey the most accurate message to the closed-captioning viewer. The deaf and hard of hearing do not have any special privileges—they do not get to read perfected grammar while the hearing listens to poor grammar. Consider a movie. One of the characters is an immigrant from a foreign country who speaks broken English. If they correct their grammar, the deaf person is getting conveyed a completely different message, which can entirely change the storyline.
And don't forget, the FCC will monitor your captioning for accuracy.
Not missing a word
The closed captioning provider should make sure that every word the speaker actually says is captioned. There is an exception: If the speaker jumps around quickly and doesn’t make much sense, the transcriber and/or caption editor might edit out a few nonessential words—this is a judgment call they will make whether or not you add the words or keep them excluded.
Errors in the transcript
Although transcribers typically strive to do their best, they are only human and are apt to make mistakes—errors and typos are inevitable. The caption editor must be sure to keep their eye out for easy errors, typical typos, and messy mistakes.
Editing stutters
Even though captions should be verbatim, captioning providers should not caption any stuttering. Stuttering is annoying to hear and even more annoying to read. It can make a program very difficult to follow if it is included in the captions.
All in all, the whole point of closed-captioning is to convey the message in a way that is easy for the closed-captioning viewer to follow. It is much easier to ignore stuttering as a listener, but much harder to overlook it while reading.
A very important part of the captioning process is the initial transcription of the programming. If the captioning company uses first-rate transcribers, the quality of the captioning is inevitably superior to companies that use subpar transcribers.
There are many ways the transcription can get completed. Some companies choose to have the same person who transcribes the program also perform the editing, syncing, and placement of the captions. Although this may be the most economical way to caption, it doesn't allow for a second or third quality control of the captioning. The more people involved in the closed captioning process, the better the overall quality of the captioning will be. It’s recommended that when you contract with a captioning company, you ask them who does their transcription.
If you really want to forecast the quality of work you may expect from a captioning company, ask them what transcription guidelines they follow. Where did they come up with the guidelines? Are the guidelines tested by the viewing public? Did they make up the guidelines themselves without any research? If they don't have any guidelines or they made them up with no research to back them, you know you are not using the right company. Ask them about their certification process. Unfortunately, all captioning companies use different standards and guidelines (if any at all), but here are some general closed captioning guidelines (many of these guidelines follow DCMP) transcribers should be following:Read
WANTED: Caption Editor, degree in English preferred. Hmmm… a caption editor? I can edit. I have a degree in English. I guess I meet the requirements. But, what exactly is the job? Oh, I know! Maybe I can “google” the term and find a job description…No such luck. Google doesn’t know either. Well, I am always up for an adventure…
These were the thoughts that were running through my head as I was looking for a new job. I was looking for an editing job and my previous experience was with book editing and publishing. I knew very little about closed captions, as did the majority of people I knew. One friend actually thought the television itself transcribed the audio and spit out the words onto the screen. As silly as that may seem, my knowledge of the process wasn’t far from that. However, my curiosity was piqued, so I decided to apply.
Joanna, the post-production manager, called me to set up an interview. She also asked me how I felt about technology. Technology? Well, I know how to use a computer and I can text message with my eyes closed. But, somehow I wasn’t sure those were the exact skills she was looking for. I tentatively replied that I was not intimidated by technology and immediately panicked thinking, “What am I getting myself into?!”
You can only imagine how my fears intensified when I walked into the office to interview and saw large towers full of computers and machines that looked like something out of the Matrix. Cords, plugs, headsets, decks, monitors…yikes! But, what’s the fun in life if you don’t challenge yourself? To make a long story short, I accepted the challenge and here I am today: Caption Editor Extraordinaire!
It took two months of training to really feel comfortable with captioning. There is so much to learn and you never really stop learning. Questions and new challenges arise every day. There are many guidelines to follow and “styles” of captioning to learn. Grammar, punctuation, and spelling are important but equally important are the placement, line breakage and speed of the captions. Everything is done to ensure that the viewer is getting an accurate understanding of the show. Basically, caption editors work with post-production shows (ones that are already recorded). We have transcribers translate the audio and send us a transcript. We then import the transcript in a computer program that allows us to break up the lines and “press on” the captions in sync with the video/audio. Presto!
Effective caption editing is an acquired skill. And once you know what “good” captions look like, you immediately become a full-fledged critic. It is now impossible to watch captions on television without critiquing the placement, speed, and accuracy. Sadly, you also realize that the majority of captions out there are poor. All of us at Aberdeen care about quality and accuracy and we all take pride in our work. Hopefully, now that most shows are required by law to be closed captioned, more people will understand the importance of not only providing closed captions, but providing good closed captions.
I am so lucky to have found this job. It has truly opened my eyes to the world of closed captioning and the importance of providing closed captioning, not just for the hearing impaired, but for the entire population! Another great benefit of this job is the plethora of knowledge you will receive from watching these programs. I learn something new from every show I caption, whether it is a Bible verse, a recipe for nachos, the history of anthropology, new scientific terminology, or the latest in fashion and design! I am sure to triumph in any game of Trivial Pursuit!
Written by Christina Hill, Caption Editor
