QWERTY, along with its direct derivatives such as QWERTZ and AZERTY, is the primary keyboard layout for the Latin alphabet. However, there are also keyboard layouts that do not resemble QWERTY very closely, if at all. Some of these are used for languages[which?] where QWERTY may be unsuitable.[why?] Others are specially designed to reduce finger movement and are claimed by some proponents to offer higher typing speed along with ergonomic benefits.
Comparison
This is a chart of alternative keyboard layouts for typing Latin-script characters. National and specialized versions of QWERTY which do not change the letter keys are not included.
| Layout | Design priorities | Base language, country | Homing keys | Created year | # changes from QWERTY | Backspace location | Extra arrow keys? | Programmer features? | Math and symbols? | Modifiers (#core, #aux) | Dead keys? |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| QWERTY | Various1 | English, United States | F J | 1870 (approx.) | 0 | top right | No | No | mostly no | Varies | Varies |
| Dvorak | Ergonomics (hand alternation) | English, United States | U H | 1936 | 28 | top right | No | Varies | No | 1 main, 1 aux | Varies |
| Colemak | Ergonomics (total movement, combos); QWERTY learning234 | English, United States | T N | 2006 | 17 | center left (QWERTY capslock) | No | No | No | 1 main, 1 aux | 14 aux; acute accent non-dead |
| Workman | Ergonomics (lateral extension, finger-specific); QWERTY learning5 | English, United States | T N | 2010 | 22 | center left (QWERTY capslock) | No | Varies | No | 1 main, 1 aux | 14 aux; acute accent non-dead |
| Neo | Ergonomics (home row, alternation)6 | German, Germany | E N | 2010 | 28 | top right, and shifted alternate | Yes | Yes (home-area shifted punctuation) | Yes (<100) | 3 main | 3 main; 8 shifted; 6 aux |
| BÉPO | Ergonomics (combos, home row)7 | French, France | E T | 2004–2006 | 29 | center left (QWERTY capslock) | No | Yes (unshifted punctuation) | Some (<50) | 1 main, 1 aux | 14 aux |
| Asset | QWERTY similarity; Ergonomics (combos, home row)8 | English, United States | T N | 2006 | 15 | center left (QWERTY capslock) | No | No | No | 1 main | No |
| Minimak | QWERTY learning; Ergonomics (total movement, repetition)9 | English, United States | T N | 2012 | 8 default (versions with 4 or 12 available) | center left (QWERTY capslock) | No | No | No | 1 main, 1 aux | ? |
| QWPR | QWERTY learning; Ergonomics (total movement, repetition)10 | English, United States | T N | 2013 | 11 | left (QWERTY tab), top right | Yes | Yes (home-area shifted punctuation) | Yes (>>100) | 2 main | 1 main, 2 shifted, 14 aux, 6 doubled |
| JCUKEN (Latin) | Phonetic similarity to ЙЦУКЕН | International, Soviet Union | A O | 1919 | 30 | top right | No | No | No | ? | ? |
| HCESAR | Ergonomics for Portuguese (letter frequency and hand muscles) | Portuguese, Portugal | D U | 1937 | 29 | top right | No | No | No | ? | 2 main, 3 shifted |
| Turkish (F-keyboard) | Ergonomics for Turkish (letter frequency and hand muscles) | Turkish, Turkey | A K | 1955 | 27 | top right | No | No | No | ? | ? |
See also
References
Yasuoka, Koichi; Yasuoka, Motoko (March 2011). "On the Prehistory of QWERTY" (PDF). ZINBUN. 42: 161–174. doi:10.14989/139379. S2CID 53616602. https://repository.kulib.kyoto-u.ac.jp/dspace/bitstream/2433/139379/1/42_161.pdf ↩
"Easy to learn". Colemak. 2009-11-21. Retrieved 2015-02-24. https://colemak.com/Easy_to_learn ↩
"Colemak computer design process (Page 1) / General / Colemak forum". Forum.colemak.com. Retrieved 2015-02-24. https://forum.colemak.com/viewtopic.php?id=39 ↩
"Shai how did you come up with Colemak? (Page 1) / General / Colemak forum". Forum.colemak.com. Retrieved 2015-02-24. https://forum.colemak.com/viewtopic.php?id=254 ↩
"The Layout Designed with Hands in Mind". Workman Layout. Retrieved 2013-08-18. http://www.workmanlayout.org/ ↩
"Paradigmen – Neo-Layout". Wiki.neo-layout.org. Retrieved 2013-08-18. http://wiki.neo-layout.org/wiki/Paradigmen ↩
"Qu'est-ce que le bépo ? - Disposition de clavier francophone et ergonomique bépo" (in French). Bepo.fr. Retrieved 2013-08-18. http://bepo.fr/wiki/Pr%C3%A9sentation ↩
"Qwerty, Dvorak and the Asset Keyboard". Millikeys.sourceforge.net. 2004-05-17. Retrieved 2013-08-18. http://millikeys.sourceforge.net/asset/ ↩
"FAQ". Minimak. 2012-10-21. Retrieved 2013-08-18. http://www.minimak.org/faq/ ↩
"Qwpr keylayout and layout translator : Wiki : Home". Sourceforge.net. Retrieved 2013-08-18. https://sourceforge.net/p/qwpr/wiki/ ↩