Court reporter (stenographer) — 3 out of 5 stars

• What it is: Capturing the exact words of court proceedings, depositions, and hearings on a stenotype machine, and producing the official transcript. Voice writing — repeating testimony into a masked recorder for software to transcribe — is a second, recognized method.
• Certificate or training: A court reporting program (certificate or associate-level; many are online) plus state licensing where required, and the Registered Professional Reporter (RPR) exam from the national association. No bachelor's degree.
• Cost to get qualified: $5,000–$25,000 for a full program and a professional stenotype machine
• Time to job-ready: 2–4 years to reach the required 225-words-per-minute speed — this is a serious training runway
• Typical pay: $50,000–$100,000+ a year; experienced freelance deposition reporters often earn at the top of that range and beyond
• Why it works for a blind person: The machine is operated entirely by touch — chorded keys you never look at — and the output is text. Reporting is one of the classic high-skill, high-pay careers where blindness is close to irrelevant once the speed is built.

Job 13 of 100 · Phones, dispatch, and public service

Start here, step by step

1. Learn the words first: a stenotype writes syllables in chords, several keys at once, which is how a human reaches 225 words per minute. A deposition is sworn testimony taken outside court. The transcript is the product you sell, page by page.
2. Choose your method honestly: machine stenography is the established, best-paid route; voice writing reaches working speed faster but is accepted in fewer jurisdictions. Check your state's rules before spending a dollar.
3. Pick an accredited program — several respected ones are fully online — and confirm their platform and dictation materials work with your screen reader. This is a multi-year commitment; the school's accessibility matters daily.
4. Build speed in daily practice: reporters describe it like learning an instrument, and quitting in the slow middle is the normal failure point. Expect plateaus; the profession is full of people who pushed through them.
5. Pass your state certification and the RPR exam, then choose your arena: official court positions (salary, benefits, set hours) or freelance deposition work (higher ceiling, you run a small business).
6. Add realtime skills — feeding your words live to screens — to reach the premium tier of the profession.

How AI can help

Use AI to clean up transcript formatting, check names and citations, and manage the business side if you freelance. AI transcription cannot be sworn as the official record — a certified human reporter is legally the guarantee, and that legal moat protects your income.

Rating: 3 out of 5 stars

Possibly the highest pay in this entire section, with a touch-based machine and legal protection against automation — rated three because the honest price is two to four years of hard daily practice and the most expensive training here. A marathon, not a sprint.

Pros and cons — the honest version

Pros

• Top-tier pay without a degree
• The machine is pure touch; the product is pure text
• The official record legally requires a certified human

Cons

• Two to four years of training before full income
• Highest training and equipment cost in this section
• Speed plateaus break many students — persistence is the real tuition