YouTube has begun rolling out a "YouTube Ready" designation for professional caption vendors in the U.S. This comes with both a logo and support from the Described and Captioned Media Program (DCMP).

Those who have earned the "YouTube Ready" seal of approval have passed quality evaluation administered by the DCMP, have a site and YouTube channel, and have agreed to post rates for services offered for YouTube content, as to be of use to content providers looking for a caption provider.

"Captioning is becoming increasingly important to YouTube and videos all across the web," says YouTube caption evangelist Naomi Bilodeau. "Captions ensure that many more people can understand what’s happening in your video, from deaf and hard of hearing viewers to people who speak a different language from you and choose to auto-translate the captions into their language. Captions also make your video a lot more discoverable. People searching for content on YouTube might encounter your video if your captions contain the words or subjects they’re looking for." (Emphasis added)

"You may be able to manage creating captions for your videos on your own, but sometimes you have too many videos or your video has elements that need special care," adds Bilodeau.

The program is kicking off with 12 caption vendors, but YouTube hopes to have more in place in the future.