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Dvorak Simplified Keyboard

The Dvorak Simplified Keyboard is a keyboard layout which is one of the more common alternatives to the QWERTY layout. It has also been called the Simplified Keyboard or American Simplified Keyboard, but is commonly known as the Dvorak keyboard. It was designed by Drs. August Dvorak and William Dealey in the 1920s and 1930s. The two studied letter frequency and the physiology of the hand and created the layout to adhere to these principles:

The layout was completed in 1932 and was granted U.S. Patent No. 2,040,248 in 1936. It was designated an alternate standard keyboard layout by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) in 1982. In 1984 the Dvorak keyboard had an estimated 100,000 users.

The Dvorak layout

Even though many feel that the principles on which the Dvorak keyboard is based make it superior to the older QWERTY, attempts to universally convert to the Dvorak have been met with resistance. Typists who are already proficient with the QWERTY layout do not want to have to relearn on a new keyboard. Even if QWERTY typists learn the Dvorak layout and become more efficient in the new layout, keyboard shortcuts and applications requiring key position layout (such as the vi editor which have keys h, j, k, and l on the home row) will be different in the Dvorak layout and may require further training. Games that require the relative positions of the keys for motion (for example a for left, w for up, s for down, d for right) may be more difficult to play. Dvorak then may be better suited for use in uses where block-typing is done. However, the design has made some headway, with Dvorak layouts now available on most major computer operating systems.

Dvorak also proposed an alternative ordering of the digitss on the numbers row, 7-5-3-1-9-0-2-4-6-8, believing this arrangement to be more efficient. However, few who use the keyboard employ this rearrangement, and indeed the ANSI standard calls for the usual numerical order.

(left and right handed Dvorak arrangement, respectively)

There are also Dvorak arrangements designed for one-handed typing. (For example, used by disabled person) One arrangement is designed for right-hand typing, and one for left hand. The single-handed typing appeared in two James Bond movies Tomorrow Never Dies by a information age tycoon and GoldenEye by a Russian computer hacker.

There is considerable variation between implementations in the placement of punctuation.

See also

External links