`
`GUIDELINES
`Florida State Courts System
`
`Provision of Real-Time Court Reporting Services
`for Attorneys with Disabilities
`
`
`Real-time court reporting services will be provided at court expense in
`county and circuit court criminal trials for attorneys who are deaf or
`hard of hearing. The provision of real-time court reporting services in
`other county and circuit court criminal proceedings in which the court
`is already providing court reporting services to comply with
`constitutional requirements will be considered on a case-by-case basis.
`These services will be provided in accordance with the Florida State
`Courts System’s “Policy on Court Real-Time Transcription Services for
`Persons Who are Deaf or Hard of Hearing” (attached). 1, 2
`Request Procedures:
`Attorneys should submit requests for real-time court reporting services
`as follows:
`
`
`1. Requests should be made as far in advance as possible, but
`preferably at least five working days before the date of the
`courtroom proceeding.
`2. Requests may be presented either orally or in written format. All
`
`1 Providing accommodations for attorneys with disabilities who appear in the
`courtroom as part of their employment duties or professional practice is a
`responsibility that appropriately may be shared by the attorney’s employer and the
`courts. Title I of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) requires employers of 15
`or more employees and Title II of the ADA requires all state and local government
`employers to provide reasonable accommodations to qualified employees with a
`disability. In addition, Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, as amended,
`covers recipients of federal funding, and requires all covered organizations to provide
`accommodations for their employees. These responsibilities are concomitant with the
`courts’ responsibility under Title II of the ADA. It is to everyone’s benefit when
`employers and the court system work together to ensure that reasonable
`accommodations for attorneys with disabilities are provided in the most efficient and
`cost effective manner.
`
` 2
`
` In accordance with 28 C.F.R. ' 35.150, the provision of real-time transcription
`services or other appropriate auxiliary aids or services is limited to those that do not
`fundamentally alter the nature of the service, program, or activity, or result in undue
`financial or administrative burdens.
`
`
`Ultratec Exhibit 1010
`Ultratec v Sorenson IP Holdings Page 1 of 4
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`

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`requests will be reduced to writing by the ADA coordinator.
`Requests must include a description of the hearing disability that
`necessitates provision of real-time court reporting services.3
`3. Requests should be forwarded to the local court ADA coordinator
`(contact information for ADA coordinators is available on the
`Florida Courts website, www.flcourts.org). If the request is
`originally presented to a judge or judge’s office, the judge shall
`confer with the court ADA coordinator.
`4. The judge, court ADA coordinator, or other court representative,
`as appropriate to the circumstances, may engage in an
`interactive process with the attorney to discuss whether
`provision of real-time court reporting services is appropriate.
`5. After analysis, the judge, court ADA coordinator, or other court
`representative, as appropriate to the circumstances, will inform
`the attorney whether the request will be granted.
`6. Attorneys may utilize the court’s grievance procedure when
`requests for real-time court reporting services are denied.
`
`Prepared by the Office of the State Courts Administrator
`October 30, 2007
`
`
`
`
`
`
`3 In order to fully and fairly evaluate a request, it may be necessary for the court to
`require the attorney to provide documentation about his or her disability, including a
`statement from a qualified health care provider that identifies the attorney’s
`functional limitations and describes how the requested real-time court reporting
`services address those limitations.
`
`Ultratec Exhibit 1010
`Ultratec v Sorenson IP Holdings Page 2 of 4
`
`

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`Florida State Courts System
`
`Policy on Court Real-Time Transcription Services
`for Persons Who Are Deaf or Hard of Hearing
`
`
`It is the policy of the Florida State Courts System that all judges and
`court staff will abide by the following guidelines in those court
`proceedings where real-time transcription services are utilized as a
`reasonable and necessary method of ensuring effective participation
`by a party, witness, attorney, judge, court employee, juror, or other
`participant who is deaf or hard of hearing and entitled to auxiliary aids
`or services pursuant to Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act of
`1990:
`
`
`Real-time transcription services should be performed by a
`1.
`court reporter who is specially trained in this skill.
`
`The device selected should display text in a manner that
`2.
`accomplishes full access to the service and should be a non-glare,
`display-type computer monitor; a large-screen image from a data
`projection panel and overhead projector; or other device that ensures
`effective communication. It is recommended that the monitor be 15
`inches or larger. The size of the monitor should take into account the
`number of persons viewing it. The display of the text should be dark
`letters on a light background, double spaced, with mixed case as
`appropriate for the context of the proceedings. The display font or
`type size should be a minimum of 18 points. The real-time
`transcription service should display not less than four (4) and no more
`than 17 lines of text at any one time. The display view should be
`limited to text that relates to the real-time transcription service; no
`system information should be visible to the user.
`
`Text displayed on the monitor should appear within three
`3.
`(3) seconds from the time of steno-type input. This time frame
`requirement includes time for any and all related spell checks including
`phonetic translation for untranslates.
`
`At the commencement of the proceeding, the court should
`4.
`determine whether effective communication is occurring. The court
`should instruct the person receiving the service and other participants
`in the proceeding to alert the court should a translation or other
`problem occur that impedes the person receiving the service from
`effectively participating in that person's appropriate role in the
`proceeding. Furthermore, if the court reporter becomes aware that an
`
`Ultratec Exhibit 1010
`Ultratec v Sorenson IP Holdings Page 3 of 4
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`

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`unacceptable number of untranslates or other problem is occurring
`with the real-time transcription service, the court reporter should
`immediately alert the court. Should the real-time transcription service
`become ineffective, the court should determine the cause of the
`problem and implement any corrective action the court deems
`reasonable or necessary.
`
`The reporter, prior to the beginning of the proceeding,
`5.
`should review the case file and build a good client/job dictionary. This
`same job dictionary should be used at each subsequent proceeding in
`a particular case. The job dictionary should be updated during the
`course of the proceeding to include untranslates that may be corrected
`by any of the parties during the proceedings. Such updates should be
`operable throughout the remainder of the proceeding's real-time
`transcription service and carried over to any future proceedings.
`
`The real-time transcription service and corrections that
`6.
`were displayed on the screen or monitor during the proceeding must
`be preserved in a manner to reflect what was actually displayed. Any
`corrections that were not viewed but that later become a part of the
`official court record must be maintained separately from the record of
`displayed text. At the conclusion of any proceeding (other than juror
`deliberations) in which real-time transcription service has been
`provided to ensure effective communication for a person who is deaf
`or hard of hearing, the reporter shall preserve the record of the real-
`time transcription service in accordance with rule 2.075(e), Florida
`Rules of Judicial Administration, unless otherwise directed by the
`court.
`
`If real-time transcription services are required for a juror
`7.
`who is deaf or hard of hearing, a court reporter shall be present in the
`jury room during jury deliberations. The role of the reporter, when in
`the jury room, is not as a reporter of the official record; therefore the
`real-time transcription service of jury deliberations must be deleted
`immediately upon the conclusion of jury deliberation. The reporter
`shall not counsel, advise, attempt to explain terms, or interject
`personal opinion. Furthermore, the reporter shall not read back the
`real-time transcription service from the proceeding or jury
`deliberations without express judicial approval or authorization.
`
`Ultratec Exhibit 1010
`Ultratec v Sorenson IP Holdings Page 4 of 4
`
`