Electronic Notetaking

An Electronic Notetaker may provide communication support for D/deaf people who are comfortable reading English at high speed. The Electronic Notetaker produces a real-time summary of what is said using an ordinary laptop computer – usually linked to a second laptop for the client to read from. The laptops are connected by cable, wireless or Bluetooth networking or linked to a braille machine for deafblind clients. At the end of a meeting or event, the Electronic Notetaker should provide a copy of the transcript by email, hard copy or memory stick.

Although Electronic Notetaking does not produce a verbatim record, a qualified operator is specially trained in condensing language and uses dedicated Notetaking software* with shorthand capabilities to speed up the typing process.This software also enables the client to type messages to the operator and add their own notes to the transcript.

* ANP currently endorses three software systems – SpeedText®, Stereotype®, and NoteED®.