Most Western Desert people live in communities on or close to their traditional lands, although some now live in one of the towns fringing the desert area such as Kalgoorlie, Laverton, Alice Springs, Port Augusta, Meekatharra, Halls Creek and Fitzroy Crossing.

The language is still being transmitted to children and has substantial amounts of literature, particularly in the Pitjantjatjara and Yankunytjatjara dialects in South Australia where there was formerly a long-running bilingual program.

[citation needed] The Western Desert Language has the common (for Australia) three-vowel system with a length distinction creating a total of six possible vowels.

[citation needed] While the dialects of the WDL have very similar phonologies there are several different orthographies in use, resulting from the preferences of the different early researchers as well as the fact that the WDL region extends into three states (Western Australia, South Australia and the Northern Territory), with each having its own history of language research and educational policy.

Among the Western Desert peoples, sign language has been reported specifically for Kardutjara and Yurira Watjalku,[32] Ngaatjatjarra (Ngada),[33] and Manjiljarra.