Like any career, there are some that are more accredited than others. This is true for those in stenography as well. Here is an introduction to the levels that stenographers can achieve according to the NCRA aka National Court Reporters Association.
Stenographic certifications include (from entry-level to highest order):
- Registered Skilled Reporter (RSR)
- Registered Professional Reporter (RPR)
- Registered Merit Reporter (RMR)
- Registered Diplomate Reporter (RDR)
The entry-level registered skilled reporter requires the slowest Q&A dictation speed at 200 words per minute. The dictation speed and written knowledge content increase in difficulty through the certification progression. The registered diplomate reporter is the highest level of certification available to stenographic court reporters and requires passing a Q&A dictation speed of 260 words per minute. The RDR designation also has a years-of-experience component. The RDR distinguishes high-level, seasoned reporters as members of the profession’s elite.
The National Verbatim Reporters Association aka NVRA voice writer certifications include:
- Certified Verbatim Reporter (CVR)
- Certificate of Merit (CM)
- Military Verbatim Reporter (MVR)
Skills tests for both NCRA and NVRA certifications are administered at speeds ranging from 200 to 260 words per minute for five minutes of dictation at 95% to 96% accuracy, including all speaker designations, punctuation, and procedural events that take place during the proceeding.
A Certified Shorthand Reporter (CSR) is a designation granted by multiple states across the country. The testing speeds and written exam requirements vary.
If you’re seeking a stenographic reporter who is highly skilled at providing an instantaneous delivery of the spoken word to text, you will want to seek a Certified Realtime Reporter (CRR).
A voice writer with similar skills has achieved one of the following certifications: Realtime Verbatim Reporter (RVR) or Realtime Verbatim Reporter – Master (RVR-M).
Accessibility to justice requires accommodations for people with hearing loss. A Certified Realtime Captioner (CRC) should be engaged for this service if you’re using a stenographic reporter. Registered CART Provider – Master (RCP-M) is the designation for a voice reporter.
A Certified Legal Video Specialist (CLVS), administered by the National Court Reporters Association, holds a high level of skill and understanding of all aspects of video deposition recording, court proceedings, Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, and deposition best practices.
If you need court reporting services, please contact CourtScribes.com, which supports all states and programs that aid in the court reporting world, and are ready to serve you in your court reporting, videography services, interpreters, live-streaming, and video-to-text synchronization.
Although the majority of cities that offer CourtScribes’ services are in Florida, the company home base, other cities all across these United States that CourtScribes offers services in, are the following: Jacksonville, Miami, Tampa, Port St. Lucie, Fort Lauderdale, Cape Coral, Coral Springs, Clearwater, Palm Bay, Fort Myers, Weston, Sarasota, Orlando, St. Petersburg, Hialeah, Stuart, Hollywood, Naples, West Palm Beach, Boca Raton, Deerfield Beach, Jupiter, Key West, Coral Gables, Maryland, Manhattan, Buffalo, Washington DC, Baltimore, Bowie, Virginia, Frederick, Albany, New York, Brooklyn, Westchester, Gaithersberg, and Rockville.
