Imagine you couldn't write this entry. Or even write anything at all.

That was the reality for the 60 million Fulani people spread across West Africa, not because they didn't have a language, but because they didn't have an alphabet or writing system.

Without an alphabet, illiteracy thrived. The importance of ADLaM to this community was to preserve their own history, culture and language in their native tongue.

For the Fulani, the alphabet wasn’t just a tool for expression, but an operating system for survival.

Microsoft’s mission is to empower every person and every organization around the world to achieve more. In this case, Microsoft’s mission was to ensure the Fulani people had access to digital ecosystems – to preserve their language and culture – but also to have a future in the digital economy.

Our challenge… help update an alphabet and increase adoption.

Alphabets typically take hundreds of years to evolve into their final form. After speaking with the brothers and the larger community, we understood that there were adoption issues with an earlier digital version of the alphabet because the alphabet was changing in the hands of the people. Major revisions were needed.

We formed a multifaceted partnership to revise the alphabet.

With the help of the Barry brothers, typeface experts and Fulani graphic culture specialists, we sped up that process using real-time community feedback to rapidly revise outdated letterforms to create a new and optimized version, one that would help to prepare future generations of the Fulani for a modern world.

A typeface inspired by their rich visual culture.

We worked with the Fulani community to ensure their alphabet would reflect their full visual culture. We researched hundreds of traditional textile patterns and designs, using Fulani graphic elements from textiles in the final typeface.

Our own products were our most meaningful media channel.

We launched on over 1 billion devices around the world. Microsoft offered permanent global access to an alphabet – not an ad campaign – a true transformative commitment for the Fulani people. The alphabet and typeface, ADLaM Display, is now embedded within Microsoft 365 applications like Outlook and Word reaching over 1 billion devices around the world.

An open source alphabet shared with Google to drive access beyond our channels.

Access for the Fulani community could not just be limited to Microsoft devices. Microsoft shared the ADLaM Display typeface with Google, who made it available on their Google Fonts platform.

Educational materials were developed to teach and preserve ADLaM.

As we opened up access, we concentrated on adoption. Working with the brothers, we created and distributed books to learn to read and write the alphabet in ADLaM schools to move from the chalkboard to the books and computers.