AMIC Captioning Guidelines
By Tammie Shedd, RPR, Fairfax, Va.
The Accessible Media Industry Coalition (AMIC), which was formed September 1, 2003, is a trade coalition founded by a group of 25 companies devoted to making television and other audio/visual media programs accessible to all viewers.
Broadcast Captioning Firms: What You Need to Know to Get Hired
By Michele Pennington
What does it take to get a job as a captioner? Read this article to learn what skills and experiences will set you apart from other job applicants.
Captioning Company Start-ups: Things to Consider
By Tammie Shedd
Naming your company. Developing a logo. Working as an independent contractor or hiring other captioners. The type of captioning software to use. These are just some of the issues you have to consider when starting your captioning company.
Censorship and Captioning
By Gary Robson
Censorship and the First Amendment may be one of the most misunderstood concepts in America today. In the context of television, it is now tightly interwoven with closed captioning in several ways.
A Commitment to Professionalism
By Cynthia Hill, Mill Creek, Wash.
Professionalism encompasses many traits and is executed in myriad ways, but most importantly, I think of it as a byproduct of our commitment to our profession. Ask yourself: Have you ever known any truly committed individual in our industry to be unprofessional? While the connection may seem like a chicken-egg issue, we should consider that if we're seeing a lack of professionalism among our ranks, maybe the root problem is that their commitment is lacking. By strengthening that link, we automatically improve the level of professionalism.
The Difference Between On-site Captioning and Remote Captioning
By Deanna Baker, RMR, Flagstaff, Ariz.
This article discusses the logistical differences in conducting on-site and remote captioning and provides a check list to help you make sure you have covered all the bases.
Does Size Matter?
By Amy Bowlen, RDR, CRR
Discovering the pros and cons of working for small or large captioning companies.
The Evolution of Captioning
By Judith H. Brentano, RPR, FAPR, DSA, Punta Gorda, Fla.
Who pioneered captioning? That question was answered in May 2005 when the Accessible Media Industry Coalition (AMIC) gathered in Fairfax, Va., to celebrate captioning's 25th anniversary.
Financial Reporting Calls: One Type of Broadcasting
By Chris L. Crosgrove, CPE, Englewood, Colo.
Webcasting is realtime translation that is fed onto an Internet site for those who participate in conference calls to download and review. This article gives step-by-step instructions on how to set up webcasting for a conference call, provides a background on the times of year a company might best utilize webcasting for their quarterly earnings report to the SEC, and offers tips on where to look for a job.
Making the Leap: From Local to National Captioning
By Gary D. Robson
You've paid your dues and put in some time captioning on a local level. Are you ready to make the leap into national work? Here's how to do it. [Special to the Captioning SIG]
Marketing for Captioners
By Gary D. Robson
Marketing is an oft-overlooked skill that's vital for running a business. It's actually easier for a business to survive with good marketing and mediocre services than the other way around. Here are 10 tips for building your captioning business. [Special to the Captioning SIG]
Offline Captioning for Realtimers
By Gary Robson
Offline captioning and realtime captioning both allow those who can't hear the soundtrack to see it, instead. They accomplish that goal, however, in very different ways.
The Sense and Dollars of Captioning: What it Takes to Be a Successful Captioner
By Peggy Belflower
One experienced captioner offers her thoughts on how to prepare for a career in captioning. Also available in Adobe Acrobat PDF [NCRA members only]
Specific to Sports: Captioning Sports Programming
By Jennifer L.C. Pridmore
Captioning a sporting event is just like captioning a news broadcast, right? Wrong. Sports programming offers unique challenges to the captioner, ranging from a required encyclopedic knowledge of the sport to an understanding of positioning captions to dealing with announcers fighting to get a word in edgewise. For some, this could be just the ticket.
The Successful Captioner
By Amy Bowlen
What does it take to be a captioner? Amy Bowlen tackles this topic.
To Caption or Not to Caption: That Is the Question
By Kimberly Potts
Newly minted captioner Kimberly Potts talks about the challenges and benefits of captioning the local morning news.
Weighing Your Captioning Options, Part One
by Kevin W. Daniel
While there are many possible business structures, I will explore three of the most common.
Weighing Your Captioning Options, Part Two
by Kevin W. Daniel
In last month's article, I talked about what's involved when starting your own captioning business. This month I cover two other options for structuring your captioning business: working from your home as an independent contractor and working in-house for an established captioning company.