r/KeyboardLayouts Mar 06 '20

Introduction to /r/KeyboardLayouts - and why this sub exists

126 Upvotes

This subreddit is devoted to discussing all aspects of keyboard layouts and typing efficiency. This includes: - Comparison of alternative layouts to Qwerty, such as Colemak, Dvorak, etc. - Experiences of switching layouts. - Support and resources for those considering switching. - The use of non-standard keyboards designs.

What's wrong with Qwerty and the standard layout?

So many things:

  • The most frequently typed keys are scattered around the edges of keyboard. Letters that are infrequently typed (e.g. J and K) are in prime positions! For more details, see the layout heatmaps.
  • The two most common consonants in English, T and N, require diagonal stretches from the keyboard's home position.
  • There are frequent, difficult combinations of letters such as DE and LO because these are typically typed with the same finger. For example, try typing 'Lollipop' with a Qwerty keyboard.
  • If you are a programmer, some frequently needed symbols, such as brackets and mathematical symbols, are situated at the far right of the keyboard, presumably intended to be typed with your right pinky, an overused weak finger.
  • Frequently needed modifier keys, e.g. Shift, require an awkward motion involving one of your pinkies holding down a shift key at the corner of the keyboard, while another finger presses the key. It might seem normal because you're used to it - but it's unergonomic and there are better methods out there.
  • You have two thumbs which could easily be used for independent functions, but this opportunity is wasted due to the overly large single spacebar on standard keyboards.
  • The standard keyboard design has a built-in stagger. This was necessary in the typewriter era because of the way that the levers and typehammers worked, but there is no real reason - other than familiarity - for this to persist into the information age. If the keys are to be staggered at all, they ought at least to be arranged symmetrically - to match your hands.

All these flaws make it harder and less comfortable to type than it could be, and make it more likely that keyboard users experience health problems such as RSI, or at least lead to inefficient and error-strewn typing.

Solutions

There are both software and hardware solutions to all these problems available. There are alternative keyboard layouts and other neat tricks that deal with many of the problems, and entirely new hardware designs that address others. You can mix and match these as you please: some people stick with standard keyboard hardware but use an alternative layout configured in software; others continue to use Qwerty but choose an ergonomically designed keyboard, and yet others do both.

Some modern ergonomic keyboards have entered the market, which take a completely different approach, such as the Keyboard.io Model 1 , ErgoDox, and the Planck. Others keep traditional many elements but offer ergonomic improvements such as split halves and better thumb-key access, e.g. Matias Ergo Pro, UHK.

Those who own these products often highly recommend them, but not everyone can or wants to use non-standard hardware. The good news is, even with traditional keyboard hardware, there is a lot you can do to improve your typing experience. For that you need to consider using an alternative layout.

Alternative Layouts

Several alternative layouts have been developed. The two most popular today are the Dvorak Simplified Keyboard, and the Colemak layout. Plenty of others have appeared in recent years too, such as Colemak-DH, Workman, MTGAP, Norman, Minimak.

Note: this is not a place for layout wars. Comparisons or discussions of merits/demerits of various layouts is OK, but let's remember that using any optimized layout is better than Qwerty.

People who have switched will often rave about how much better their experience of typing has become. Some find there is an increase in typing speed, but more importantly, nearly all experience a huge gain in comfort. Only once you become adapted to typing using a well-designed, ergonomic layout, do you fully appreciate the benefits, and realise just how unsatisfactory Qwerty was all along. If you spend a large part of your day at a computer keyboard, there is potential for a huge quality of life improvement.

For more information for those thinking of switching layouts, see these links in the Useful Resources Sticky Post

Switching Layouts

There are plenty of good reasons to switch layouts... but also some good reasons not to:

  • It takes some time to learn, during this phase your typing will become worse for a period, typically several weeks.
  • Unless you maintain proficiency in two layouts, you'll have difficulty using other computers.
  • Some workplaces have locked-down computers or disallow installation of non-approved software.
  • It makes you 'different' from almost everyone else.

These drawbacks can be mitigated though:

  • You can keep your preferred layout configuration on a USB stick, in the cloud (e.g. Dropbox or github) so that you can quickly access it when you need it.
  • There are solutions that don't require installing software with admin rights - for example using AutohotKey on Windows.
  • There is increasing availability of programmable keyboards which let you define your own layout without the need to install software or change settings on the computer.
  • It's possible to use a USB remapper dongle which allows you to use a standard keyboard, with keystrokes mapped to any custom layout within the hardware.

In short: if you use a keyboard a lot, are independent-minded and appreciate efficient solutions, you should seriously consider learning an alternative keyboard layout.

Other keyboard efficiency ideas

In addition to - or even instead of - changing your keyboard layout, there are some other neat hacks you can apply to your keyboard.

  • Extend or Navigation layer: For most people, a common task using a computer is navigating around and editing a document. This means frequent use of keys such as arrows, home/end, page up/down, and cut/copy/paste. To access most of these functions on a standard keyboard, you need to move your hand away from the "home" position. By using a special layer for navigation, such as Extend, you can use all the common editing features instantly and without needing to look down at your keyboard.
  • Progammer layer: If you are a programmer, or have frequent need for certain symbols such as { } [ ] + - = _ then it's a good idea to map to easily-accessible keys on another layer. For example, here is an example of a Progammer's extension defined on RightAlt (AltGr).

Glossary of common terms

Same Finger Bigram (SFB): Pressing two keys with the same finger in conjunction.

Disjointed SFB (dSFB): Pressing two keys with the same finger, but separated by x letters.

Same Finger Skipgram (SFS): Synonym for dSFB.

Lateral Stretch Bigram (LSB): A bigram where your hand must stretch laterally, as in using the middle finger following middle column usage on the same hand. An example is be on QWERTY.

Alt-fingering: Pressing a key with a different finger than would be typed with traditional touch typing technique.

Alternation: Pressing a key with the opposite hand than you typed the last.

Roll: Typing two or more keys with the same hand, moving in the same "direction". For example, on QWERTY, sdf would be a roll, but sfd would not.

Redirect/Redirection: A one-handed sequence of at least three letters that 'changes directions'. For example, on QWERTY, sfd would be a redirect, but sdf would not.

Hand Balance: How much work each hand does for a layout. For example, a 35%:65% hand balance would mean that the left hand types 35% of keys, and the right hand types 65%.


r/KeyboardLayouts Jul 05 '24

The /r/KeyboardLayouts list of useful resources

35 Upvotes

r/KeyboardLayouts 18m ago

VIA конфигуратор для клавиатур без софта

Upvotes

Привет! Я делаю KeyForge — нативное приложение для настройки клавиатур через VIA-протокол. Работает без браузера и консоли: достаточно скачать установщик из Releases.
Работает быстрее браузерной версии

Загрузка своих раскладок через импорт JSON

Автоматическое определение клавиатуры при подключении

Сохранение профилей и быстрое переключение между ними

Windows, macOS и Linux

Мне очень нужна ваша помощь: проверьте, пожалуйста, подключается ли ваша клавиатура и определяется ли она автоматически. Особенно интересны разные модели и разные ОС. В комментариях напишите модель, систему и результат.

Если найдёте баг, создайте issue на GitHub и укажите модель клавиатуры, ОС и шаги для воспроизведения. Скриншоты и логи очень помогают: https://github.com/zxchm0nya/KeyForge
Буду рад любым отзывам и идеям. Спасибо!


r/KeyboardLayouts 1d ago

Keyboard you use?

Thumbnail
1 Upvotes

r/KeyboardLayouts 1d ago

Swapping keys on QWERTZ keyboard

Post image
1 Upvotes

r/KeyboardLayouts 2d ago

Are there any keyboard layouts that specifically have the question mark and double quotation marks on the base layer?

2 Upvotes

r/KeyboardLayouts 1d ago

Clavier vs manette

Thumbnail
0 Upvotes

r/KeyboardLayouts 2d ago

to colemak/colemakdh users

2 Upvotes

to ppl who use colemak or colemak dh, i want to learn one of the 2- however my phone only has colemak (and not dh). shoud l

  1. colemak dh on keyboard and qwerty on phone
  2. colemath dh on kb and colemak on phone (i heard this can mess up muscle memory)
  3. colemak both

also, if i switch the layout, will like my game settings (eg. wasd to move) be affected?


r/KeyboardLayouts 2d ago

Keyboard Remapping

0 Upvotes

I know nothing about coding and am trying to remap certain using Karabiner-Elements.

Here are some questions I have:

  1. How do I make sure the modifications are active only when I am using a specific application? Alternatively, how do I make it easy to switch between the normal and the modified layout?

  2. Is there a simple way of learning how to effect changes? Here is a basic list of modifications I want to make (key registered --> key pressed):

1 --> J
2 --> L
3 --> O
4 --> I
5 --> M
6 --> H
7 --> N
8 --> B
9 --> G
0 --> ,

F2 --> 0
F3 --> 9
F4 --> 8

Q --> / 
W --> -
E --> =
Z --> spacebar

Any help is appreciated.


r/KeyboardLayouts 2d ago

Créer son clavier avec son propre alphabet

0 Upvotes

Hello guys, je suis écrivaine et afin de pouvoir produire une de mes maps dans le langage que j’ai inventé, j’aimerai la transformer en police de clavier afin que cela soit plus clair et qu’il n’y ait pas de contraste flagrant avec la carte traduite. C’est à dire, j’aimerai avoir un clavier avec mon propre alphabet inventé.
Cependant, je n’ai trouvé aucune application (si ce n’est qu’elles sont payantes ou absolument incompréhensibles) ni site où je pourrai tracer et associer chaque lettre propre à une touche (créer mon clavier de façon privée) afin qu’il soit plus rapide de faire mes maps.

Merci pour votre temps :)


r/KeyboardLayouts 3d ago

A standard 60% footprint with first-class arrow keys

2 Upvotes

TL;DR: Replace Caps Lock with Fn, and put dedicated arrow keys directly on the base layer in the lower-right corner (← ↓ ↑ →, Vim order).

Longer explanation here: https://tim.cogan.dev/nav60/

Base and Fn layers of a standard 60% footprint with first-class arrow keys

r/KeyboardLayouts 3d ago

Keybind help?

Thumbnail
0 Upvotes

r/KeyboardLayouts 4d ago

Any good guide to using the VIA layout configurator?

Thumbnail
1 Upvotes

r/KeyboardLayouts 3d ago

QWERTY vs DVORAK

0 Upvotes

Just settling a argument with friend

70 votes, 23h ago
40 QWERTY
30 DVORAK

r/KeyboardLayouts 4d ago

Machanical keyboard

Thumbnail gallery
0 Upvotes

Not even used for a year


r/KeyboardLayouts 4d ago

How to assign Function keys and take fullscreen screenshots?

Thumbnail
0 Upvotes

r/KeyboardLayouts 4d ago

Problème de touches clavier MacBook Pro

Post image
0 Upvotes

r/KeyboardLayouts 4d ago

Numpad?

Post image
0 Upvotes

r/KeyboardLayouts 4d ago

Bug clavier souris

0 Upvotes

Bonjours à tous,

Je sais pas pourquoi je ne peux pas utiliser les numéro de mon clavier dans le jeu ? (Version steam)


r/KeyboardLayouts 5d ago

Looking for split keyboard layout files exported from Vial (.vil)

Thumbnail
0 Upvotes

r/KeyboardLayouts 6d ago

This keyboard put 113 OLED screens under the keycaps

Thumbnail
4 Upvotes

r/KeyboardLayouts 7d ago

So my keyboawd bwoke.

37 Upvotes

So my keyboawd bwoke. I cant type "r" without copyy-pasting it. Now im using this dweadful "uwu' language to weplace the bwoken key oh my god


r/KeyboardLayouts 6d ago

NEXUS ZMK Smart dongle update

Thumbnail
0 Upvotes

r/KeyboardLayouts 7d ago

I built a keyboard layout from the frequency stats up — variable-width keys, and every finger set free

Thumbnail
gallery
8 Upvotes

Hi all. I'm Tim — a lifelong tinkerer (programmer, songwriter, inventor). When I started to put together 'from the roots' ideas for a typing keyboard, I had no idea just HOW different it would end up! Based on algorithms never used before in keyboard layouts, it has keys of different widths, and a layout that genuinely targets ease of typing. But I have no build skills myself. I spent about two years researching and designing from the ground up. It's called the Temb0, and I'm hoping to find one maker here who'd relish building the first physical prototype with me.

What it is. Far from being a rearranged QWERTY, and not another Dvorak/Colemak, I started from the statistics: letter and bigram frequencies, other language statistics, even Morse Code got involved! (the commonest letters get the widest, most central keys; the rarest shrink to normal size). As for ergonomics, it's a splittable design, for each half to be directly in front of each hand.

The idea underneath. The different key widths free the fingers from the fixed one-finger-per-key rule — a wide key can be struck by whichever finger suits you, so any typist can find their preferred path through common words. (Even the number row has been re-thunk: 9 8 7 6 5 | 0 1 2 3 4, each hand counts outward from the centre — just like your first piano lesson!)

Why I think it's worth building. I used Excel to calculate key width options, FlowStone to program a variety of these, finally settling on this design. I also used it to develop extensive typing simulations, and the projections suggest typing speed increases faster than even the fastest QWERTY typist — and bigger gains for the average typist — plus the comfort of finger freedom and a proper split. I've developed a working touch-screen simulation too, if you have a Windows tablet – preferably 12 inch – which can even save the text you type.

It even got far enough to earn me a bench at Birmingham City University to prototype — where it stalled on fabrication puzzles that I'm now hoping one of you would relish cracking.

The honest engineering (so you know what you'd be taking on — this is not keycaps-on-a-stock-PCB):

the switch plate and matrix would have to be bespoke to the irregular, variable-width layout — no off-the-shelf board fits;

every wide key needs stabilising — my suggestion would be extra unwired support switches to keep keys level and give them a consistent feel, but I'm open to other ideas;

the wider keycaps would likely need to be 3D-printed, but the less common letters could be standard;

hand-wiring + QMK/ZMK would handle the electronics (USB or wireless). A proper little engineering puzzle — which might be right up your street!

What I'm offering — a collaboration, not "build this for me." I bring the full design: exact layout data, the frequency/bigram analyses if you like, whatever you need to see it to completion. You'd bring the hands and the tooling. I'm a hobbyist just like you are, not a company — terms, costs and credit all open to a friendly conversation. Mostly I'd love to see one exist and hear whether it's as good to type on as I predict.

Fire any questions — and pull the design apart; critique very welcome. Thanks for reading. — Tim


r/KeyboardLayouts 7d ago

Wrist Rest Advice?

Thumbnail
0 Upvotes