MORE ABOUT CAPTIONING

People who are deaf or hard-of-hearing can read words that are spoken through a combination of technology and reporting skill known as realtime translation. Specially trained reporters use this technology to provide captions of live television programs such as news, emergency broadcasts, sports events, the Oscars and the Emmys, and other live programs. Captions allow people who are deaf or hard-of-hearing — and there are about 30 million of them in the U.S. alone — to understand TV broadcasts. This is especially important in times of weather disasters or national emergencies.

In 1996, Congress enacted the Telecommunications Act, which mandated that by 2006, 100% of all new television programming had to be closed-captioned. This highlights the critical need of identifying and training skilled captioners to fulfill this important community service.

About Captioners

• Experts estimate that more than 100 million Americans a year utilize closed-captioning to follow the audio portion of TV broadcasts.
  
  
• The audience for captioning includes people who are deaf or hard of hearing as well as patrons in noisy environments such as restaurants and gyms.
  
  
• Federal regulations require captioning of hundreds of hours of live television each week.
  
  
• Captioners use realtime technology to produce instantaneous text.
  
  
• Captioning helps the 30 million people for whom English is a second language.
  
  
• Captioners work for local television stations and networks to caption the news, emergency broadcasts, sporting events, and other programming.
  
  
• For dependent audiences, closed-captioning can mean life or death in an emergency — a hurricane or other natural disaster, a terrorist attack, or localized dangers such as natural gas leaks or fires.
  
  
• Closed-captioning allows people who are deaf and hard of hearing to participate in civic and personal events, such as city council meetings, medical appointments, and church services.