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• Captioning Corner: Favorite Tips for Captioners

  By Deanna Baker Over the years I've come across many tidbits of good advice for captioners. Some of these tips are things I've learned on my own, but some are from friends and colleagues in my network of captioners. Here's what we've learned, in no particular order. Make sure you know which outlets on your UPS, or uninterrupted power source, provide surge protection and which provide both sur…

  Categories: Captioning

• Captioning Corner: Unknown End Times and Email Names

  By Deanna Baker I have been approached with a few situations that independent captioners have been facing. Unknown End Times One scenario is when a government meeting runs shorter or longer than expected. One person asked me, “I was contracted to cover a government meeting from 3-4 p.m. but the meeting only went ten minutes. How do I charge for that?” Government-type meetings, councils, board of s…

  Categories: Captioning

• Captioning Corner: Local News and the Road to Success

  By Deanna Baker Here are some questions posed to me by a new captioner. Is local news captioning the bottom-of-the-barrel type of work for news captioning? It's just so hard because of all the local names, places, etc. The answer is ... it depends. Yes, local news is tough, but once you're well prepared for it and if you work for the same station on a regular basis, it makes the show much…

  Categories: Captioning

• Captioning Corner: How many phone lines are necessary to caption from home?

  By Deanna Baker The answer is twofold depending on the work that you're captioning. What would apply to all scenarios would be what is called designated phone lines, meaning no call-waiting beeps or other interruptions. First scenario: If you are captioning a program that you can see on television or satellite, one phone line will be necessary to send your data (captions) through your computer/c…

  Categories: Captioning

• Captioning Corner: Weirdest Commercial Breaks

  By Deanna Baker I asked a few captioning friends of mine, "What was the strangest thing you did during a commercial break while captioning?" In order to preserve my friendships, I am granting everyone anonymity. One December I was captioning a program in the evening. Everybody else was out, and I was alone in the house. My office is right at the front of the house and can be seen from the street o…

  Categories: Captioning

• Captioning Corner: What's What in Captioning

  By Deanna Baker I've mentioned a few terms, and I wanted to take the time to explain a few of them. Realtime captions: Realtime captions are used during live programming or programming that hasn't had time to have post-production captions put on. Live captioning is performed by captioners watching or listening to the program and sending their captions, or data, through telephone lines to the loca…

  Categories: Captioning

• Captioning Corner: What's the Best Theory for Captioners?

  By Deanna Baker An online student asked me what the best theory is if you want to caption. For help with this issue, I turned to caption theory experts Kathy DiLorenzo, FAPR, RDR, CRR, CRC, and Amy Bowlen, FAPR, RDR, CRR, CRC. Kathy responded, "The best theory for captioners? I'd say a realtime theory, no?" All kidding aside, that has to be the answer: A realtime theory. It doesn't matter which …

  Categories: Captioning, Employment Opportunities

• Captioning Corner: How do you know if you should go with DOS-based or Windows-based captioning software?

  By Deanna Baker When considering DOS-based vs. Windows-based, it's a somewhat easy decision. DOS is ancient, old, archaic. It's tough to find a computer where a DOS program will work. You want and need the flexibility of Windows-based programs to access the Internet, have e-mail, instant messaging, Real Player capabilities, send realtime to the Internet, Go Back capability, Explore capabilities, s…

  Categories: Captioning

• Captioning Corner: Students' Questions About Captioning

  By Deanna Baker Do I need to still get my RPR to become a captioner? Well, this all depends on where you'll be working. If you are applying for a full-time job with some companies, this may be mandatory. Otherwise, as a freelance captioner it may not be mandatory but highly, highly suggested, not just for your own skill level, but to show the captioning companies you may be working for what your …

  Categories: Captioning, Certification and Testing

• Captioning Corner: Broadcast Lingo for Captioners

  By Deanna Baker What does it mean when a show is preempted? Does it air at another time or not at all? Do I caption what airs in its place? If as a captioner you are scheduled to caption a 5 p.m. news broadcast and it has been preempted by another program — for example, replaced by another program such as a sporting event or other special — that 5 p.m. news broadcast has been cancelled. Unless ot…

  Categories: Captioning