Character keys

The core section of a keyboard consists of character keys, which can be used to type letters and other characters. Typically, there are three rows of keys for typing letters and punctuation, an upper row for typing digits and special symbols, and the Space bar on the bottom row. The positioning of the character keys is similar to the keyboard of a typewriter.

Modifier keys

Besides the character keys, a keyboard incorporates special keys that do nothing by themselves but modify the functions of other keys. For example, the ⇧ Shift key can be used to alter the output of character keys, whereas the Ctrl (control), Alt (alternate) and AltGr (alternative graphic) keys trigger special operations when used in concert with other keys. (Apple keyboards have differently labelled but equivalent keys, see below).

Typically, a modifier key is held down while another key is struck. To facilitate this, modifier keys usually come in pairs, one functionally identical key for each hand, so holding a modifier key with one hand leaves the other hand free to strike another key.

An alphanumeric key labelled with only a single letter (usually the capital form) can generally be struck to type either a lower case or capital letter, the latter requiring the simultaneous holding of the ⇧ Shift key. The ⇧ Shift key is also used to type the upper of two symbols engraved on a given key, the lower being typed without using the modifier key.

The Latin alphabet keyboard has a dedicated key for each of the letters A–Z, keys for punctuation and other symbols, usually a row of function keys, often a numeric keypad and some system control keys. In most languages except English, additional letters (some with diacritics) are required and some are present as standard on each national keyboard, as appropriate for its national language. These keyboards have another modified key, labelled AltGr (alternative graphic), to the right of the space bar. (US keyboards just have a second Alt key in this position). It can be used to type an extra symbol in addition to the two otherwise available with an alphanumeric key, and using it simultaneously with the ⇧ Shift key usually gives access to a fourth symbol. These third-level and fourth-level symbols may be engraved on the right half of the key top, or they may be unmarked. Cyrillic alphabet and Greek alphabet keyboards have similar arrangements.

Instead of the Ctrl, Alt and AltGr keys seen on commodity keyboards, Apple Keyboards have ⌘ Cmd (command) and ⌥ Option keys. The ⌥ Option key is used much like the AltGr, and the ⌘ Cmd key like the Ctrl and Alt, to access menu options and shortcuts. Macs have a Ctrl key for compatibility with programs that expect a more traditional keyboard layout. It is especially useful when using a terminal, X11 (a Unix environment included with OS X as an install option) or MS Windows. The key can generally be used to produce a secondary mouse click as well. There is also a Fn key on modern Mac keyboards, which is used for switching between use of the F1, F2, etc. keys either as function keys or for other functions like media control, accessing Spotlight, controlling the volume, or handling Mission Control. Fn key can be also found on smaller Windows and Linux laptops and tablets, where it serves a similar purpose.

Many Unix workstations (and also home computers like the Amiga) keyboards placed the Ctrl key to the left of the letter A, and the ⇪ Caps Lock key in the bottom left. This position of the Ctrl key is also used on the XO laptop, which does not have a ⇪ Caps Lock. The UNIX keyboard layout also differs in the placement of the Esc key, which is to the left of 1.

Some early keyboards experimented with using large numbers of modifier keys. The most extreme example of such a keyboard, the so-called "space-cadet keyboard" found on MIT LISP machines, had no fewer than seven modifier keys: four control keys, Ctrl, Meta, Hyper, and Super, along with three shift keys, ⇧ Shift, Top, and Front. This allowed the user to type over 8000 possible characters by playing suitable "chords" with many modifier keys pressed simultaneously.

System command keys

Depending on the application, some keyboard keys are not used to enter a printable character but instead are interpreted by the system as a formatting, mode shift, or special commands to the system. The following examples are found on personal computer keyboards.

Physical layouts

Physical layouts only address tangible differences among keyboards. When a key is pressed, the keyboard does not send a message such as the A-key is depressed but rather the left-most main key of the home row is depressed. (Technically, each key has an internal reference number, the scan code, and these numbers are what is sent to the computer when a key is pressed or released.) The keyboard and the computer each have no information about what is marked on that key, and it could equally well be the letter A or the digit 9. Historically, the user of the computer was requested to identify the functional layout of the keyboard when installing or customizing the operating system. Modern USB keyboards are plug-and-play; they communicate their visual layout to the OS when connected (though the user is still able to reset this at will).^[24]

Today, most keyboards use one of three different physical layouts, usually referred to as simply ISO (ISO/IEC 9995-2), ANSI (ANSI-INCITS 154-1988), and JIS (JIS X 6002-1980), referring roughly to the organizations issuing the relevant worldwide, United States, and Japanese standards, respectively. (In fact, the physical layouts referred such as "ISO" and "ANSI" comply with the primary recommendations in the named standards, while each of these standards in fact also allows the other.) Keyboard layout in this sense may refer either to this broad categorization or to finer distinctions within these categories. For example, as of May 2008^[update], Apple Inc. produces ISO, ANSI, and JIS desktop keyboards, each in both extended and compact forms. The extended keyboards have 110, 109, and 112 keys (ISO, ANSI, and JIS, respectively), and the compact models have 79, 78, and 80.

Visual layouts

The visual layout includes the symbols printed on the physical keycaps. Visual layouts vary by language, country, and user preference, and any one physical and functional layout can be employed with a number of different visual layouts. For example, the "ISO" keyboard layout is used throughout Europe, but typical French, German, and UK variants of physically identical keyboards appear different because they bear different legends on their keys. Even blank keyboards—with no legends—are sometimes used to learn typing skills or by user preference.

Some users choose to attach custom labels on top of their keycaps. This can be, e.g., for masking foreign layouts, adding additional information such as shortcuts, learning aids, gaming controls, or solely for decorational purposes.

Functional layouts

The functional layout of the keyboard refers to the mapping between a physical key (such as the A key) and a consequent software event (such as the letter "A" appearing on the screen). Usually the functional layout is set (in the system configuration) to match the visual layout of the keyboard being used, so that pressing a key will produce the expected result, corresponding to the legends on the keyboard. However, most operating systems have software (such as the language bar in Microsoft Windows) that allow the user to easily switch between functional layouts. For example, a user with a Swedish keyboard who wishes to type more easily in German may switch to a functional layout intended for German—without regard to key markings. A touch typist skilled in the use of another language layout can use a keyboard with English-language legends if it is remapped to their familiar layout, because they rarely look at the keyboard when typing.

Size variation

Modern keyboard models contain a set number of total keys according to their given standard, described as 104, 105, etc., and sold as "full-size" keyboards.^[28] This number is not always followed, and individual keys or whole sections are commonly skipped for the sake of compactness or user preference. Consequently, generic keyboard mappings may not be completely effective on unusual layouts.

ÄWERTY (Turkmen)

Turkmen keyboards use a layout known as ÄWERTY (/æˈvɜːrtiː/ av-UR-tee), where Ä appears in place of Q above A, Ü appears in place of X below S, Ç appears in place of C, and Ý appears in place of V, with C, Q, V, and X not being accessible at all. It is supported by Microsoft Windows (Vista and later only).^[29]

AZERTY

The AZERTY layout is used in France, Belgium, and some African countries. It differs from the QWERTY layout thus:

• A and Q are swapped,
• Z and W are swapped,
• M is moved to the right of L, (taking place of the :/; or colon/semicolon key on a US keyboard),
• The digits 0 to 9 are on the same keys, but to be typed the shift key must be pressed. The unshifted positions are used for accented characters,
• Caps lock is replaced by Shift lock, thus affecting non-letter keys as well. However, there is an ongoing evolution towards a Caps lock key instead of a Shift lock.

ĄŽERTY (Lithuanian)

As standardized in LST 1582, Lithuanian keyboards have a defined layout known as ĄŽERTY,^[30] where Ą appears in place of Q above A, Ž in place of W above S, and Ū in place of X below S, with Q, W, and X being available either on the far right-hand side or by use of the AltGr key. However instead of ĄŽERTY, the Lithuanian QWERTY keyboard is universally used.

QÜERTY (Azerbaijani)

Azerbaijani keyboards use a layout known as QÜERTY, where Ü appears in place of W above S, with W not being accessible at all. It is supported by Microsoft Windows.^[29]

QWERTY

The QWERTY layout is, by far, the most widespread layout in use, and the only one that is not confined to a particular geographical area.^[31] In some territories, keys like ↵ Enter and ⇪ Caps Lock are not translated to the language of the territory in question. In other varieties such keys have been translated, like ↵ Intro and ⇪ Bloq Mayús, on Spanish computer keyboards respectively for the example above. On Macintosh computers these keys are usually just represented by symbols without the word "Enter", "Shift", "Command", "Option/Alt" or "Control", with the exception of keyboards distributed in the US and East Asia.^{[citation needed]}

QWERTZ

The QWERTZ layout is the normal keyboard layout in Germany, Austria and Switzerland. It is also fairly widely used in Czechia, Slovakia and other parts of Central Europe. The main difference between it and QWERTY is that Y and Z are swapped, and some special characters such as brackets are replaced by diacritical characters like Ä, Ö, Ü, ß. In Czechia and Slovakia diacritical characters like Ě, Š, Č, Ř, Ž, Ý, Á, Í also replace numbers. Caps lock can be a shift lock as in AZERTY (see below).

QZERTY

The QZERTY (/ˈkzɜːrtiː/ KZUR-tee) layout was used mostly in Italy, where it was the traditional typewriter layout. In recent years, however, a modified QWERTY layout with stressed keys such as à, è, ò, has gained widespread usage throughout Italy.^[32][33] Computer keyboards usually have QWERTY, although non-alphanumeric characters vary.

• Z and W are swapped
• M is moved from the right of N to the right of L, as in AZERTY
• Number keys are shifted

Apple supported QZERTY layout in its early Italian keyboards, and also the iPod Touch had it available.^[34]

Sámi Extended

Sámi keyboards use a layout known as the Sámi Extended, where Á appears in place of Q above A, Š appears in place of W above S, Č appears in place of X to the left of C, and Ŧ appears in place of Y to the right of T, with Q, W, X, and Y being available by use of the AltGr key. Also, Å is to the right of P (to match the Norwegian and Swedish/Finnish keyboards), Ŋ is to the right of Å, and Đ is to the right of Ŋ. It is different in Norway than in Sweden and Finland, because of the placement of the letters different between Norwegian and Swedish/Finnish (Ä, Æ, Ö, and Ø), which are placed where they match the standard keyboard for the main language spoken in the country. It is supported by Microsoft Windows (Windows XP SP2 and later only).^[29] Microsoft Windows also has Swedish with Sami, Norwegian with Sami and Finnish with Sami layouts, which match the normal Swedish, Norwegian, or Finnish keyboards, but has additional Sami characters as AltGr-combinations.

Dvorak

The Dvorak layout was named after its inventor, August Dvorak. There are also numerous adaptations for languages other than English and single-handed variants. Dvorak's original layout had the numerals rearranged, but the present-day layout has them in numerical order. Dvorak has numerous properties designed to increase typing speed, decrease errors, and increase comfort. Research has found a 4% average advantage to the end user in typing speed.^[35] The layout concentrates the most used English letters in the home row where the fingers rest, thus having 70% of typing done in the home row (compared to 32% in QWERTY).

The layout came before computers came to be, so it challenges programmers and power users because keyboard shortcuts, like copy-paste are in totally different locations, punctuation symbols are significantly affected, while common commands like ls -ls result in strenuous use of the pinky finger.

The Dvorak layout is available out-of-the-box on most operating systems, making switching through software very easy. "Hardwired" Dvorak keyboards are also available, though only from specialized hardware companies.

Colemak

The Colemak layout is another popular alternative to the standard QWERTY layout, offering a more familiar change for users already accustomed to the standard layout.^[36]

It builds upon the QWERTY layout as a base, changing the positions of 17 keys while retaining the QWERTY positions of most non-alphabetic characters and many popular keyboard shortcuts, supposedly making it easier to learn than Dvorak for people who already type in QWERTY without sacrificing efficiency. It shares several design goals with the Dvorak layout, such as minimizing finger path distance and making heavy use of the home row.^[37] An additional defining (albeit optional) feature of the Colemak layout is the lack of a caps lock key; an additional backspace key occupies the position typically occupied by Caps Lock on modern keyboards.^[36]

Operating systems such as macOS, Linux, Android, ChromeOS, and BSD allow a user to switch to the Colemak layout. A program to install the layout is available for Microsoft Windows, as well as a portable AutoHotKey implementation.^[38]

Colemak variants exist, including Colemak Mod-DH, which seeks to rectify concerns that the layout places too much emphasis on the middle-row centre-column keys (D and H), leading to awkward lateral hand movements for certain common English bigrams such as HE.^[39] Others seek to have more compatibility with other keyboard layouts.^[40]

Workman

Workman is an English layout supported out-of-the-box in Linux/X11 systems.^[41]

The Workman layout employs a hypothesis about the preferential movement of each finger rather than categorically considering the lowest letter row to be least accessible. Specifically, the index finger prefers to curl inwards rather than stretch outwards. So for the index finger, the position of second preference goes to the bottom row rather than the top row. Contrarily, the middle and ring fingers are relatively long and prefer to stretch out rather than curl in. Based on this, weighting is allotted to each key specifically rather than each row generically.

Another principle applied is that it is more natural and less effort to curl in or stretch out fingers rather than rotate one's wrist inwards or outwards. Thus the Workman layout allots a lower priority to the two innermost columns between the home keys (G and H columns on a QWERTY layout), similarly to the Colemak-DH or "Curl" mods. Workman also balances the load quite evenly between both hands.

The Workman layout is found to achieve overall less travel distance of the fingers for the English language than even Colemak.^[42][43] It does however generally incur higher same-finger n-gram frequencies; or in other words, one finger will need to hit two keys in succession more often than in other layouts.

Other English layouts

There are many other layouts for English, each developed with differing basic principles.

The Norman Layout, like Workman, deprioritizes the central columns but gives more load to the right hand with the assumption that the right hand is more capable than the left. It also gives importance to retaining letters in the same position or at least the same finger as QWERTY.

MTGAP's Layout for a Standard Keyboard / an Ergonomic Keyboard has the lowest finger travel for a standard keyboard, and travel distance for an ergonomic keyboard second only to Arensito's keyboard layout.^[44] Further variations were created using the keyboard layout optimizer.^[45]

Other layouts lay importance on minimal key deviation from QWERTY to give a reasonable increase in typing speed and ergonomics with minimal relearning of keys.^[46] In Canada, the CSA keyboard is designed to write several languages, especially French.

JCUKEN (Latin)

This section needs additional citations for verification. (March 2016)

The JCUKEN layout was used in the USSR for all computers (both domestically produced and imported such as Japan-made MSX-compatible systems) except IBM-compatible ES PEVM due to its phonetic compatibility with Russian ЙЦУКЕН layout (see right). The layout has the advantage of having punctuation marks on Latin and Cyrillic layouts mapped on the same keys.^[50]

Neo

The Neo layout is an optimized German keyboard layout developed in 2004 by the Neo Users Group,^[51] supporting nearly all Latin-based alphabets, including the International Phonetic Alphabet,^[52] the Vietnamese language and some African languages.^[53]

The positions of the letters are not only optimized for German letter frequency, but also for typical groups of two or three letters. English is considered a major target as well. The design tries to enforce the alternating usage of both hands to increase typing speed. It is based on ideas from de-ergo and other ergonomic layouts. The high frequency keys are placed in the home row. The current layout, Neo 2.0, has unique features not present in other layouts, making it suited for many target groups such as programmers, mathematicians, scientists or LaTeX authors.^[54] Neo is grouped in different layers, each designed for a special purpose.

Most special characters inherit the meaning of the lower layers—the ⟨¿⟩ character is one layer above the ⟨?⟩, or the Greek ⟨α⟩ is above the ⟨a⟩ character. Neo uses a total of six layers with the following general use:^[55][56]

1. Lowercase characters
2. Uppercase characters, typographical characters
3. Special characters for programming, etc.
4. WASD-like movement keys and number block
5. Greek characters
6. Mathematical symbols and Greek uppercase characters

BÉPO

The BÉPO layout is an optimized French keyboard layout developed by the BÉPO community,^[57] supporting all Latin-based alphabets of the European Union, Greek and Esperanto.^[58] It is also designed to ease programming. It is based on ideas from the Dvorak and other ergonomic layouts. Typing with it is usually easier due to the high frequency keys being in the home row. Typing tutors exist to ease the transition.^[59]

In 2019, a slightly modified version of the BÉPO layout is featured in a French standard developed by AFNOR, along with an improved version of the traditional AZERTY layout.^[60]

Dvorak-fr

The Dvorak-fr layout is a Dvorak like layout specific to the French language, without concession to the use of programming languages, and published in 2002 by Francis Leboutte. Version 2 was released in June 2020. Its design meets the need to maximize comfort and prevent risks when typing in French.

Unlike AZERTY, the characters needed for good French typography are easily accessible: for example, the quotation marks (« ») and the curved apostrophe are available directly. More than 150 additional characters are available via dead keys.

Turkish (F-keyboard)

The Turkish language uses the Turkish Latin alphabet, and a dedicated keyboard layout was designed in 1955 by the leadership of İhsan Sıtkı Yener^[61] (tr). During its development, letter frequencies in the Turkish language were investigated with the aid of Turkish Language Association. A significant feature of the F-keyboard is its organization based on letter frequency in Turkish words. For instance, the most frequently used consonant at that time, "K," is positioned under the right index finger, while the most common vowel, "A," is placed under the left index finger. This arrangement enhances accessibility to the most used letters, thus improving typing speed and ergonomics. Moreover, the least frequently used letter in Turkish, "J," is assigned to the weakest finger on the left hand, the little finger. In contrast, on the QWERTY keyboard (even in the modified Turkish QWERTY layout), the "J" key occupies a central position, which is more valuable for frequently used letters. This positioning on QWERTY keyboards thus reduces efficiency when typing in Turkish.

The basis for these specific placements and adjustments lies in a comprehensive study conducted in 1956 with contributions from the Turkish Language Association. In this study, a total of 29,934 Turkish words were analyzed, and the frequency of each letter was meticulously calculated. A detailed table published in the December 1956 issue of Sekreter Daktilograf magazine provided insights into letter frequencies in Turkish, which were then used to guide the ergonomic layout of the F-keyboard.

These statistics were then combined with studies on bone and muscle anatomy of the fingers to design the Turkish F-keyboard (Turkish: F klavye). The keyboard provides a balanced distribution of typing effort between the hands: 49% for the left hand and 51% for the right.

One unique characteristic of the Turkish language is that, due to its phonetic structure, no more than two consecutive consonants appear together within a word (ie Cennet). This feature was carefully considered during the design of the F-keyboard. To optimize typing flow and make it more natural, all vowel keys were strategically placed on the left hand side of the keyboard. This arrangement allows proficient Turkish typists to use an alternating rhythm between the hands, enhancing typing efficiency and comfort for typing Turkish words. ^[62]

Here's a presentation of the letter frequencies and distribution in the 1956 Turkish F keyboard layout, designed specifically with the linguistic features of the Turkish language and the ergonomic requirements of the human hand in mind. This layout emphasizes balanced typing between the right and left hands, promoting a rhythm that leverages alternating hands for smoother, more efficient typing. The placement of letters reflects both the frequency of use in Turkish and an understanding of hand anatomy, ensuring that the most frequently used letters are placed in the most accessible positions.

In the F keyboard, letters are distributed across the top, middle, and bottom rows with a focus on balancing load distribution:

• Top Row Frequency Weight Total: ~24.04% Calculated based on the designated letters in the top row.
• Middle Row Frequency Weight Total: ~63.77% Calculated with primary letters located in the middle row, providing maximum accessibility.
• Bottom Row Frequency Weight Total: ~12.21% Letters in the bottom row, adjusted for lower frequency but accessible as needed.

The distribution also carefully considers each hand’s typing load:

• Left Hand Frequency Weight Total: ~48.97% The sum of letter frequencies assigned to the left hand.
• Right Hand Frequency Weight Total: ~51.05% The sum of letter frequencies assigned to the right hand.

Based on the analysis of the Turkish Language Association's 1956 orthographic guide, we present the letter frequencies in Turkish words of the time. Below, the tables show the vowel and consonant frequencies from high to low.

General Total Count: 183596 ^[63]

With this scientific preparation, Turkey has broken 14 world records in typewriting championships between 1957 and 1995.^[64] In 2009, Recep Ertaş and in 2011, Hakan Kurt from Turkey came in first in the text production event of the 47th (Beijing) and 48th (Paris) Intersteno congresses respectively.^[65][66]

Despite the greater efficiency of the Turkish F-keyboard however, the modified QWERTY keyboard ("Q-keyboard") is the one that is used on most computers in Turkey. The reason for the prevalence of the Turkish QWERTY keyboard over the F-keyboard was rooted in changes starting in the late 1980s. Until the 1990s, it was legally required that all typewriters imported into Turkey used the standard F-keyboard layout, and customs regulations strictly enforced this standard. However, as personal computers (PCs) began to proliferate and manufacturers sold their products equipped with the American QWERTY keyboard, obtaining a Turkish F-keyboard layout for these new computers was nearly impossible. To accommodate the influx of PCs, authorities eventually interpreted the existing F-keyboard regulation as applying only to typewriters, thus exempting computers from the mandate. This interpretation, while erroneous and aimed at facilitating imports, led to widespread adoption of the American QWERTY layout in Turkey.

In fact, the first imported keyboards lacked the unique Turkish letters (Ğ, Ş, Ç, İ, ı, Ü, Ö), and users could only type these characters through software solutions, often adding stickers on the keys to reflect the modified characters.

Interestingly, at that time, Apple was the only manufacturer adhering to Turkish regulations by providing F-keyboards on computers sold in Turkey. However, as Turkish PC users grew accustomed to the QWERTY layout, Apple later adjusted its offerings, importing devices with the Turkish QWERTY layout as the default while offering the F-keyboard as an option for those who preferred it.^[67]

ŪGJRMV

The ŪGJRMV layout, also known as the "Ergonomic" layout, was the national keyboard of Latvia. It is specifically designed for the Latvian language.^[29] The letter arrangement in this layout is quite different from the standard QWERTY, with only two letters in the same position and five more in the same row and layer. While it may work well for typing in Latvian, there are issues, particularly with symbols. Some errors from the QWERTY layout remain, and new ones have been introduced, such as the placement of curly braces. The name "Šusilda" appears on the home row, though the reason is unclear^{[dubious – discuss]}. The layout uses a cedilla instead of the correct diacritic comma due to a Unicode limitation, affecting both this and the QWERTY layout, especially for writing in Livonian. Microsoft’s implementations of these layouts have some differences, with the ŪGJRMV layout containing an error on the F key in the number row.^[68]

PÜŞUD (Azerbaijani)

In 2010, a new layout – known as PÜŞUD – was designed and proposed by Azerbaijan National Academy of Sciences. It was praised by Ministry of Digital Development and Transportation. This layout is completely different than the most used one – QÜERTY.^{[69][70][71][72]}

Malt

The Malt layout—named for its inventor, South African-born Lilian Malt—is best known for its use on molded, ergonomic Maltron keyboards. Nevertheless, it has been adapted as well for flat keyboards, with a compromise involved: a flat keyboard has a single, wide space-bar, rather than a space button as on Maltron keyboards, so the E key was moved to the bottom row.Archived September 22, 2010, at the Wayback Machine

Modified Blickensderfer

The Blickensderfer typewriter, designed by George Canfield Blickensderfer in 1892, was known for its novel keyboard layout, its interchangeable font, and its suitability for travel. The Blickensderfer keyboard had three banks (rows of keys), with special characters being entered using a separate Shift key; the home row was, uniquely, the bottom one (i.e., the typist kept her hands on the bottom row). A computer or standard typewriter keyboard, on the other hand, has four banks of keys, with home row being second from bottom.

To fit on a Sholes-patterned (typewriter or computer) keyboard, the Blickensderfer layout was modified by Nick Matavka in 2012, and released for both Mac OS X and Windows. To accommodate the differences between Blickensderfer and Sholes keyboards (not the layouts, but the keyboards themselves), the order of the rows was changed and special characters were given their own keys.

The keyboard drivers created by Nick Matavka for the modified Blickensderfer layout (nicknamed the 'Blick') have several variations, including one that includes the option of switching between Blick and another keyboard layout and one that is internationalised, allowing the entry of diacritics.

Hexagon

The honeycomb layout has hexagon keys and was invented by Typewise in cooperation with the ETH Zurich^[73] in 2015 for smartphones.^[74][75] It exists for 40+ languages including English, German, Spanish, French and Afrikaans. The keys are arranged like those of the respective traditional keyboard with a few changes. Instead of the Space bar there are two smaller space bars in the middle of the keyboard. The ⇧ Shift is replaced by swiping up on keys and ← Backspace by swiping to the left on the keyboard. Diacritic characters can be accessed by holding on a key.^[76][77]

Alphabetical layout

A few companies offer "ABC" (alphabetical) layout keyboards.^[78][79] The ABCDEF layout was used by Minitel. The layout can also be useful for people who do not type often or where using both hands is not practical, such as touchscreens.

Chorded keyboards and mobile devices

Chorded keyboards, such as the Stenotype and Velotype, allow letters and words to be entered using combinations of keys in a single stroke. Users of stenotype machines regularly reach rates of 225 words per minute.^[80] These systems are commonly used for real-time transcription by court reporters and in live closed captioning systems. Ordinary keyboards may be adapted for this purpose using Plover. However, due to hardware constraints, chording three or more keys may not work as expected. Many high-end keyboards support n-key rollover and so do not have this limitation.

The multi-touch screens of mobile devices allow implementation of virtual on-screen chorded keyboards. Buttons are fewer, so they can be made larger. Symbols on the keys can be changed dynamically depending on what other keys are pressed, thus eliminating the need to memorize combos for characters and functions before use. For example, in the chorded GKOS keyboard which has been adapted for the Google Android, Apple iPhone, MS Windows Phone, and Intel MeeGo/Harmattan platforms, thumbs are used for chording by pressing one or two keys at the same time. The layout divides the keys into two separate pads which are positioned near the sides of the screen, while text appears in the middle. The most frequent letters have dedicated keys and do not require chording.

Some other layouts have also been designed specifically for use with mobile devices. The FITALY layout is optimized for use with a stylus, places the most commonly used letters closest to the centre and thus minimizing the distance travelled when entering words. A similar concept was followed to research and develop the MessagEase keyboard layout for fast text entry with stylus or finger. The ATOMIK layout, designed for stylus use, was developed by IBM using the Metropolis Algorithm to mathematically minimize the movement necessary to spell words in English.^[81] The ATOMIK keyboard layout is an alternative to QWERTY in ShapeWriter's WritingPad software.^[82] ASETNIOP is a keyboard layout designed for tablet computers that uses 10 input points, eight of them on the home row.^[83]

Other original layouts and layout design software

Several other alternative keyboard layouts have been designed, either for use with specialist commercial keyboards (e.g. Maltron and PLUM) or by hobbyists (e.g. Asset,^[84] Arensito,^[85] Minimak,^[86] Norman,^[87] Qwpr,^[88] Workman^[89] as well as symmetric typing^[90] layouts like Niro^[91] and Soul^[92]). However, none of them are in widespread use, and many of them are merely proofs of concept. Common design principles include maximizing the use of the home row, minimizing finger movement, enhancing hand alternation or inward rolls (where successive letters are typed moving towards the center of the keyboard), minimizing changes from QWERTY to ease the learning curve, and so on.

Maltron also has a single-handed keyboard layout.^[93]

Programs such as the Microsoft Keyboard Layout Creator^[94] (basic editor, free, for use on Windows), SIL Ukelele^[95] (advanced editor, free, for use on macOS), KbdEdit^[96] (commercial editor, for Windows) and Keyman Developer^[97] (free, open source editor for Windows, macOS, iOS, Android, and virtual keyboards on websites) make it easy to create custom keyboard layouts for regular keyboards.^[98] Users may satisfy their own typing patterns or specific needs by creating new ones from scratch (like the IPA^[99] or pan-Iberian^[100] layouts) or modify existing ones (for example, the Latin American Extended^[101] or Gaelic^[102] layouts). Such editors can also construct complex key sequences using dead keys or the AltGr key.

Certain virtual keyboards and keyboard layouts are accessible online.^[103] Without hardware limitations, these online keyboards can display custom layouts, or allow users to pre-configure or try out different language layouts. The resulting text can then be pasted into other websites or applications, flexibly with no need to reprogram keyboard mappings at all.

Some high-end keyboards offer flexibility to reprogram keyboard mappings at the hardware level. For example, the Kinesis Advantage contoured keyboard allows for reprogramming single keys (not key combinations), as well as creating macros for remapping combinations of keys. (However, this includes more processing from the keyboard hardware, and can therefore be slightly slower, with a lag that may be noticed in daily use).

Non-QWERTY layouts were also used with specialized machines, such as the 90-key Linotype typesetting machine.

Abugidas

Abjads

Alphabetic

Cyrillic

Bulgarian

The current official Bulgarian keyboard layout for both typewriters and computer keyboards is described in BDS (Bulgarian State/National Standard) 5237:1978.^[109] It superseded the old standard, BDS 5237:1968, on 1 January 1978.^[109] Like the Dvorak layout, it has been designed to optimize typing speed and efficiency, placing the most common letters in the Bulgarian language—О, Н, Т, and А—under the strongest fingers. In addition to the standard 30 letters of the Bulgarian alphabet, the layout includes the non-Bulgarian Cyrillic symbols Э and ы and the Roman numerals I and V (the X is supposed to be represented by the Cyrillic capital Х, which is acceptable in typewriters but problematic in computers).

There is also a second, informal layout in widespread use—the so-called "phonetic" layout, in which Cyrillic letters are mapped to the QWERTY keys for Latin letters that "sound" or "look" the same, with several exceptions (Я is mapped to Q, Ж is mapped to V, etc.—see the layout and compare it to the standard QWERTY layout). This layout is available as an alternative to the BDS one in some operating systems, including Microsoft Windows, Apple Mac OS X and Ubuntu Linux. Normally, the layouts are set up so that the user can switch between Latin and Cyrillic script by pressing Shift + Alt, and between BDS and Phonetic by pressing Shift + Ctrl.

In 2006, Prof. Dimiter Skordev from the Faculty of Mathematics and Informatics of Sofia University and Dimitar Dobrev from the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences proposed a new standard, prBDS 5237:2006, including a revised version of the BDS layout, which includes the letter Ѝ and the capital Ы and replaces the letters I and V with the currency symbols of $ and € respectively, and a standardization of the informal "phonetic" layout. After some controversy and a public discussion in 2008, the proposal was not accepted,^[110] although it had been already used in several places—the "Bulgarian Phonetic" layout in MS Windows Vista is based on it. There is a new "Bulgarian Phonetic" layout in MS Windows 7.^[29]

Macedonian

The Macedonian keyboard layout is phonetic. The Latin letters that have a phonetic equivalent in Macedonian are used for the corresponding Cyrillic letters. The letters in the Macedonian alphabet and characters used in the Macedonian orthography that do not have any phonetic equivalent are Љ, Њ, Ѕ, Ш, Ѓ, Ж, Ч, Ќ, Ѝ, Ѐ.

Even though they are not part of the Macedonian alphabet, and are not used in the Macedonian language, the first Macedonian keyboard layout supported by Windows uses Alt Gr to type the glyphs Ћ and Ђ, where their capital forms are next to the lowercase forms. This keyboard does not include the glyphs Ѝ and Ѐ.^[29]

A new revised standard version of the layout, was supported with Windows Vista. This version includes the glyphs Ѝ and Ѐ and uses Alt Gr to add an acute accent, which was not included in the original Macedonian layout.^[29]

Russian

JCUKEN

See also: JCUKEN and Keyboard layout § JCUKEN (Latin)

This section needs additional citations for verification. (March 2016)

The most common keyboard layout in modern Russia is the so-called Windows layout, which is the default Russian layout used in the MS Windows operating system. This layout was designed to be compatible with the hardware standard in many other countries, but introduced compromises to accommodate the larger Russian alphabet. For instance, the full stop and comma symbols share a key, requiring the shift key to be held to produce a comma, despite the high relative frequency of comma in the language.^[50]

There are also other Russian keyboard layouts in use, such as the traditional Russian Typewriter layout (where punctuation symbols are placed on numerical keys, and the shift key is required to enter numbers) and the Russian DOS layout (similar to the Russian Typewriter layout, with common punctuation symbols on numerical keys, but numbers are entered without using the shift key). The Russian Typewriter layout can be found on many Russian typewriters produced before the 1990s and is the default Russian keyboard layout in the OpenSolaris operating system.^{[111][better source needed]}

Keyboards in Russia always feature Cyrillic letters on the keytops alongside Latin letters, usually distinguished by different colors.

Russian QWERTY/QWERTZ-based phonetic layouts

The Russian phonetic keyboard layout (also called homophonic or transliterated) is widely used outside Russia, where normally there are no Russian letters drawn on the keys. This layout is made for typists who are more familiar with other layouts, like the common English QWERTY keyboard, and follows the Greek and Armenian layouts in placing most letters at the corresponding Latin letter locations. It is popular among both native speakers and people who use, teach, or are learning Russian, and is recommended—along with the Standard Layout—by the linguists, translators, teachers and students of AATSEEL.org.

The earliest known implementation of the Cyrillic-to-QWERTY homophonic keyboard was by former AATSEEL officer Constance Curtin between 1972 and 1976, for the PLATO education system's Russian Language curriculum developed at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.^[112] Curtin's design sought to map phonetically related Russian sounds to QWERTY keys, to map proximate phonetic and visual cues nearby each other, and assign unused positions mnemonically. Peter Zelchenko who worked under Curtin at UIUC, later modified the number row for Windows and Macintosh keyboards, follow Curtin's original design intent.^[113]

There are several different Russian phonetic layouts, such as YaZhERT (яжерт), YaWERT (яверт), and YaShERT (яшерт), the latter suggested by AATSEEL.org and known as the "Student" layout. They are named after the first few letters that take over the 'QWERTY' row on the Latin keyboard. They differ in the placement of certain letters. For example, some layouts have Cyrillic 'B' (pronounced 'V') on the Latin 'W' key (after the German transliteration of B), while others place it on the Latin 'V' key.

There are also variations within these variations; for example the Mac OS X Phonetic Russian layout is YaShERT but differs in placement of the letters ж and э.^[114][115]

Windows 10 includes its own implementation of a mnemonic QWERTY-based input method for Russian, which does not fully rely on assigning a key to every Russian letter. Instead, it uses combinations like sh, sc, ch, ya (ja), yu (ju), ye (je) and yo (jo) to input ш, щ, ч, я, ю, э, and ё, respectively.

Virtual (on-screen) keyboards allow users to enter Cyrillic directly in a browser without activating the system layout.

Serbian (Cyrillic)

Apart from a set of characters common to most Cyrillic alphabets, the Serbian Cyrillic layout uses six additional special characters unique or nearly unique to the Serbian Cyrillic alphabet: Љ, Њ, Ћ, Ђ, Џ, and Ј. The Macedonian Ѕ is also present on this keyboard, despite not being used in Serbian Cyrillic.

Due to the bialphabetic nature of the language, actual physical keyboards with the Serbian Cyrillic layout printed on the keys are uncommon today. Keyboards sold in Serbian-speaking markets typically feature Serbian Latin characters and are used with both the Latin (QWERTZ) and Cyrillic layout configured in the software. The two layouts are easily interchangeable because the non-alphabetic keys are identical, and the alphabetic keys correspond directly to their counterparts. The exceptions are the Latin letters Q, W, X, and Y, which have no Cyrillic equivalents, and the Cyrillic letters Љ, Њ and Џ, whose Latin counterparts are digraphs LJ, NJ and DŽ. This alignment makes the Serbian Cyrillic layout a rare example of a non-Latin layout based on QWERTZ.

Ukrainian

Ukrainian keyboards, based on a slight modification of the Russian Standard Layout, often also have the Russian Standard ("Windows") layout marked on them, making it easy to switch from one language to another. This keyboard layout had several problems, one of which was the omission of the letter Ґ, which does not exist in Russian. The other long-standing problem was the omission of the apostrophe, which is used in Ukrainian almost as commonly as in English (though with a different meaning), but which also does not exist in Russian. Both of these problems were resolved with the "improved Ukrainian" keyboard layout for Windows available with Vista and subsequent Windows versions.

There is also an adapted keyboard for Westerners learning Ukrainian (mostly in the diaspora) that closely matches the QWERTY keyboard, so that the letters either have the same sound or same shape, for example pressing the "v" on the Latin QWERTY produces the Cyrillic в (which makes roughly the same sound) and pressing the QWERTY "w" key gives the Cyrillic ш (based on the similar shape). This layout is usually called a homophonic or phonetic layout.

Syllabic

Chinese

Chinese keyboards are usually in US layout with/without Chinese input method labels printed on keys. Without an input method handler activated, these keyboards would simply respond to Latin characters as physically labelled, provided that the US keyboard layout is selected correctly in the operating system. Most modern input methods allow input of both simplified and traditional characters, and will simply default to one or the other based on the locale setting.

Hong Kong and Macau

This section needs additional citations for verification. (January 2017)

In Hong Kong, both Chinese (Taiwan) and US keyboards are found. Japanese keyboards are occasionally found, and UK keyboards are rare.

For Chinese input, Shape-based input methods such as Cangjie (pronounced cong1 kit3 in Cantonese) or Chinese handwriting recognition are the most common input method. The use of phonetic-based input method is uncommon due to the lack of official standard for Cantonese romanisation and people in Hong Kong almost never learn any romanisation schemes in schools. An advantage of phonetic-based input method is that most Cantonese speakers are able to input Traditional Chinese characters with no particular training at all where they spell out the Cantonese sound of each character without tone marks, e.g. 'heung gong' for 香港 (Cantonese Yale: hēung góng; Hong Kong) and to choose the characters from a list. However, Microsoft Windows, which is the most popular operating system used in desktops, does not provide any Cantonese phonetic input method, requiring users to find and install third-party input method software. Also, most people find the process of picking characters from a list being too slow due to homonyms so the Cangjie method is generally preferred.

Although thorough training and practice are required to use Cangjie, many Cantonese speakers have taken Sucheng input method because of the fast typing speed availed by the input method. This method is the fastest because it has the capability to fetch the exact, unambiguous Chinese character which the user has in mind to input, pinpointing to only one character in most cases. This is also the reason why no provision for an input of phonetic accent is needed to complement this Input Method. The Cangjie character feature is available on both Mac OS X and Windows. On Mac OS X, handwriting recognition input method is bundled with the OS.

Macau utilizes the same layouts as Hong Kong, with the addition of Portuguese (Portugal) or English (US) layout for the Portuguese language.

See also: British and American keyboards and Technical standards in Hong Kong

Malaysia and Singapore

This section does not cite any sources. (June 2024)

In Malaysia and Singapore, English (US) or Traditional Chinese (Taiwan) layout keyboards are found to input the Chinese language.

Japanese

This section does not cite any sources. (February 2019)

The JIS standard layout includes Japanese kana in addition to a QWERTY style layout. The shifted values of many keys (digits, together with :* ; + - =) are a legacy of bit-paired keyboards, dating back to ASCII telex machines and terminals of the 1960s and 1970s.

For entering Japanese, the most common method is entering text phonetically, as romanized (transliterated) kana, which are then converted to kanji as appropriate by an input method editor. It is also possible to type kana directly, depending on the mode used. To type たかはし, "Takahashi", a Japanese name, one could type either TAKAHAS (H)I in Romanized (Rōmaji) input mode, or QTFD in kana input mode. Then, the user can proceed to the conversion step to convert the input into the appropriate kanji.

The extra keys in the bottom row (muhenkan, henkan, and the Hiragana/Katakana switch key), and the special keys in the leftmost column (the hankaku/zenkaku key at the upper left corner, and the eisū key at the Caps Lock position), control various aspects of the conversion process and select different modes of input.

The Oyayubi Shifuto (Thumb Shift) layout is based on kana input, but uses two modifying keys that replace the space bar. When a key is pressed simultaneously with one of the keys, it yields another letter. Letters with the "dakuten" diacritic are typed with the opposite side "thumb shift". Letters with "handakuten" are either typed while the conventional pinky-operated shift key is pressed (that is, each key corresponds to a maximum of 4 letters), or, on the "NICOLA" variation, on a key which does not have a dakuten counterpart.

The H key in the QWERTY layout individually yields は, but with the 変換 (R Thumb Shift) key, it yields み. Simultaneous input with 無変換 (L Thumb Shift) yields ば, which is the individually mapped letter with the aforementioned dakuten. While the pinky-operated ⇧ Shift key is pressed, the same key yields ぱ. (This same letter must be typed with 無変換 (L Thumb Shift) + Y on the NICOLA variant.)

In Japan, 106-key Japanese keyboards and 101-key English (US layout) keyboards are usually found. The 101-key English keyboards sold in Japan are usually with Japanese input method labels printed on keys.^[117]

Korean

Pressing the Han/Eng (한/영) key once switches between Hangul as shown, and QWERTY (US layout). There is another key to the left of the space bar for Hanja (한자 or 漢字) input. If using an ordinary keyboard without the two extra keys, the right Alt key becomes the Ha/En key, and the right Ctrl key becomes the Hanja key. Apple Keyboards do not have the two extra keys.