AI is the difference-maker
According to the online database maintained by the National Court Reporters Association (NCRA), there are 316 certified CART providers in higher education in the United States, which is insufficient to meet the high demand for this service. Due to their lack of availability, it is hard to book these highly sought-after professionals, which is particularly challenging in the field of higher education, where students who are deaf or hard of hearing depend on real-time captioning to succeed in their courses.
The higher education domain presents yet another challenge, as variables like the topic, terminology, speaker accent, and room acoustics constantly change from class to class. Because of this, the captioner is not able to leverage preexisting dictionaries but instead has to develop their own glossary of repeated terms. This is in contrast to the legal industry, where the vocabulary is more standardized and less subject to vary by session.
That’s where the power of AI technology comes in. Critical details such as terms, room acoustics, and more are fed back to the ASR to train the engine and produce the highest accuracy that continuously improves with time. Technology also provides a solution to the availability issue, eliminating the need for on-premise service.
Combining artificial and human intelligence
Our technology harnesses the power of artificial and human intelligence to provide a smarter real-time transcription and captioning solution. Unique variables such as specific terminology and details about room acoustics are used to train the automated speech recognition (ASR) engine to ensure a technical output that is already highly accurate. Then, experienced type-correctors perfect the text on the spot to produce the highest precision possible, and ensure that nothing is lost in translation for anyone following along.
The Benefits of a Hybrid Transcription Solution
Our technology combines the best of both artificial and human intelligence for on-demand availability, thanks to a marketplace of thousands of professional transcribers and top of the line AI technology. A fully web-based system enables easy scheduling and cancellation and provides the option of receiving a complete transcript immediately following the session. Lastly, a prorated pricing system provides significant cost reductions, compared with manual CART providers.
Impact on Accessibility in Higher Education
With around 20,000 deaf and hard of hearing students attending post-secondary educational institutions each year, it’s estimated that there are close to 500,000 deaf and hard of hearing college students in the United States. Unfortunately, the graduation rate of these students remains significantly lower compared to the general population, with 25% completing their degrees, in contrast to 56% (Lang 2002, Aud et al. 2011).
Real-time captioning is a positive step towards accessibility and success for all in the higher education setting, particularly those who are deaf and hard of hearing. Providing full access to all course content and communication that takes place in the classroom allows students to participate in real-time and be fully engaged in a way that was previously not possible.
Aside from those who are hard of hearing, real-time captioning also benefits individuals who understand written language better than spoken. Individuals with autism, dyslexia, as well as those who are not native speakers of the language of instruction all gain from having access to a text-based version of classroom lectures.
From an institutional standpoint, providing real-time captions allows organizations to adhere to the ADA as well as FCC regulations, both of which require all video content to be made fully accessible.
Verbit is committed to disrupting the transcription and closed captioning space with cutting-edge AI technology. We’re proud to introduce our new real-time solution that generates word-for-word captions, using CART technology. The addition of AI-enhanced real-time transcription and captioning represents an exciting development in the field of speech-to-text technology, one that has the power to change peoples’ lives and open new doors with greater accessibility.