MLPP Publishes Practical Roadmap for Indigenous Language Digitization
New community-led booklet shares step-by-step guidance for bringing languages online with ethics and data sovereignty at the center.
HOUSTON, February 18, 2026 (Newswire.com) - MLPP's new "Practical Roadmap for Indigenous Language Digitization" offers a grounded, checklist-driven starting point for communities building digital language tools with limited resources.
The Mayan Languages Preservation Project (MLPP) today announced the publication of its new booklet, "Practical Roadmap for Indigenous Language Digitization: Shared Experience from the Mayan Languages Preservation Project," a step-by-step resource designed to help Indigenous communities bring languages into digital spaces while keeping community leadership, ethics, consent, and data sovereignty central to decision-making.
A practical companion for communities starting with limited resources
MLPP describes the Roadmap as a "boots-on-the-ground" companion for Indigenous language champions, teachers, interpreters, students, Elders, parents, and organizers who want to build digital language tools with limited budgets, limited institutional support, and commonly available technology.
The booklet shares what MLPP reports worked, what did not, and how communities can move forward while staying in control of language materials and consent.
"If your language feels almost invisible online, this Roadmap is meant to meet you where you are," said Winston K. Scott, PhD, Director of the Mayan Languages Preservation Project. "We wrote this roadmap with the communities and for the communities who want a clear starting point, practical steps, and real examples, while protecting community leadership and ownership of language data."
What the Roadmap includes
According to MLPP, the booklet provides a step-by-step pathway with short checklists, decision guides, and applied examples drawn from MLPP's work, including:
Guiding principles that put community leadership first, establish ethics up front, and define data sovereignty in practice
Team building and standards guidance, including shared orthography decisions and training for new contributors
"Talking glossaries" as an early, high-impact tool, with audio and visuals designed for speakers with varied literacy levels
Practical tool tracks, including digital keyboards (Android and Windows), interface localization, and translation management workflows
Text-to-speech partnership lessons, emphasizing written assurances, consent, and limitations on data use
A school adoption case study from Centro Tecnológico Bilingüe (CTB) in Tucurú, Guatemala, showing how classroom use can drive sustained tool adoption
MasterWord support and collaboration
MLPP also notes the sustained support and collaboration from MasterWord Services, including staff, volunteers, and interns working alongside MLPP language professionals to help develop a practical, real-world example of community-led digitization.
"We are deeply grateful for MasterWord's sustained support and the way their team worked alongside Mayan language professionals, in service of community leadership," Scott said. "The Roadmap reflects a collaboration where the community leads the priorities and the ethics."
UNESCO's International Decade of Indigenous Languages
MLPP developed the Roadmap as a participant in UNESCO's International Decade of Indigenous Languages, describing it as a practical contribution to broader efforts for multilingual digital inclusion. Learn more: https://www.unesco.org/en/decades/indigenous-languages/collaborators?hub=67103
Download the Roadmap
Download: https://mayanlanguagespreservation.org/roadmap-download/
About the Mayan Languages Preservation Project
The Mayan Languages Preservation Project (MLPP) is a community-led initiative created by and for Mayan language speakers in Guatemala and in the diaspora. Launched in May 2023, MLPP focuses on expanding safe, equitable digital spaces for Mayan languages through community-guided digitization of glossaries, tools, and educational resources. MLPP's work centers on the more than seven million people who speak one of the 22 Mayan languages in Guatemala.
Website: https://mayanlanguagepreservation.org
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mayanlanguages/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61564019233483
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/mayan-languages-preservation-project/
Contact Information
Ryan Foley
[email protected]
346-744-7158
SOURCE: MasterWord Services, Inc.
Source: MasterWord Services, Inc.
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Tags: community-led, data sovereignty, digital inclusion, Indigenous languages, language digitization, language tools, Mayan languages, MLPP, talking glossaries, UNESCO International Decade of Indigenous Languages
