Speech-to-text reporter explained

A speech-to-text reporter (STTR), also known as a captioner, is a person who listens to what is being said and inputs it, word for word (verbatim), as properly written texts. Many captioners use tools (such as a shorthand keyboard, speech recognition software, or a computer-aided transcription software system), which commonly convert verbally communicated information into written words to be composed as a text.[1] The reproduced text can then be read by deaf or hard-of-hearing people, language learners, or people with auditory processing disabilities.[2] [3]

Methods

Real-time captioning includes stenographic, voice writing, and automatic speech recognition methods. Occasional mondegreen errors may be seen in closed-captions when the computer software fails to distinguish where a word break occurs in the syllable stream. Information such as laughter or applause is shared inside a bracket.

Voice writing

See main article: article and voice writing. Voice writers echo spoken language into a stenomask or voice silencer, which consists of a hand-held mask equipped with microphones and voice-dampening materials. This setup connects to an external sound digitizer. The words spoken by a voice writer are converted by the computer's speech recognition engine into streaming text and can be disseminated in various formats, including internet streaming, subtitling, or direct displays for end-users.

Stenography

See main article: article and stenography.

Palantype and stenotype

Two major chorded keyboards used in speech-to-text reporting are the palantype and stenotype systems.[4] Both systems are used in the UK.[5] STTRs might also be termed palantypists or stenographers. Instead of pressing each letter individually, like on a QWERTY keyboard, these systems use chords, where multiple keys are pressed simultaneously in a "stroke" to represent syllables, words, or phrases.

Software

Stenographers use specialized software to convert phonetic strokes from their keyboards into English text. Errors may arise from STTRs mishearing words or from ambiguities in the statement that are only clarified by subsequent context.

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Speech to Text Reporters . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20210305140150/https://www.completecommunicationltd.com/speech-to-text-reporters-sttr/ . March 5, 2021 . 2024-05-25 . Complete Communication . en-GB.
  2. Web site: Pearson . Orla . Speech-to-text reporter . 2024-05-25 . National Deaf Children's Society . en-gb.
  3. Web site: Williams . Victoria . 2014-04-17 . What does a Speech-to-Text Reporter do? . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20240226183506/https://terptree.co.uk/communication-professionals/what-does-a-speech-to-text-reporter-do/ . February 26, 2024 . 2024-05-25 . terptree . What do they do, and how do they work? . en-GB.
  4. Arnott . J. L. . Newell . A. F. . Downton . A. C. . July 1979 . A comparison of palantype and stenograph for use in a speech transcription aid for the deaf . Journal of Biomedical Engineering . 1 . 3 . 201–210 . 10.1016/0141-5425(79)90042-6 . 0141-5425 . 161992 . National Library of Medicine.
  5. Web site: Palantype machine . 2024-05-25 . Science Museum Group Collection . en.