CT Cheat Sheet 2026

The 30 highest-yield CT facts, distilled from real exam questions. Print it, save it as a PDF, or study it here — free, no sign-up.

1. What is the primary ethical obligation of a CT professional when a conflict of interest arises during professional code of conduct activities? → Disclose the conflict to all relevant parties and recuse from the decision if necessary
2. Which tool is most appropriate for automated pre-screening of transliteration errors before human QC review? → A script-specific regex or rule-based transliteration validator
3. CT-certified professionals working in post-secondary education most often provide services through coordination with which campus entity? → The disability services or accessibility office
4. When preparing for a realtime captioning assignment, why should a captioner request speaker word lists in advance? → To add specialized terms and names to the dictionary before the session begins
5. Why is it important to understand phonetics in transliteration? → Phonetics helps accurately represent sounds in the target script
6. What effect does speaking pace variation have on realtime captioning output? → Rapid speech increases the risk of dropped words; slow speech can cause latency buildup
7. How can machine learning improve accuracy in transliteration? → By improving accuracy over time through learning from data
8. In realtime captioning, what is a 'conflict' in the steno dictionary? → A stroke that produces an unintended word due to multiple definitions
9. In a realtime captioning context, what does 'Q&A' format refer to? → A transcript format alternating labeled speaker turns between question and answer
10. Homograph ambiguity in transliteration QC refers to: → A single romanized form that could represent multiple distinct source forms
11. Mentorship programs designed for emerging CT professionals primarily serve to: → Provide supervised practice and constructive feedback to build real-world competency
12. What distinguishes transliteration from translation? → Transliteration focuses on pronunciation, while translation focuses on meaning
13. Which scenario best describes a situation requiring 'verbatim' realtime captioning? → A legal deposition where every word, including false starts and fillers, must be captured
14. What is the primary challenge when transliterating Chinese personal names written in characters into English? → The same character can be pronounced differently across dialects
15. What is the impact of using inconsistent transliteration methods? → It leads to confusion and inconsistent representations
16. A transliterator realizes after delivering a project that they made a systematic error affecting the entire document. Professional ethics require them to: → Proactively notify the client and offer to correct the work
17. A medical transliterator encounters the term 'tachycardia.' In a terminology bank, this word would most likely be categorized under which domain? → Cardiology
18. In realtime captioning for broadcast TV, what standard governs caption timing and formatting? → FCC regulations under the 21st Century Communications and Video Accessibility Act
19. Which quality assurance method is most commonly applied in ipa & romanization systems to verify that CT professional standards are being met? → Structured audits, peer reviews, and performance metrics aligned with industry benchmarks
20. What is the primary purpose of stroke 'briefs' (abbreviations) in realtime captioning? → To write common multi-syllable words or phrases with fewer keystrokes, increasing speed
21. What is the future potential of transliteration tools in global communications? → They will improve cross-cultural communication
22. A transliteration QC rubric includes 'phonemic fidelity' as a criterion. This evaluates: → How accurately the romanized form represents the phoneme inventory of the source language
23. When a domain-specific terminology bank is developed for a CT project, which stakeholder's input is most critical for validating domain accuracy? → A subject matter expert (SME) in the relevant field
24. What is the primary goal of transliteration? → To represent the pronunciation of a word in a different script
25. How do language-specific rules help with regional differences in transliteration? → They help adjust transliteration based on regional accents and conventions
26. Video relay services (VRS) that employ CT-certified professionals must comply with regulations from which federal agency? → Federal Communications Commission (FCC)
27. CT professionals who work in theatrical or performing arts settings need specialized skills in: → Prosody, rhythm, and expression to convey the aesthetic qualities of performance
28. When transliterating the Arabic name محمد (Muhammad) into English, which approach is generally preferred in professional practice? → The most widely recognized English rendering appropriate to the given context
29. A CT exam candidate is asked to transliterate the legal term 'voir dire' from a French-origin US legal terminology bank. The phonetic base should be: → The anglicized pronunciation used in US courts
30. In scientific transliteration, the element name 'phosphorus' (from Greek φωσφόρος) is being rendered into Cyrillic. Which consideration is most important? → Reflecting the established Cyrillic scientific convention for this term