Just as a caption in a book is the text under a picture, captions on video are text located somewhere on or around the picture. Since there is no way for a television to put text outside the area of the picture tube, captions end up covering a portion of the picture on a television. Captioning for video games and computer multimedia are usually positioned over or under the video so they don’t cover anything.

Closed captioning is an assistive technology designed to provide access to television for persons who are deaf and hard of hearing. It is similar to subtitles in that it displays the audio portion of a television signal as printed words on the television screen. Unlike subtitles, however, closed captioning is hidden as encoded data transmitted within the television signal, and provides information about background noise and sound effects.

Federal rules require people or companies that distribute television programs directly to home viewers ("video program distributors") to make sure that those programs are captioned. Video program distributors include local broadcast television stations, satellite television services (such as DirecTV, Primestar, and the Dish Network), local cable television operators, and other companies that distribute video programming directly to the home.

"Realtime" captioning means any methodology that converts the entire audio portion of a live program to captions.

Realtime captions are white letters with a black background. They typically scroll up to three lines and the captions come after double chevrons (>>) and the top line of the three lines disappears as a new bottom line is added, allowing the continuous rolling up of new lines of captions.

On Thursday, August 7th, 1997, the FCC unanimously approved new regulations which will mandate captioning on virtually all television programming in the United States. The ruling took effect on January 1st, 1998, and it phases in requirements separately for "old" and "new" programming.

On January 1, 2006, 100% of all English language programs prepared or formatted for display on television must be captioned every quarter of the year. Spanish language programs are being given until 2010 to be fully captioned; as of today only 50% of the programs must be captioned; for Spanish language repeats, the requirement is 30%.

CART is an acronym for Communication Access RealTime Translation. CART encompasses use of straight text on computer screens (no video picture) projected on walls, or shown on large monitors. CART consists of a reporter with a notebook computer, sitting next to a deaf or hard of hearing person. The CART reporter voices everything that happens, and the screen on the notebook computer is turned so that the deaf or hard of hearing person can read it. This differs from traditional court reporting in that the CART reporter is not just there to create a verbatim record, but to help the person understand the proceedings, which may mean paraphrasing, interpreting, and two-way communication. A CART reporter may also be given the tape or recording from a live lecture that took place in another location on that day and have 12-24 hours to produce a transcript. CART may also be used from a remote location and broadcast to meetings and other live events via the internet.

Captioning is done either on live broadcasts at a remote location (realtime) or on pre-recorded programming (off-line), financial reporting calls, and/or voice relay calls.

Ninety-five percent of Captioners work out of their homes.

As a CART reporter, you may work at home but there are also jobs where you will be required to personally assist a deaf or hard of hearing person at a meeting or in a classroom.

Some companies provide benefits after working a specified number of hours per month.

A recent CNN Money article (January 9, 2004) on Captioning noted that Captioners earn from $50 to $100 for every programming hour they caption and that experienced Captioners earn between $60,000 and $120,000 a year.

CART providers also get paid by the hour or service. The hourly rate depends upon local and national access and demand for CART services and ranges from $35 as a starting hourly rate to $100 an hour.

Captioners and CART reporters are either paid an annual salary or per service, depending on the captioning or CART company and the realtime reporter’s relationship to the company.

There is a demand for Captioners and CART reporters. The FCC requires that by January 2006 all television programming must be closed captioned. This includes live broadcasts and also pre-recorded broadcasts. There are also jobs available in the areas of financial reporting calls and voice relay calls. CART services are in demand at educational institutions, in the businesses community, at government meetings and any event or function where CART services are needed for the hearing impaired. Many CART service requests go unfilled.

A CART reporter or captioner needs to be trained by a school that has the required subject matter curriculum that includes English grammar and the training focus to produce realtime subject matter at 98.6 percent accuracy.

Not all students will be capable of attaining the level of 98.6% accuracy upon graduation. Accuracy often depends on the amount of time a student puts into their training. Students will be required to achieve an 85% accuracy rating in order to graduate. If the individual’s realtime accuracy is not good enough for live captioning or CART reporting, he/she may be able to do off-line captioning or provide transcription services for legal and/or medical environments. Students can continue to work on their accuracy after graduation.

A Certificate of CART and Caption Reporting will be awarded upon completion of the course. Currently, there are no local and national certification requirements to become a certified Captioner or CART Reporter.

You must have a high school diploma or GED. You must have a strong command of English, you must be able to type 35-40 words per minute and have a basic knowledge of Windows and word processing software.

CART is an evolving and growing profession in North America. There are over 28 million Americans who have some form of hearing loss. The Americans with Disabilities Act mandates equal access to communication for people with disabilities. You also have the potential to earn $35 to $100 an hour working at home with a flexible working environment and work schedule. The career is perfect for men and women high school graduates, for married or single parents, for individuals looking for a career change or a mid-life challenge. You also have the ability to start on the ground floor in a new industry.