CRI Real-Time Captioning Methods 4 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: What distinguishes 'offline captioning' from 'real-time captioning' in the broadcast context?
- Offline captioning uses steno machines; real-time uses voice recognition only
- Offline captions are prepared before broadcast; real-time captions are produced live as content airs (Correct answer)
- Offline captioning requires FCC licensing; real-time does not
- Offline captioning appears in a different color than real-time captions
Correct answer: Offline captions are prepared before broadcast; real-time captions are produced live as content airs
Offline captions are scripted and encoded ahead of broadcast, while real-time captions are produced and transmitted live during the actual airing.
Question 2: A student real-time captioner writes a phonetic steno stroke for an unfamiliar medical term. What is the correct post-session step?
- Delete the phonetic stroke from the dictionary immediately
- Add the correct translation for the term to the dictionary to prevent recurrence (Correct answer)
- Leave the dictionary unchanged to avoid disrupting existing entries
- Report the term to the client as untranslatable
Correct answer: Add the correct translation for the term to the dictionary to prevent recurrence
Adding the correct term to the dictionary after the session ensures accurate translation in future captioning assignments involving similar vocabulary.
Question 3: Which connection method is most reliable for transmitting a live CART feed to a consumer's laptop in the same room?
- Cellular LTE with a mobile hotspot
- A direct wired Ethernet or USB connection to a local access point (Correct answer)
- Satellite uplink with redundant antenna
- Bluetooth paired directly to the consumer's device
Correct answer: A direct wired Ethernet or USB connection to a local access point
A wired or local network connection minimizes latency and reduces the risk of dropouts compared to wireless or cellular solutions.
Question 4: What is the function of 'realtime conflict resolution' in CAT software?
- It automatically corrects grammar errors in the caption stream
- It allows the software to choose the best translation when a steno stroke matches multiple dictionary entries (Correct answer)
- It merges two simultaneous caption feeds into one display
- It flags sections where the speaker spoke too fast to caption
Correct answer: It allows the software to choose the best translation when a steno stroke matches multiple dictionary entries
Conflict resolution logic evaluates context and frequency data to select the most appropriate translation when a stroke has multiple possible dictionary matches.
Question 5: Under FCC regulations, which type of programming requires real-time captioning for broadcast television in the US?
- Pre-recorded programming only, with a 6-month exemption for live content
- Live and near-live programming broadcast on covered television channels (Correct answer)
- Only primetime entertainment programming between 7–10 PM
- Streaming-only content with fewer than 50,000 subscribers
Correct answer: Live and near-live programming broadcast on covered television channels
FCC rules require that live and near-live television programming on covered channels include captions, reflecting the purpose of real-time captioning technology.
Question 6: Why is it important for a real-time captioner to conduct a pre-event equipment check with the client?
- To charge a higher rate for technical setup time
- To verify that the caption feed displays correctly on the consumer's device before the event begins (Correct answer)
- To obtain the client's steno machine serial number for liability records
- To test whether the venue sound system is FCC compliant
Correct answer: To verify that the caption feed displays correctly on the consumer's device before the event begins
A pre-event check ensures that all technical components — software, hardware, and display — are working correctly before the consumer depends on them.
Question 7: Which captioning method is typically used for live sports broadcasts due to its speed advantage?
- Human steno machine captioning exclusively
- Automated speech recognition (ASR) sometimes assisted by a human stenocaptioner (Correct answer)
- Offline pre-scripted captioning prepared before the game
- Lip-reading transcription by a relay interpreter
Correct answer: Automated speech recognition (ASR) sometimes assisted by a human stenocaptioner
Live sports are often captioned using ASR systems, sometimes supervised and corrected by a human stenocaptioner, to handle the fast, unpredictable pace of commentary.
CRI Real-Time Captioning Methods 4
What distinguishes 'offline captioning' from 'real-time captioning' in the broadcast context?