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Asteno machine,stenotype machine,shorthand machine,stenograph orsteno writer is a specializedchorded keyboard ortypewriter used bystenographers forshorthand use. In order to pass the United StatesRegistered Professional Reporter test, a trainedcourt reporter orclosed captioner must write speeds of approximately 180, 200, and 225words per minute (wpm) at very high accuracy in the categories of literary, jury charge, and testimony, respectively.^[1] Some stenographers can reach up to 375 words per minute, according to the website of the California Official Court Reporters Association (COCRA).^[2]

The stenotype keyboard has far fewer keys than a conventionalalphanumeric keyboard. Multiple keys are pressed simultaneously (known as "chording" or "stroking") to spell out wholesyllables, words, and phrases with a single hand motion. This system makesrealtime transcription practical forcourt reporting and liveclosed captioning. Because the keyboard does not contain all the letters of the English alphabet, letter combinations are substituted for the missing letters. There are several schools of thought on how to record various sounds, such as the StenEd, Phoenix, and Magnum Steno theories.

The first shorthand machine (the word "stenotype" was not used for another 80 years or more) punched a paper strip and was built in 1830 byKarl Drais, a German inventor.^[3] The first machine was made in 1863 by the ItalianAntonio Michela Zucco and was in actual use from 1880 in the Italian Senate. In New York City on December 24, 1875,John Celivergos Zachos invented a stenotype and filed patent number 175892 for type writers and phenotypic notation application.^[4] In 1879,Miles M. Bartholomew invented the shorthand machine. A French version was created byMarc Grandjean in 1909. The direct ancestor of today's stenotype was created byWard Stone Ireland in about 1913,^[5] and the word "stenotype" was applied to his machine and its descendants sometime thereafter.

Most modern stenotype keyboards have more in common with computers than they do with typewriters orQWERTY computer keyboards. Most contain microprocessors, and many allow sensitivity adjustments for each individual key. They translate stenotype to the target language internally using user-specific dictionaries, and most have small display screens. They typically store a full day's work in non-volatile memory of some type, such as anSD card. These factors influence the price, along witheconomies of scale, as only a few thousand stenotype keyboards are sold each year. As of October 2013^[update], student models, such as a Wave writer, sold for about US$1,500 and top-end models sold for approximately US$5,000. Machines that were 10 to 15 years old still resold for upward of $350.

The Open Steno Project^[6][7] has written free open-source software, includingPlover, and has developed cheapopen-source hardware for stenography. Plover software translates keypresses to Stenotype on any modern keyboard, with a preference given toortholinear keyboards that haveNKRO functionality.^[8]

Stenograph is by far the largest manufacturer of American stenotype keyboards with an estimated market share in excess of 90%. Their top models are the Luminex professional writer and the Wave student writer. The Stentura paper-based writers and the paperless Élan writers preceded the current models. There were two other large manufacturers in the 1980s (Xscribe, with the StenoRAM line and BaronData with the Transcriptor line).^[9] Stenograph purchased both companies and discontinued their products. The current manufacturers in the US include:

• Advantage Software^[10] (Passport and Passport Touch)
• Neutrino Group^[11] (Gemini, Revolution, & Infinity writers)
• ProCAT^[12] (Stenopaq, Flash, Stylus, Impression, and Xpression)
• Stenograph^[13] (Stentura, élan Mira, Fusion, élan Cybra, Wave, Diamante and Luminex)
• Stenovations (LightSpeed)^[14]
• Word Technologies (Tréal)^[15]

Many steno enthusiasts are making and selling keyboards designed for use with Plover,^[7] the open source steno software. Most of these keyboards range from about $100 to $200 and allow the user to use stenography on their computer through Plover. Vendors include:

• g Heavy Industries^[16] (Georgi)
• Nolltronics^[17] (EcoSteno)
• SOFT/HRUF^[18] (Splitography)
• StenoKeyboards^[19] (The Uni)
• Stenomod^[20] (TinyMod)
• Stenography Store^[21] (Starboard)

Stenotype keys normally are made of a hard, high-luster acrylic material with no markings. The accompanying image shows thekeyboard layout of the American stenotype machine.

In "home position", the fingers of the left hand rest along the gap between the two main rows of keys to the left of the asterisk (little finger on the "S" to forefinger on the "H" and "R"). These fingers are used to generate initial consonants. The fingers of the right hand lie in the corresponding position to the right of the asterisk (forefinger on "FR" to little finger on "TS"), and are used for final consonants. The thumbs produce the vowels.

The system is roughly phonetic; for example the wordcat would be written by a single stroke expressing the initialK, the vowelA, and the finalT.

To enter a number, a user presses the number bar at the top of the keyboard at the same time as the other keys, much like the Shift key on a QWERTY-based keyboard. The illustration shows which lettered keys correspond to which digits. Numbers can be chorded, just as letters can. They read from left to right across the keyboard. It is possible to write 137 in one stroke by pressing the number bar along withSP P, but it takes three separate strokes to write 731. Many court reporters and stenocaptioners write out numbers phonetically instead of using the number bar.

There are various rule sets, known astheories, to combine letters to make different sounds; different court reporters use different theories in their work.^[22] Historically, reporters often created "briefs" (abbreviations) on-the-fly, and sometimes mixed theories, which could make it difficult for one reporter to read another reporter's notes, but current versions of theories are primarily designed for computerized translation using a standardized dictionary provided by the company that promulgates the theory, which forces reporters to stick with one theory and use only the specific combinations in that company's dictionary. However, it is not uncommon for students and reporters to add a significant number of entries to a stock dictionary, usually when creating briefs of their own.

Some court reporters usescopists to translate and edit their work. A scopist is a person who is trained in the phonetic writing system, English punctuation, and usually in legal formatting. They are especially helpful when court reporters are working so much that they do not have time to edit their own work. Both scopists and proofreaders work closely with court reporters to ensure an accurate transcript. The widespread use of realtime translation of the strokes has increased the demand for scopists to work simultaneously with the court reporter. With transcripts produced on computer-aided transcription (CAT) software, a scopist no longer needs to have any knowledge of shorthand theories, because the software converts shorthand to text in real time via a dictionary. However, it may still be helpful in some situations while scoping, as misstroked words may not translate and would appear in steno. Depending on availability of scopists and proofreaders, court reporters may use a scopist only to clean up a rough draft of their transcript, then proofread and certify the transcript themselves, or they may use neither and produce a final transcript by themselves, though this is a very time-consuming practice.

Steno paper has become almost obsolete with the advancement in paperless stenotype machines. When it is used, steno paper comes out of a stenotype machine at the rate of one row per chord, with the pressed letters printed out in 22 columns corresponding to the 22 keys, in the following order:

STKPWHRAO*EUFRPBLGTSDZ

This is a basic chart of the letters of this machine. There are, however, different writing theories that represent some letters or sounds differently (e.g., the*F for finalv in the chart below), and each court reporter develops personalized "briefs" and codes.

The following example shows how steno paper coming out of the machine represents an English sentence. Notice that key combinations can have different meanings depending on context. In the first stroke of the wordexample, thePL combination refers tom. In the second stroke of the word, that same key combination refers to the two letterspl.

Many words have been abbreviated:this,of andfrom are chorded asth,f andfr, andmachine andshorthand becomemn andshand respectively.

There is one NCRA-approved school in all of Canada that teaches stenotype: the captioning and court reporting program at NAIT (Northern Alberta Institute of Technology).^[23] This program uses theSTKPWHRAO*EUFRPBLGTSDZ keyboard layout. Graduates are trained to becourt reporters,broadcast captioners, orCART providers^[24] and report a median income of $70,000 CAD between 2017 and 2020.^[25]

In addition to the above American Stenotype layout ofSTKPWHRAO*EUFRPBLGTSDZ used internationally (Ward Stone Ireland 1913), there is also a Possum Palantype system still being used in the UK.^[26]

Two Stenotype layouts are in use for theItalian language: Michela and Melani. The former is in use by the Italian senate.^[26]

The main stenotype systems in Korea are CAS and Sorizava.^[26]

• The Portuguese language has two stenotype systems. The Brazilian system uses the same layout as the American English one.^[26]
• The Japanese language uses a StenoWord system with ten remapped keys or a more conventional Sokutaipu system.^[27]
• As with the Korean language, Chinese stenotype layouts depend on the manufacturer, four of which are most commonly encountered in the market. A combination of chording and abbreviation is used.^[28]

• Chorded keyboard
• Captioned telephone
• Closed captioning
• Court reporting
• Remote CART
• Shorthand
• Velotype

Wikimedia Commons has media related toStenographs (typewriters).

• The Open Steno Project Open source hardware, software, and guides.

• Computer keyboard types
• Typewriters
• Court reporting
• Transcription (linguistics)

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