According to Stagetext and The Federation of Scottish Theatre, it is best practice to book a captioner who has undertaken Stagetext training and examination. If booking a theatre captioner directly, you can ask for evidence that they hold the Stagetext Certification in Theatre Captioning for Deaf People.

By doing so, you can be assured that formatting and output of the text will adhere to industry conventions and so align with what patrons are accustomed to seeing at captioned performances.

If your performance is semi-scripted, likely to feature extemporaneous speech or a post-show discussion, you may want to consider booking a Theatre Captioner who also provides live captioning services, (ie, a Speech to Text Reporter or Electronic Notetaker).

If you are deaf, hard-of-hearing, neurodiverse, or otherwise disabled, you will not usually

be required to pay for communication support or notetaking services.  Under the Equality Act 2010, it is the responsibility of the service provider and pay for any 'reasonable adjustments' you require.

Below are some of the different funding streams you can access to pay for Live Captioners, Electronic Notetakers and Lipspeakers in employment and education:

Access to Work                                         www.jobcentreplus.gov.uk 

Personal Independence Payment        www.direct.gov.uk

Disabled Student Allowance                  www.saas.gov.uk    

I am registered as a Level 3 Electronic Notetaker and Lipspeaker with the National Register for Communication Professionals Working with Deaf and Deafblind People (NRCPD) and also a Registered SRLPDC Lipspeaker (formerly SASLI).

Registrants must adhere to a strict Code of Conduct and Practice.  This means that they cannot take part in the meeting and anything that is said must remain confidential. 

In addition, I am required to undertake 24 hours of CPD every year through NRCPD and 30 hours of CPD with SRLPDC in order to maintain my registrations and professional competence. 

• The NRCPD Code of Practice for communication professionals can be downloaded here. 
• The NRCPD Complaints Procedure can be downloaded here. 

If you wish to book an Electronic Notetaker, Speech to Text Reporter or Lipspeaker directly or through an agency, it is your right to ask whether the individual is registered with NRCPD.  A Lipspeaker should be registered with NRCPD or SRLPDC.