What should I look for?

The two most important components of any court reporting, captioning, or CART providing training program are the theory you learn and the support you receive throughout your training.

Who will be providing your support? Will these be professionals who have actually trained for these careers themselves, who have passed certification examinations, and who have actually been successful in these careers? They should be. However, many traditional schools and their online programs do not employ professionals who have been successful in these careers. They simply employ CRI’s (Certified Reporting Instructors) who can be anyone who has attended the NCRA’s National Convention and attended seminars regarding how to develop curriculum, how to develop a syllabus, etc., etc. CRI’s are not required to be credentialed court reporters, captioners, or CART providers at all and may have no experience in the careers of court reporting, captioning, or CART providing.

The “Court Reporting and Captioning at Home” program only employs court reporters, or captioners, or CART providers who have passed state or national certification examinations, and who have been successful in these careers! It is our firm belief that it is very difficult to teach a student a career in which the instructor has never trained for himself.

The second important aspect of your court reporting, captioning, and CART providing training is: What theory will I learn? First, what IS theory? Theory is the method we use to teach you where all the keys are located on the steno machine and how to write all words and numbers. There are many theories on the market today, some of which have been around for 30 years or longer, some of which have not kept abreast of our real time technology, and some of which are extremely long and complex. How well you know your theory affects how quickly you can build your speed. If your theory is extremely long and complex, it makes it very difficult to remember your theory and build your speed. Students in traditional schools often are in theory for 1 to 2 years before they complete theory and are ready for speed building.

“Court Reporting and Captioning at Home” teaches the “Real Time Reporting and Captioning Theory,”  the ONLY NCRA-approved theory developed specifically for home study students. It is the shortest, easiest theory to learn yet contains the real time writing principles necessary for students to enter any of the three careers. Practicing 4 hours per day, some CRAH students have been able to complete their theory in 5-6 weeks with 2-3 months being quite normal for many students. This theory was named for CRAH by Kathy DiLorenzo, who served on the NCRA committee that evaluated each page of this theory. Kathy later served as President of the NCRA, but more importantly, she is one of the first broadcast captioners in the country, previously serving as a Vice-President of VITAC Captioning Company for over 20 years. Students learning the “Real Time Reporting and Captioning Theory” can feel confident this theory will prepare them for a career in real time court reporting, broadcast captioning, or CART providing. Read how easy others found the “Realtime Reporting and Captioning Theory” to learn.