New organization's president promotes speech-to-text services

Standards, Certification STSN Goals

Speech-to-Text Services Network is a new national organization designed to create awareness of speech-to-text services. The group's mission is to promote quality services and professional de-velopment opportunities, and to serve as a national resource for the speech-to-text community.

STSN President Shannon Aylesworth

The information within this guide is created for prospective college students, their parents, high school guidance counselors and others involved with assisting students in finding the right college. Within this guide you will find information based on a survey of postsecondary programs serving deaf and hard of hearing students in the United States, conducted in the winter of 2006 - 2007. There are many college options for deaf and hard of hearing students and this guide represents postsecondary institutions with known programs serving deaf and hard of hearing students who chose to participate in the survey. While some institutions do not necessarily have a program specifically for deaf and hard of hearing students, all of the schools included in this book have provided support/accessibility services for deaf and hard of hearing students.

STSN's new president, Shannon Aylesworth, is Assistant Program Manager and Coordinator of Speech-to-Text Services for the Deaf/Hard of Hearing Program at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. She also has been a Speech-to-Text Service Specialist for PEPNet-Midwest, training service providers and creating awareness about services to other postsecondary institutions. She began working with the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee's Deaf/Hard of Hearing Program in 2000, and brings knowledge of both C-Print® and TypeWell® to STSN.

"As a new organization, we are working toward creating awareness of our services," Aylesworth says. "We face a challenge in having limited financial resources, but we are working diligently to broaden our membership base."

One of STSN's highest priorities is to develop professional standards applicable to all speech-to-text systems (i.e. C-Print®, CART, TypeWell®, Voice Recognition).

STSN's Continuing Education subgroup responds to the need for professional development opportunities with innovative technological approaches, such as a resource found at www.textcaptioning.com.

"This site offers providers an opportunity for professionals to develop their real-time skills and vocabulary with audio files from a variety of educational lectures," says Aylesworth. "As there are varying speed options, the site is a great resource for both the new and the not so new service providers."

The group also coordinates STSN's Professional Development Project and oversees the Professional Development Unit (PDU) system for members. This group works on increasing continuing education opportunities for speech-to-text service providers and looks for opportunities to offer national and regional workshops for administrators and providers. The group will soon offer digitized training materials that offer self-guided study options (eligible for PDUs) for STSN members.

The Membership Advisory Group oversees membership ($35 annually). STSN soon will offer online and credit card payments for yearly dues as well as offer a calendar of speech-to-text related events around the country.

The Professional Standards Advisory Group develops professional standards for speech-to-text service providers and is researching the process to establish state licensure and national certification. STSN's goal, according to Aylesworth, is to have a report available by June 2009.

"This group will work with the Continuing Education Advisory Group to inform members about ethical codes and guidelines," she says. "The goal of this collaborative effort is to provide the community with tools to support individual decisions (and corporate policies) to promote ethical behavior."

The Public Relations Advisory Group is working to increase awareness of speech-to-text services and promoting STSN as the profession's leading organization. The group has created materials for distribution at professional conferences and workshops and is developing a calendar of national conferences and events with information about advertising costs and deadlines. This group also is looking for ways to get articles about STSN in various publications and is compiling information about publication dates, deadlines, and costs to help the group decide where to focus its efforts in the next two years.

Aylesworth would like STSN to be recognized in the coming years as a leading professional organization in the speech-to-text community, one that promotes ethical behavior and quality services through professional development opportunities, certification, and professional standards.

To learn more about STSN and how to join the organization, visit stsn.org/Members.html.