Certification Program
Established in 1995, AAERT’s ongoing certification program for digital (electronic) reporters and transcriptionists is a test of our members’ professional skills.
CER®
(certified electronic reporter)
CET®
(certified electronic transcriber)
CDR®
(certified deposition reporter)
Register for an exam
Exams are done remotely and registration is always open.
Become a Leader in the Industry
The AAERT certifications are recognized as the leading certification for many courts and businesses throughout the United States. These certifications are growing in popularity in Canada and throughout the world due to the many years of professional development of our Best Practices Guide and proficient testing.
Receiving and holding an AAERT certification designation demonstrates a continuous dedication and knowledge of the digital court reporting and transcription profession. Completing the AAERT certification process represents proof of your professionalism and an understanding of your trade.
Anyone holding a CER® or CET® or CDR® is required to be recertified every (3) THREE years. See Recertification Tab for full information.
Breakdown of the Certification Exams
Electronic Court Reporter Certification
The Certified Electronic Reporter captures the record by digitally recording court and non-court proceedings, including trials, hearings, depositions, EUOs, statements on the record, aids of execution, meetings, arbitrations, etc.
To obtain your CER® certification, you are required to pass an online multiple choice knowledge examination. The knowledge examination includes questions covering:
- court and non-court proceedings,
- reporting protocols and digital reporting software and equipment,
- general legal procedures,
- ethical and professional behavior, and
- vocabulary
You will need a score of 80 percent or higher to pass. You will have 120 minutes to complete the exam.
Once you’ve passed the certification examination, you are awarded the CER® certificate.
Electronic Transcriber Certification
The Certified Electronic Transcriber captures the record by transcribing digitally recorded court and non-court proceedings verbatim.
To obtain your CET® certification, you are required to pass an online multiple-choice knowledge examination and produce a transcript from a digitally recorded proceeding (practical examination). These two test portions take place on different days; you must pass the knowledge portion of the exam prior to sitting for the practical portion.
The knowledge examination includes questions covering:
- transcript formatting and proofreading,
- transcription software and equipment,
- general legal procedures,
- ethical and professional behavior, and
- vocabulary
You will need a score of 80 percent or higher to pass. You will have 120 minutes to complete this portion of the exam.
Once you have received a passing grade, you will be instructed on how to schedule a time to take the second portion of the exam, the practical examination. If you did not receive a passing grade, you will need to retake the knowledge portion of the exam again prior to moving on to the practical exam.
The practical examination entails creating a transcript using the federal format. You will be given a mock court proceeding recorded on four-channel digital software. You are required to complete all of the audio files supplied to you at the time of your exam. The transcript will be approximately 10-20 pages and must include a title page, index page, and certification page. You will have 150 minutes to complete the transcript.
In order to pass, you will need to demonstrate 98 percent accuracy. If you do not receive a passing grade, you will only need to retake and pass this portion of the exam in order to receive your certification.
Once you’ve passed both portions of the certification examination, you are awarded the CET® certificate.
Electronic Deposition Reporter Certification
The Certified Deposition Reporter captures the record by digitally recording depositions and other out-of-court legal proceedings, including EUOs, statements on the record, and aids of execution. The knowledge examination includes questions covering:
- depositions and other non-court proceedings,
- reporting protocols and digital reporting software and equipment,
- general legal procedures,
- ethical and professional behavior, and
- vocabulary
You will need a score of 70 percent or higher to pass. You will have 120 minutes to complete the exam.
FAQs and Tips
Am I eligible to take the exam?
- Testers do not need to be a member of AAERT in order to sit for an AAERT exam. If they pass the exam(s), they must become a Professional Member within 30 days in order to receive their certification.
- In order to sit for the exam(s), testers must:
- be eligible for a notary public commission AND
- have obtained a high school diploma or its equivalent
- For a greater likelihood of passing the exam, the following is recommended (not required) for testers:
- have one year of experience as a reporter or transcriber; OR
- have completed a course of study in court reporting.
- have completed a course of study in court reporting.
What is an Online Proctored Exam?
- The exam is conducted via live online proctoring and requires the candidate to connect via their computer from a location of their choice.
- You must have a Government Issued Photo ID with your name EXACTLY as the name that you used to register for the exam.
- Equipment and Materials:
- Computer – Windows 10 or newer
- Internet Connection – 8mbps or faster
- Webcam
- Wired Headphones
- Browser (NOTE: Google Chrome is required for the CET Practical Exam)
- USB Foot Pedal (CET Practical Exam ONLY)
- Microsoft Word (CET Practical Exam ONLY)
- Candidates have a set amount of time to complete the closed book/closed note exam.
- It is recommended to allow additional time before the scheduled exam start time to support set-up for the virtual exam.
- Candidates will receive “Pass” or “Fail” notification of their exam performance immediately following completion of the exam. Your official score report details will be sent about four weeks after the close of the exam window.
- During a proctored exam, you are responsible to be familiar with how to take and submit your exam.
- The proctor is there only to confirm your identity and ensure a secure testing environment.
- The proctor will not be able to answer exam-specific questions.
- Restrictions:
- You may use only one computer monitor.
- You may not use a VPN (virtual private network).
- All programs not required for your exam must be closed.
- Any Bluetooth devices must be disconnected from your computer.
- Mobile hotspots or tethering are not permitted for internet connection.
- Cell phones and smart watches must be placed in another room.
- You must stay in your seat throughout the exam.
- You must not talk or read aloud.
What are the fees for the examination?
Information on Fees and Deadlines can be found on our Fees and Deadlines page.
What resources are available to prepare for the examinations?
How do I schedule an examination?
- AAERT’s online certification process is made possible by three separate entities:
- AAERT – Provides testing material, manages registration, and grades exams.
- Realtime Coach™ – Provides the platform for exam delivery, submission, and grading.
- ProctorU™ – Provides proctoring services for test takers.
- You must register for your exam with AAERT before proceeding with any part of the exam process.
- After registration and enrollment, you will need to schedule your proctored sessions. You will be able to select from a list of available time slots within the exam period.
- Within THREE (3) BUSINESS DAYS after you have registered with AAERT, you will receive an email from Realtime Coach with login instructions and instructions for scheduling your exam through ProctorU.
- Note that there is a 72-hour lead time for scheduling a session with a proctor.
- For example, if it’s currently 1pm on the 15th of the month, the soonest slot you can reserve is 1pm on the 18th, provided that date is still within the exam period. It is strongly encouraged that you schedule your sessions early in the period to allow time to reschedule, if needed.
- The certification exam experience will follow this general sequence:
- Registration with AAERT
- Enrollment in Realtime Coach™
- Taking a practice exam – This allows you to experience the exam process so you can become familiar with how to navigate and submit the exam, along with any attached files, if applicable. This is unproctored and should be repeated until you’ve mastered the exam process.
- Scheduling a proctored practice exam – This provides the full, proctored exam experience but with a practice exam. It helps you become familiar with scheduling an exam session, connecting to a proctor, and completing the verification process at exam time. It also allows you to ensure that your computer, microphone, webcam, and software all work correctly.
- Taking a proctored practice exam
- Scheduling the real exam
- Taking the real exam – This is a proctored experience, just like the proctored practice, but you will take and submit your real exam. If you have completed the first two milestones, you should be confident in your equipment and with the exam process.
- Grading and release of official results
- Scheduling A Session – To schedule a proctored exam session in ProctorU:
- Log into your account at www.myrealtimecoach.com.
- From the Test menu, choose AAERT Certification Test Center.
- Check the box in Step 2, then click [Schedule my Test].
- From the ProctorU home page, click the “Schedule New Session” icon.
- In the “Confirm your institution” dropdown, select the AAERT option.
- In the “Select a term” dropdown, choose the appropriate exam type.
- In the “Select your exam” dropdown, choose the appropriate exam.
- Click [Find Sessions].
- Select a desired* date/time on the calendar, and click [Submit].
- From the available slots, click [SELECT] for the preferred time.
- Click [SCHEDULE] to confirm your reservation.
- Cancelling A Session – If you need to cancel a proctored session, it should be done at least 24 hours in advance. You can cancel a session by doing the following:
- Log into your account at www.myrealtimecoach.com.
- From the Test menu, choose AAERT Certification Test Center.
- Check the box in Step 2, then click [Schedule my Test].
- From the ProctorU home page, click [Cancel] for the session to be cancelled.
- Follow the prompts to complete cancellation.
What is involved in taking a WRITTEN exam?
- Written knowledge exams are multiple-choice and may include images and audio to provide context for a question.
- To take and submit a written knowledge exam:
- Log into your account at www.myrealtimecoach.com.
- From the Test menu, choose AAERT Certification Test Center.
- If taking a proctored exam: Check the box then click the button to connect to a proctor.
- You’ll be taken to your ProctorU account with a prompt to connect to your scheduled session.
- Once you’ve connected with your proctor and completed the identification and verification process, you’ll return to the AAERT Certification Test Center page to continue below.
- Click the appropriate icon (NOTE – When launching the REAL exam, a prompt will appear for the proctor to enter the exam password) to launch the exam.
- When the exam loads, and you’re ready to begin, click [Start Exam].
- Answer each question, navigating with [Next] and [Back] buttons.
- Use the Menu button on the right to jump to specific questions.
- When all questions have been answered, navigate to the last question, then click [Next].
- Click [Submit Exam]. You may then close the exam window.
- NOTE: You will have a set amount of time to complete your real exam. Remaining time is displayed in the upper-left corner of the exam window.
What is involved in taking a PRACTICAL exam?
- For the practical exam, you will be presented with a 4-channel audio file played with TheRecordXchange player (no download necessary).
- Volume can be adjusted for each channel, as desired. Media playback can be controlled via USB foot pedal (Google Chrome required).
- From the recording, you will produce a transcript in Federal Format.
- To take a PRACTICAL exam:
- Plug in your USB foot pedal and headphones.
- Launch your word processor.
- Log into your account at www.myrealtimecoach.com.
- From the Test menu, choose AAERT Certification Test Center.
- NOTE: If taking a proctored exam: Check the box then click the button to connect to a proctor. You’ll be taken to your ProctorU account with a prompt to connect to your scheduled session. Once you’ve connected with your proctor and completed the identification and verification process, you’ll return to the AAERT Certification Test Center page to continue below.
- Click the appropriate icon (When launching the REAL exam, a prompt will appear for the proctor to enter the exam password) to launch the exam.
- Click the Menu button in the upper left, and choose Connect Foot Pedal.
- Select the detected foot pedal, and click [Open] to continue.
- Click the Menu button again, and choose Foot Pedal Options.
- Select your desired foot pedal options, and click [Save].
- Use your foot pedal to control playback as you write in your word processor.
- When finished, save your transcript file.
- From the exam, click [Attach Transcript]. Browse to and select the file. Click [Open].
- Select and Copy the text of your final transcript, and paste it into the My Transcript box.
- Click [Submit Exam]. After reviewing the confirmation (For practice exams, the confirmation screen will summarize the steps you completed successfully) message, close the exam.
- If taking a proctored exam: Notify your proctor that you have completed the exam, and follow the proctor’s instructions to complete post-exam actions.
- NOTE: You will have a set amount of time to complete your real exam. Remaining time is displayed in within the [Attach Transcript] button in the lower-right corner of the exam window.
Tips for Success?
- Read and follow all of the provided instructions.
- Do unproctored practice tests repeatedly until you’re confident in the process.
- Do the proctored practice! You don’t want to discover equipment issues on exam day!
- Be sure your computer, software, and drivers are up-to-date.
- Give yourself plenty of time before and after your exam session so you are not rushed.