Intellitext was founded in 2011 to serve D/deaf and hard-of-hearing communities by providing real-time communication access in classrooms, businesses, and anywhere conversations take place. Randi Castro, the agency’s founder, worked as a TypeWell transcriber in college. After she graduated, Randi was inspired to launch Intellitext because she experienced the impact of live transcription services first-hand.

Intellitext has worked with thousands of students, professionals, and everyday people to produce a more open and accessible world. In a short time, Intellitext has grown from a one-woman team into a thriving small business.

The surprising path to founding a TypeWell agency

In 2008, Intellitext’s founder Randi Castro was a college student working as a TypeWell transcriber for the University of Nevada, Reno. She didn’t anticipate focusing her career on communication access; however, after three years transcribing, Randi’s supervisor suggested she start an agency to help address major needs around accessibility services for students.

Even though Randi considered pursuing a career in the corporate world, she ultimately chose to take a risk and pursue what she loved. In her own words, Randi says, “I’m so glad that I went with my gut. I feel really satisfied with my career, especially because we’re making an impact on people’s lives.”

Intellitext’s team from left to right:
Stacey Munsterman, Randi Castro, Jess Hinsberg, and Christy Joy

Since starting Intellitext in 2011, Randi has expanded the agency to over 40 TypeWell transcribers and four administrators, resulting in accessibility services being met for scores of clients across the country.

“I believe in TypeWell so much that we’ve never added on additional service offerings. We find it beneficial to keep TypeWell our main focus to ensure we’re constantly providing an exceptional service,” Randi says. “TypeWell and its Director, Kate Ervin, do such a great job at ensuring that the software adapts with technology requirements and industry changes. TypeWell is what we’ve specialized in for over 12 years now.”

A powerful service with outstanding leadership

Even early on, Randi knew TypeWell was immensely valuable for students.

Randi explains, “As a TypeWell transcriber, past and current, I’ve seen the positive impact it’s had on people and I saw how much they rely on it, too.”

In addition to the results Randi witnessed among those receiving communication access services through Intellitext, she expressed appreciation for the leadership behind TypeWell.

Kate Ervin presenting at TECHWell, a conference co-hosted by Intellitext

Randi says of Kate Ervin, “…she has such an innovative mind. I really appreciate that if I come to her saying, ‘This is an issue for my business—do you have suggestions?,’ she often takes it to the development side and tries to build a solution for the entire community. For example, Kate and her team created Web Linking and later, Zoom Linking at critical points. As a result, TypeWell providers had no difficulty meeting their users’ needs during the COVID-19 pandemic. Having those solutions in place created a nearly-seamless transition during a critical time. TypeWell is a company that, for the last decade and beyond, has been wholly focused on producing positive outcomes for its users.”

The power of the TypeWell community also contributes to Intellitext’s success.

As Randi elucidated, “Kate has created and maintained a cohesive and adaptive community. This includes organizing conferences, creating listservs, and developing TypeWell specific e-learning courses—all with the goal of sharing information and transferring knowledge. All that to say, there’s such a strong community around us for whenever we’re having an issue or just need to think through something that’s TypeWell-related.”

The life-changing impact of communication access

Randi continues to witness the tremendous impact live transcription services can have for people who use them.

Randi says, “I’ve seen dozens of students use TypeWell for the first time ever—many of which had never received any accessibility services prior to that moment.”

She recalls one such student who was impacted by the effectiveness of TypeWell.

“This student fought her way through her K-12 education with no real communication access, and yet she still maintained the courage and dedication to go to college. I imagine myself in her position, feeling very intimidated. If you’ve become accustomed to not being able to hear what’s happening in a small K-12 classroom, how would that be in a lecture hall?”

Image credit: USDept_of_Education CC BY 2.0

Randi continues, “In college, this student discovered that she qualified for services and she cried when she experienced TypeWell for the first time. She said, ‘I feel like I’m going to be able to get through college now.’ TypeWell’s transcription services resolved a lot of fears for her and I wish that she had known that she was qualified to receive this service in middle school and high school, too. All students are entitled to and deserve equal access to the classroom.”

Intellitext students, as well as Randi’s colleagues, partners, and stakeholders, have appreciated their experience with TypeWell.

Randi says, “I’ve heard great feedback about TypeWell and experienced many moving moments seeing how it completely transforms people’s lives.”

TypeWell for young learners

For Randi, the growth of Intellitext in the K-12 environment has served as another powerful testament to the importance of live transcription services.

“When I first started in this business over a decade ago, I had never heard of a single student receiving TypeWell services in elementary school. I’m not sure if it’s because there’s now more advocacy and parent awareness about available services, but it’s encouraging to see more and more elementary schools providing the students with the access they need. All that’s required is a fourth grade reading level,” Randi says.

Randi described an experience with a K-12 student who has benefited immensely from having access to transcription services.

“We have a third grader with a fourth-grade reading level and her mom recently told us about how TypeWell has transformed her daughter’s life. They intend for her to learn ASL and to communicate that way in the future, but, until she is fluent in ASL, she needs an accessibility service. TypeWell’s live captioning is the perfect option for her. She was previously receiving a Xerox copy of a hearing student’s notes as her accommodation which is, of course, inadequate for multiple reasons.”

“Note-taking is a valuable but incomplete communication access tool, because it means the student is just sitting in the class while the teacher is lecturing and is therefore unable to understand throughout the majority of the class. They have to wait until after class to receive a copy of the notes. And can you really decipher somebody else’s notes? Not always. A note-taking student can only write at a certain speed, so the notes are often choppy and contain incomplete thoughts. Conversely, a qualified TypeWell transcriber listens to a spoken conversation, transcribes the entirety of the content in a meaningful way, and, in addition to all that, provides the complete transcript that the student can refer back to later,” Randi says.

Professional transcribers hone their skills at a hands-on workshop

For students, TypeWell is a gamechanger. The work that TypeWell transcribers do provides students of all ages with clearer and more complete access to the conversations that are unfolding in real-time in their learning environments.

As Randi testified, “It’s been gratifying to see those students learning to use TypeWell for the first time.”

The benefits of working as a transcriber

Randi is an advocate for those entering the TypeWell field as a career, especially for people with a passion for learning that are seeking flexible, high-impact work.

“I’ve found that the people who are most satisfied as transcribers are lifelong learners. One of the best things about the work is that you get to be an observer for all types of content. For example, I once transcribed a thermodynamics course which I thought was far from my personal interests at the time, but the class gave me new knowledge of, and appreciation for, the physical sciences. That’s one of my favorite parts of the job—as TypeWell transcribers are working in the classroom, they are essentially being paid to learn about unique and diverse topics.” Randi says.

The effect of this learning can be especially important for some transcribers, even altering their career trajectory.

To make STEM classes more accessible, TypeWell developed a math & science dictionary

Randi mentions, “One of our transcribers was transcribing for a student in a culinary school and the transcriber ended up enrolling in culinary school part-time after discovering, through transcribing, that she had a passion for it. That was really cool to see.”

Educators make excellent transcribers

According to Randi, educators make great transcribers, especially those experiencing burnout.

“Transcribing is a natural fit for people who were previously teachers and have fallen out of love with the job but still have a passion for the school environment. They like learning and they’re used to having summers off, which aligns really well with the field”, Randi says.

Many parents also appreciate the flexibility a job transcribing affords.

Randi says, “For most agencies, mine included, the bulk of the requests we get are between 9:00 AM and 3:00 PM. Parents can drop off their kids, come home to transcribe, then have time to go pick up their kids. In a post-COVID world, having that flexibility to dedicate time to family has become really important and is something we want to support.”

Since 2011, Intellitext has been providing live captioning for all elements of professional and educational life. Intellitext offers TypeWell services in classrooms, businesses, and anywhere conversations take place. Intellitext customizes services to fit diverse client needs and focuses on producing the best communication outcome. Learn more here.

TypeWell develops software used by professional transcribers to provide communication access. Using advanced speech-to-text transcription software, transcribers provide real-time access to communication for people with hearing, visual, physical, or learning difficulties. Find out more here.