In order to understand this article fully, let’s start with the definition of CART Services. Communication Access Realtime Translation (CART) is provided to consumers who are Deaf or hard of hearing. The highly skilled and experienced stenographer uses computer-aided software to provide CART Services. The spoken word is captured and displayed on a computer screen in person or streaming text through the Internet. Streaming text through the Internet can then be seen on computer screens, cell phones, ipads, etc. Through the years as a stenographer, I have provided CART services in many venues: church, classroom, community events, courtroom, doctor appointments, hearings, IEP meetings with a hard of hearing parent, town halls, seminars, training sessions, and more!

There is always a white lining in everything – a positive outcome, a solution to a problem!

We are now in the midst of a pandemic. Health officials of WHO (World Health Organization), the CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention), Facebook with their Coronavirus (COVID-19) Information Center, and many more organizations and charities are publishing information about how to be safe during the pandemic. It’s widely known and scientifically verified that wearing a face mask saves lives! Learn about how you can protect yourself from the coronavirus (COVID-10), click here.

I have worked as a court reporter using the skill of stenography since 1981. For the first time in my career, my work as a freelancer has been impacted on a grand scale. There was always a need for the court reporter! Even though there was inflation and many people losing jobs, there was always work as a court reporter, even though it may have been slow. The pandemic caused my schedule to come to a screeching halt! Well, because of the nature of the work, there were checks that were coming soon, and I was overworked and needed a respite. There were stay-at-home orders to the public at large, and I stayed home! This impacted me in all aspects of my life. Going to church was halted. I could no longer see my family and friends. I wasn’t able to see my grandchildren. We were told, yes, you can go outside to exercise and get the things you need from the store, essential foods.

Today, I read an article from the ABA Journal (American Bar Association), which highlights the need for remote court reporting services and CART Services more than ever! A judge refused to wear a mask and asked attorneys to remove their masks on several occasions. The judge couldn’t hear the attorneys. You see, he is sitting behind plexiglass and the attorneys and clients are seated or standing about 15 feet away. This is where remote or in-person CART Services provided by a stenographer could have been helpful. Stenographers have the skill to provide CART Services for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing Community. Having streaming text would have been very helpful and the judge would not have had to ask the attorneys to take off their masks. Now, when the stenographer can’t hear the attorneys with or without a mask, this does make the job of capturing the spoken word very difficult. Microphones would also be needed in this type of environment. There is a risk with COVID-19 when people don’t wear their masks, because this virus is airborne. The plexiglass gives some protection, but not 100%. There is a risk to everyone’s health. (Read the article here from ABA.)

During this pandemic, I have provided remote CART Services for deposition proceedings, meetings, and even a community town hall meeting using Zoom. In each scenario, there have been times where everyone was remote or semi-remotely, meaning in the deposition sitting, there was the attorney and the client together. In the community town hall meeting, the people did come out to a location and socially distanced themselves with masks.

Sometimes, it’s just a matter of educating the judges and the public about a solution to their problem when it comes to making a decision about requesting someone to take off their mask in the courtroom or any other place for that matter. This pandemic may last one year, two years or more; it’s not certain. So during this time, in those places where it’s hard to hear, even though you are not Deaf, even though you are not hard of hearing, remote CART can be the solution to not hearing someone because they are wearing a mask. Let’s allow there to be microphones to amplify the voices so that people can be heard and so that the spoken word can be captured by an experienced and skilled stenographer who can provide remote CART Services. Everyone can benefit from CART Services!

To learn more about Teri C. Gibson, check out the following links:

Gibson Skill Development and Training Center

Total Eclipse Training (Eclipse CAT Software by the Advantage Company)
Sign up for a Strategy Session.

Remote Court Reporting Services and transcription services:
Gibson Realtime Reporting Services.

Author of “Your Transformation Journal” by Teri C. Gibson. The printed copy is available on Amazon.

Here are images of the Luminex Stenomachine used in providing CART Services and images on a freelance job and pictures of Teri C. Gibson.

Copyright (c) 2020 by Teri C. Gibson. All rights reserved. No part of this article may be reproduced or transmitted in any form without written permission from the writer.