NVRA Realtime Verbatim Reporter (RVR)

Which technology distinguishes the NVRA Realtime Verbatim Reporter (RVR) credential from a stenographic realtime credential like the NCRA CRR?

• AStenographic shorthand keyboards
• BVoice writing with a stenomask and speech recognition engine (SRE)
• CManual typewriter transcription
• DPen shorthand and dictation

What three dictation-leg speeds, in words per minute, are tested on the RVR Skills Test?

• A150 / 175 / 200 wpm
• B180 / 200 / 225 wpm
• C200 / 240 / 260 wpm
• D160 / 200 / 240 wpm

What minimum accuracy must a candidate earn on each RVR realtime leg to pass?

• A90%
• B92.5%
• C95%
• D97.5%

Approximately how much does an NVRA member pay to register for the RVR Skills Test?

• A~$75
• B~$200
• C~$350
• D~$500

A voice writer notices the speech recognition engine consistently mistrans the word "objection" as "election" at higher speeds. What is the most reliable long-term fix?

• ASlow down dictation only at that word
• BTrain the voice profile and add an explicit dictionary entry mapping the dictated phrase…
• CType the correction manually after every occurrence
• DSwitch microphones for the rest of the take

In voice writing, what is a "brief"?

• AA short legal pleading filed before trial
• BA single dictated syllable or word that triggers an entire phrase, sentence, or paragraph…
• CA short audio cue tone for the proctor
• DA microphone calibration tone

Which is the most accurate description of a stenomask used by a voice realtime reporter?

• AAn open microphone clipped to the lapel
• BA hand-held cup with a sound-suppressing baffle and an internal microphone the reporter d…
• CA wireless lavalier worn under the suit jacket
• DA boom microphone on a table stand

Why do voice writers add prefixes and suffixes to the dictionary as separate entries rather than entire word forms?

• AIt is required by FCC rules
• BIt lets the SRE combine morphemes on the fly so the writer can build inflected forms with…
• CIt prevents the SRE from learning new words
• DIt is only used for medical terms

Which fingerspelling technique is most commonly used by voice writers to capture unfamiliar names or words in realtime?

• ADictating each letter using a phonetic alphabet such as "alpha, bravo, charlie" mapped to…
• BPausing dictation and writing the word on paper
• CSkipping the word and inserting "[inaudible]" automatically
• DSwitching to stenographic input

A voice profile is best described as which of the following?

• AA static dictionary shared by all reporters
• BA user-specific acoustic and language model trained on the individual reporter's voice an…
• CA microphone hardware ID
• DA backup audio recording of the proceeding

Why must voice writers build a separate dictionary entry for the difference between "its" and "it's" rather than rely on the SRE to choose?

• AThe SRE always picks the longer form
• BBecause they are homophones, the SRE cannot reliably choose the correct grammatical form…
• CVoice writers are not allowed to use contractions
• DFCC rules forbid contractions in realtime

Which practice is most likely to drive long-term realtime accuracy gains in a voice writer's translation?

• AAdding hundreds of unmapped one-off entries each session
• BReviewing and refining the dictionary after every job and re-training the voice profile a…
• CDisabling the dictionary so the SRE learns on its own
• DSwitching CAT software between every job

What is the primary purpose of a "job dictionary" used for a single proceeding?

• ATo replace the main dictionary
• BTo preload party names, exhibit titles, technical vocabulary, and case-specific terms so…
• CTo send marketing material to counsel
• DTo track billing entries

Which of the following is NOT a typical reason an SRE might fail to translate a dictated word?

• AThe word is missing from both the main and job dictionaries
• BThe voice profile has drifted because the reporter is hoarse or recovering from a cold
• CThe microphone gain is correctly set and the room is quiet
• DThe reporter dictated the word with a different cadence than the profile expects

Why should a voice writer avoid creating a brief that sounds nearly identical to a non-brief utterance in the dictionary?

• AIt is forbidden by NVRA policy
• BNear-homophone briefs cause the SRE to misfire and trigger the wrong expansion in realtime
• CIt uses extra disk space
• DIt changes the audio recording length

What is the most accurate description of "realtime translation" for a voice writer?

• ASending the audio file for human translation after the deposition
• BThe SRE converting dictated speech into legible English text on screen within millisecond…
• CTranslating between English and Spanish
• DManually typing the transcript after the proceeding

Which file is typically saved as the official record of a voice realtime job alongside the steno-equivalent notes?

• AAn audio backup of the reporter's dictation along with the CAT translation file
• BOnly the printed paper transcript
• CA photograph of the witness
• DAn autosaved screenshot of the courtroom

Why is microphone placement against the same point on the stenomask seal critical for SRE accuracy?

• AAesthetics for video proceedings
• BConsistent placement keeps the acoustic pattern stable so the trained voice profile conti…
• CIt changes the audio file format
• DIt is required for billing

The phrases "there," "their," and "they're" are an example of which realtime challenge for voice writers?

• APrefix collisions
• BHomophones that require dictated disambiguation entries to translate correctly
• CUntranslates that cannot be fixed
• DFCC captioning violations

How should a voice writer handle the homophone pair "principal" and "principle" in realtime?

• ALet the SRE guess based on grammar
• BAssign each word a distinct dictated cue and dictionary entry so the reporter chooses the…
• CType both into the transcript and edit later
• DAlways render it as "principal"

Sound-alike pairs like "affect" and "effect" are best handled by which strategy?

• AHoping the SRE language model picks the right one
• BDictating a distinct syllable or affix marker before each so the dictionary outputs the c…
• CAlways inserting brackets around the word
• DUsing only one of the two forms throughout the transcript

Which is an example of a contextual disambiguation challenge in voice realtime?

• ATwo different witnesses share a first name and counsel uses one name to address both
• BA microphone goes mute
• CThe court reporter takes a break
• DThe judge enters the courtroom

A witness says "two" but the SRE outputs "too." What is the cleanest remediation?

• AIgnore it as harmless
• BAdd or correct dictionary entries so each meaning of the homophone has its own dictated t…
• CManually retype every occurrence post hoc
• DDisable number translation entirely

Which is NOT a common cause of realtime translation conflict for a voice writer?

• AHomophones with no distinct dictated cue
• BBrief expansions colliding with normal vocabulary
• CUntrained proper nouns from a new case
• DUsing an updated CAT software version that the reporter has trained their profile on

How should the homophone pair "buy," "by," and "bye" be handled in voice realtime?

• AUse one dictated trigger and let context decide
• BAssign each spelling its own unique dictated cue in the dictionary
• CAlways render as "by" because it is most common
• DInsert a placeholder and edit after the job

Which legal-domain homophone pair is among the most failure-prone in realtime if left undisambiguated?

• A"counsel" and "council"
• B"red" and "green"
• C"one" and "first"
• D"large" and "big"

What is the role of capitalization rules in resolving realtime translation conflicts?

• ACapitalization is set only after the job
• BDictionary entries can encode capitalization so distinct dictated cues map to capitalized…
• CCapitalization is automatic and never configurable
• DCapitalization rules belong only to written briefs

Which scenario most strongly indicates a sound-alike word problem rather than a homophone problem?

• ATwo words spelled differently with identical pronunciation
• BTwo words with very similar but not identical pronunciation that nonetheless trip the SRE…
• CAn untranslate caused by a missing dictionary entry
• DA briefs collision

Which is a defining trait of a good contextual disambiguation strategy?

• ARelying on the SRE to infer meaning from grammar alone
• BPre-building distinct dictated triggers tied to case-specific roles, parties, and exhibit…
• CSkipping any disambiguation if speed is too high
• DAlways defaulting to one canonical form regardless of context

The pair "to," "too," and "two" is best treated as which type of conflict?

• AHardware conflict
• BTrue homophone conflict requiring three distinct dictated triggers in the dictionary
• CFCC compliance conflict
• DProfile drift conflict

Why are number homophones such as "for" and "four" treated as high-priority disambiguation candidates?

• ANumbers are exempt from accuracy scoring
• BSubstituting a preposition for a numeric value can materially change the meaning of testi…
• CNumbers are never used in legal proceedings
• DNumbers translate without a dictionary

A voice writer detects that a long-trained brief expansion now mistranslates. What is the diagnostic priority order?

• AReplace hardware first
• BCheck for profile drift, then dictionary changes, then microphone or seal placement, then…
• CDisable the dictionary completely
• DRe-install the operating system

Eclipse is best described as which kind of product in the voice realtime workflow?

• AA hardware microphone
• BA CAT (Computer-Aided Transcription) program that supports both stenographic and voice re…
• CA captioning encoder for broadcast
• DA web browser

ProCAT is best described as which of the following?

• AAnother CAT software vendor whose products (including realtime translation tools) are use…
• BAn online proctoring platform
• CA microphone manufacturer
• DAn FCC certification

AccuVoice is associated primarily with which workflow?

• AReal-estate management
• BVoice realtime reporting — it is a speech-driven CAT program designed specifically for vo…
• CAudio podcast editing
• DPhotographic image stitching

Why do many voice realtime workflows rely on Dragon Professional as the underlying SRE?

• ADragon Professional is a microphone brand
• BDragon Professional provides a speaker-dependent SRE with deep customization (custom voca…
• CDragon Professional is a steno keyboard
• DDragon Professional is required by NVRA policy

Which microphone characteristic is most important for clean voice realtime audio inside a stenomask?

• AOmnidirectional pickup with high gain
• BTightly tuned cardioid or noise-cancelling pickup at the mouth distance, with consistent…
• CWireless lavalier with long range
• DStudio condenser at 24-inch distance

Why are USB headsets and USB audio interfaces popular with voice realtime reporters?

• ALower latency and dedicated audio hardware avoids the variability of an analog soundcard,…
• BUSB is required by NVRA bylaws
• CUSB is cheaper than 3.5 mm jacks always
• DUSB devices automatically caption

When evaluating laptop hardware for voice realtime, which spec set is most critical?

• AGPU memory and refresh rate
• BCPU single-thread speed, RAM, and SSD I/O, plus reliable USB audio support
• COptical drive speed
• DBuilt-in webcam resolution

Which is a recommended practice for managing CAT software updates on a working voice realtime laptop?

• AAlways install every update the moment it is released, immediately before a deposition
• BApply updates only after testing them against the reporter's voice profile and dictionary…
• CNever update the CAT software
• DUpdate once a decade

What is the simplest hardware safeguard against losing a realtime job to a CAT crash?

• AA second microphone in the same input
• BA redundant audio backup (separate recorder) plus periodic autosave of the CAT translatio…
• CA printer in the room
• DAn external keyboard

Why might a voice writer prefer wired USB headsets over Bluetooth in live realtime work?

• ABluetooth is illegal under FCC rules
• BWired USB avoids Bluetooth codec compression and pairing dropouts that could distort audi…
• CBluetooth headsets are too heavy
• DWired USB is faster than 100 Gbps

Which check belongs on a voice writer's pre-job equipment checklist?

• AVerify CAT software opens, voice profile loads, job dictionary loads, microphone tests cl…
• BRun a virus scan on every USB stick in the building
• CSwitch laptops mid-deposition
• DDisable autosave

What does "CART" stand for in the realtime captioning context?

• ACourt Audio Reporting Technology
• BCommunication Access Realtime Translation
• CCaptioned Audio Recording Toolkit
• DCertified Audio Reading Test

When providing CART for a deaf or hard-of-hearing consumer, what is the reporter's primary obligation?

• ASummarize the speakers for the consumer
• BDeliver verbatim realtime text accurate enough to give the consumer equal access to the s…
• CEdit out informal speech
• DProvide only a written transcript after the event

In broadcast captioning, what does the term "caption block" generally refer to?

• AA unit of caption text displayed on screen at one time, typically two or three lines
• BA blocked microphone input
• CA legal motion to suppress
• DA broken encoder

Why is speaker identification especially important in CART output?

• AIt is required by FCC rules for legal proceedings
• BThe consumer cannot rely on auditory cues to tell who is speaking, so reporter-inserted s…
• CSpeaker IDs replace verbatim transcription
• DSpeaker IDs are forbidden in CART

Which delivery method is most common for remote CART today?

• AFaxing transcript pages
• BStreaming the realtime text to a web-based viewer the consumer accesses on a laptop, tabl…
• CMailing a USB drive
• DPosting to a public bulletin board