What is Electronic Notetaking?

Electronic Notetakers work with deaf people who are comfortable reading English at  speed.  The Electronic Notetaker produces a typed record of spoken English using two linked laptop computers  - one for the client and one for the operator.  A précis of what is said is keyed into the operator's machine and the text simultaneously appears on the client's screen, enabling them to follow proceedings in real-time.

Although electronic note taking is not fully verbatim, a qualified operator is  trained in summarising techniques so that the meaning of everything said is accurately transmitted.  SpeedText®, a dedicated notetaking software programme with text expansion capabilities, is also used to speed up the typing process.  Rather than typing every letter, the operator inputs abbreviations of words and phrases, which then translate into full English on the client's screen. 

At conferences the text can be projected onto an overhead screen  to enable large audiences to follow proceedings.  A transcript of the meeting is also available to take away, and can be forwarded by email or saved to the client's memory stick. 

The Association of Notetaking Professionals (ANP) website is at www.anpnotetakers.co.uk.  For more information on Electronic Notetaking, you may find the following link useful:

Working with an Electronic Notetaker 

*the  term 'deaf' is used to refer to D/deaf, deafened, hard of hearing and deafblind people. Electronic "Electronic Notetaking Scotland" "Electronic Note Taking Scotland" Glasgow"communication support" "speech to text" subtitling "communication access real-time transcription" cart captioning NoteED