Google-owned YouTube has added more translation tools to help video creators reach a larger audience.
The platform has more than a billion users, and videos are available in 76 languages.
The company says on average, over 60% of a channel's views come from outside its creator's home country. This means these users may not be watching the content in their mother tongue and could cause the content to get 'lost in translation'.
The company first introduced community-contributed subtitles and other tools in 2015.
Since introduction, there have been more than 900 000 contributors. The platform does not financially compensate the translators.
As of this week, there is now a page called Community Contributions that allows creators to translate their videos' titles and descriptions in addition to their captions.
Alex Dainis, a science vlogger who is featured in the video below, says: "I turned on the Community Contributions tool after a subscriber asked me to so that he could translate my videos and share them with his friends.
"Knowing that my community valued my content enough to want to share it, and to go the extra mile to do so, really meant a lot to me."
Dainis' videos have since been translated to Mandarin, French and Hebrew, among others.
One of the contributors, Tee Ponsukcharoen, is a Stanford student who spends an average of 10 hours a week translating content on the video platform, says product manager Aviad Rozenhek in a blog post.
Ponsukcharoen has written translations for over 2 500 videos.
"Translating content to me now is like washing my face, brushing my teeth, or working out. It's a part of my daily routine that I do without thinking much," Ponsukcharoen told YouTube.
"There are three components that drive my motivation to translate videos: autonomy, mastery and purpose. Translating content on YouTube serves all three.
"I can choose videos that I am interested to translate. I sharpen my English, Thai, and the subject of the video every time that I translate. Finally, I know that my translation will be beneficial to other people. Some Thai students who don't know English well can use my subtitles to learn better. Our work can be used as language educational examples."
Creators need to activate Community Contributions to allow contributors to translate their videos. Then watchers will see an option to add subtitles to the video.
The upcoming Creator Academy Boot Camp covers the translation tools and how to best use them.
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