The key to great captions and instant transcripts is the captioner providing the service! The captioner's level of skill is the most important factor in providing high quality, useful captions and instant transcripts.

Certifications that are helpful in guiding the consumer are the CRR (Certified Realtime Reporter) and RMR (Registered Merit Reporter), which test, respectively, the realtime accuracy and speed of the reporter. In addition to the qualifications listed below, Teri is a speed and realtime contest finalist.

Teri Darrenougue holds the following certifications:

Registered Professional Reporter (RPR)
Written knowledge and skills test given by the National Court Reporters Association. The skills portion consists of 5 minutes of literary material dictated at 180 words per minute (wpm), jury charge dictated at 200 wpm, and testimony/Q&A dictated at 225 wpm (grading based on the accuracy of the transcripts produced).

Certified Realtime Reporter (CRR)
Skills Test. Must hold an RPR as a prerequisite to this certification given by the National Court Reporters Association. The test consists of 5 minutes of straight material ranging in speed from 180 to 200 words per minute. The test is graded based on the raw realtime output.

Certified Broadcast Captioner (CBC)
Written knowledge and skills test (CRR) given by the National Court Reporters Association. This exam is designed to measure the knowledge, skill, and ability of the candidate to produce an accurate, simultaneous translation and display of broadcasts utilizing realtime translation software.

Certified CART Provider (CCP)
Written knowledge and skills test (CRR) given by the National Court Reporters Association. This exam is designed to measure the knowledge, skill, and ability of the candidate to produce complete, accurate, simultaneous translation and CART display of live proceedings utilizing computer-aided translation.

Registered Merit Reporter (RMR)
Written knowledge and skills test given by the National Court Reporters Association. The skills portion consists of 5 minutes of literary material dictated at 200 words per minute (wpm), jury charge dictated at 240 wpm, and testimony dictated at 260 wpm (grading based on the accuracy of the transcripts produced). The reporter must hold an RPR to be eligible to take this examination.

Registered Diplomate Reporter (RDR)
Written knowledge test. The highest level of certification available to court reporters, this examination is designed to test the advanced knowledge and experience of seasoned reporters. Holding an RMR is a prerequisite to taking this exam, which is given by the National Court Reporters Association.

California Certified Realtime Professional (CCRR)
Skills test. This examination, given by the Deposition Reporters Association of California, consists of a five-minute two-voice dictation at 200 words per minute (test graded on the accuracy of the realtime output). Speed recently reduced to 180 wpm.

California Certified Shorthand Reporter (CSR)
Written knowledge and skills test given by the state of California consisting of 12 to 13 minutes of four-voice testimony dictacted at 200 words per minute (grading based on the accuracy of the transcript produced). 97.5% accuracy is required to pass. A CSR license is required to work as a court reporter in California.

Teri is a member of the National Court Reporters Association and Deposition Reporters Association of California. Please visit the National Court Reporters Association's web site for full descriptions of the above certifications as well as a listing of newly certified NCRA members.