Real-Time Captioners

Certification or Licensing

Typically, the reporter considering real-time captioning work has passed the certified realtime captioner, registered professional reporter, or certified realtime reporter exams given by the National Court Reporters Association (NCRA), or a comparable state certification exam. (Other certification credentials that are available from the NCRA include the registered skilled reporter, registered merit reporter, registered diplomate reporter, certified reporting instructor, and certified legal video specialist.) Potential employers may even require applicants to be certified. Additionally, the National Verbatim Reporters Association offers the following certifications: certified verbatim reporter, certified verbatim reporter-stenotype, realtime verbatim reporter, realtime verbatim reporter-stenotype, realtime verbatim reporter-master, realtime verbatim reporter-master-stenotype, registered broadcast captioner-master, registered cart provide-master, certificate of merit, and certificate of merit-stenotype. The American Association of Electronic Reporters and Transcribers offers the certified electronic reporter, certified electronic transcriber, and certified deposition reporter credentials.

Some states require court reporters (or voice writers) to pass a test and earn state licensure.