Keyboard Layout - QWERTY-based Layouts For Latin Script

QWERTY-based Layouts For Latin Script

Although there are a large number of different keyboard layouts used for different languages written in Latin script, most of these layouts are quite similar. They can be divided into three main families according to where the Q, A, Z, M, and Y keys are placed on the keyboard. These are usually named after the first six letters.

While the core of the keyboard, the alphabetic section, remains fairly constant, and the numbers from 1–9 are almost invariably on the top row, keyboards differ vastly in:

• the placement of punctuation characters,
• which punctuation characters are included,
• whether numbers are accessible directly or in a shift-state,
• the presence and placement of dead keys and letters with diacritics.

The actual mechanical keyboard is of the basic ISO, ANSI, or JIS type; functioning is entirely determined by operating-system or other software. It is customary for keyboards to be used with a particular software keyboard mapping to be engraved appropriately; for example, when the ⇧ Shift and numeric 2 keys are pressed simultaneously on a US keyboard; “@” is generated, and the key is engraved appropriately. On a UK keyboard this key combination generates the double-quote character, and UK keyboards are so engraved.

In the keyboard charts listed below, the primary letters or characters available with each alphanumeric key are often shown in black in the left half of the key, whereas characters accessed using the AltGr key appear in blue in the right half of the corresponding key. Symbols representing dead keys usually appear in red.