AAERT is the American Association of Electronic Reporters and Transcribers, the national body that certifies professionals who capture and transcribe electronically recorded legal proceedings. Its credentials, including Certified Electronic Reporter (CER), Certified Electronic Transcriber (CET), and Certified Digital Reporter (CDR), are earned by examination and signal court-grade competence. Access Transcripts staff hold these certifications.
What the credentials cover
AAERT examinations test the substance of the work: legal terminology and procedure, transcript formatting standards, the technology of courtroom recording, and professional ethics including confidentiality and neutrality. The CER credential focuses on capturing the record, the CET on producing transcripts from recordings, and the CDR on digital reporting practice. Together they map the full path from spoken word to certified page.
Certification is not a one-time trophy. Credential holders maintain their standing through the association's continuing requirements, which keeps practices current as courts update rules and technology.
Why it should matter to a client
Anyone with a laptop can sell transcription. Courts and careful clients ask for more, because a transcript's failures surface at the worst time: a rejected filing, an impeachment that misfires, a record challenged on appeal. Certification is the profession's way of showing the work meets court standards before you stake a case on it. It is also central to how federal courts vet applicants for their approved transcriber lists, where we hold status in more than 30 bankruptcy courts.