CBC Realtime Writing & Stenography Fundamentals

Question 1

What is the standard minimum words-per-minute (WPM) speed required for broadcast captioners using stenography?

Accepted Answer

225 WPM

Answer

The NCRA and CBC certification standards require a minimum realtime writing speed of 225 WPM to keep pace with broadcast speech rates.

Question 2

In stenography, what does 'steno theory' refer to?

Accepted Answer

The system of rules governing how words are written on a steno machine

Answer

Steno theory is the systematic set of rules that dictates how phonetic sounds and words are encoded as keystrokes on a stenographic machine.

Question 3

What is a 'brief' in stenographic writing?

Accepted Answer

An abbreviated stroke or series of strokes representing a commonly used word or phrase

Answer

Briefs are custom abbreviated steno outlines that allow captioners to write frequently used words or phrases faster than spelling them out phonetically.

Question 4

Which steno keyboard layout is most commonly used in the United States for broadcast captioning?

Accepted Answer

English stenotype (consonant-vowel-consonant bank layout)

Answer

The English stenotype keyboard, featuring left consonant keys, center vowel keys, and right consonant keys, is the standard machine layout for US broadcast captioning.

Question 5

What is 'realtime translation' in the context of broadcast captioning?

Accepted Answer

The immediate software-based conversion of steno strokes into readable text

Answer

Realtime translation is the instant conversion of stenographic keystrokes into human-readable text by CAT software as the captioner writes.

(CBC) Certified Broadcast Captioner Practice Test

(CBC) Certified Broadcast Captioner Practice Test

CBC Realtime Writing & Stenography Fundamentals