+ Join Email List (+)
+ Blog (+)
+ Windows
+ Tips
+ Wintips Archives
+ Internet
+ Useful Websites
+ Interesting Websites
+ NetHack
+ Dvorak Keyboard
+ Anki
The Dvorak keyboard layout is an alternative keyboard layout designed by August Dvorak (duh-VOR-ack, not like the composer) in the 1930s, which is intended to make typing more efficient and comfortable. The QWERTY keyboard layout, which is the standard today, was designed to get around the mechanical limitations of early typewriters, and the designer did not consider for a moment the ease of typing using the device. (He even felt his first try was inadequate, and submitted another layout after the original mechanical problems were no longer important, but this layout was rejected by the public.)
Dvorak: QWERTY:
| ' , . p y f g c r l a o e u i d h t n s ; q j k x b m w v z |
q w e r t y u i o p a s d f g h j k l ; z x c v b n m , . / |
I have written a long informational essay about it, which follows. Select any heading to jump there, or scroll down and start reading.
December 23, 2011: Updated to reflect more experience with Dvorak.
Table of Contents
1. Introduction
2. Principles of Well-Designed Keyboards
3. Advantages of Dvorak
4. Typing Demons
5. Problems with/Disadvantages of Dvorak
6. Opposition to Dvorak
7. Compatibility Notes
8. Similar Efforts in Other Languages
9. Using Dvorak
10. Switching to Dvorak
11. Keyboards
12. Being Alternate-Keyboard-Friendly
13. Could We Do Better?
14. Conclusion
15. Further Reading and Links
Printer-Friendly Version (PDF)
Introduction
“I'm tired of trying to do something worthwhile for the human race—they simply don't want to change!” --August Dvorak
Dvorak's complaint seems to be echoed throughout history. You have to wonder how much better the world could be today if people didn't mind change. But the sad fact of the matter is that nothing can be done about it—for numerous reasons, people like to stick with what they have, and, unfortunately, this tendency can cause a superior idea or product to never be accepted.
Such is the case with Dvorak's “Simplified Keyboard”, now usually known as the “Dvorak” keyboard or the “DSK” (Dvorak Simplified Keyboard). Dvorak spent years studying the keyboard, the typewriter, and the way our hands move most efficiently. As part of all this research, which eventually became his (and three other co-authors') book, Typewriting Behavior, he compiled a list of the most frequently used words and sequences in the English language and designed a keyboard that actually made sense. (The usual QWERTY layout was designed to meet the mechanical needs of early typewriters, and even back in the 1930's was long obsolete.)
Principles of Well-Designed Keyboards
Dvorak used the following principles to design his keyboard:
- Typing should alternate between hands when possible. This is because you can get ready for the next keystroke while still typing, and also because your fingers don't move completely independently (try leaving your middle finger lowered and raising your other fingers, and you'll see what I mean). Of course, if you follow up the use of one hand with the other, this is not a problem anymore.
- Typing should be kept on the home row when possible. This obviously saves a lot of movement since you don't have to move your fingers at all to reach eight of the home row keys, and you must move a lesser amount for the other two. QWERTY does very poorly at this; only 32% of keystrokes are on the home row. On the Dvorak layout, fully 70% of keystrokes are made on the home row.
- When typing cannot be on the home row, it should be on the top, because the bottom row is the most difficult to reach.
- If successive letters are typed with the same hand, adjacent fingers moving outward should be avoided (i.e. “fd” on the QWERTY keyboard). This is fairly difficult to type compared to different hands and separated fingers on the same hand.
- Typing should go from the outside to the inside of the keyboard (that is, towards the center of the keyboard; try 'as' or 'kj' on the QWERTY keyboard). This is known as inboard stroke flow, and it is much faster to type that way than the other way. Try drumming your fingers on the table both ways; at least for most people, it's much faster and more comfortable that way. (In fact, some modern research suggests that inboard strokes are actually faster than alternating hands—try it. Unfortunately, optimizing for the most possible strokes of this type will end up making a few keystrokes very efficient at the expense of most other ones.)
- Using the same finger for two letters is a row should be avoided whenever possible, for obvious reasons.
- The load between hands should be kept fairly even, with a
small emphasis on the right since most people are right-handed. (Note:
There is a layout called "Dvorak Left-Handed" available on many
operating systems--this is not a Dvorak layout to be used instead of
the normal one if you are left-handed, it is for typing with only your left hand.)
- Words should not be typed with one hand while the other remains idle. Examples of this on the QWERTY keyboard include 'minimum' and 'greatest'. This effectively halves your typing speed, and overworks that hand.
- “Hurdles”, where the hand has to jump over the home row to reach the top and bottom rows in sequence (or vice versa), should be avoided whenever possible. This problem is greatly reduced on the DSK by both making sure far more keystrokes are on the home row and by encouraging hand alternation. An example of a bad hurdle on the QWERTY layout is 'minimum'. There are far fewer hurdles on the DSK.
If you look at the layout at the top of this screen, you'll note that all the vowels are under one hand, and all the common consonants are under another. This greatly helps alternation of hands, because it makes right-hand-only words (or right-hand-only syllables, for that matter) impossible. Furthermore, most of the consonants are on the right, so the number of left-hand-only words is under 500.
Advantages of the Dvorak Layout
From the above section, it should be pretty clear that the Dvorak layout is more logically laid out. Here's what it leads to:
- Dvorak is more comfortable. Since your fingers have to move less and there are fewer awkward reaches, nearly everyone who has used both QWERTY and Dvorak reports that Dvorak is more comfortable. Some people have reported that switching to Dvorak has helped their RSI (Repetitive Stress Injury) and other typing-related pain issues as well.
- Dvorak is faster. Some people can never pass their QWERTY speeds after they switch, but most do. (Ironically, some of the best QWERTY typists end up doing poorly on Dvorak, simply because they're already so good on QWERTY.) This point is often disputed, and many people who like and use Dvorak are really more concerned about comfort than speed, but in general, Dvorak allows faster speeds. (Barbara Blackburn, the fastest typist on record, failed her high school typing class (which taught QWERTY, of course), then went on to break records on the DSK and score a maximum speed of 212 WPM.)
- Dvorak is easier to learn. In the few experiments that have been done, new students learned the DSK far faster than QWERTY. In fact, in one test, the average typing speed of DSK typists after two semesters of classes was greater than the average speed of QWERTY typists after six semesters. There are always complaints about such studies, but it's pretty hard to deny that even if there were some errors in the study, it's rather obvious that Dvorak is at least somewhat easier to learn.
- Dvorak just makes more sense. There's a reason for all the letter placements, and it was designed scientifically for ease of typing, rather than for now-unimportant mechanical reasons.
Another interesting indicator of Dvorak's superiority is a list of the most frequently misspelled words (link opens in new window) on both layouts. Personally, I'd like to see more data and repetition of this because it was done quite a long time ago, and some newer words may be more of a problem. Additionally, the list of Dvorak demons has unexpected patterns--even though the words are apparently organized in order of the frequency each error had made, chunks of the list appear in alphabetical order. This table was very poorly explained in the book where it originally appeared, but one logical explanation might be that that the errors in these sections all occurred with the same frequency. Of course, this likely points to a small data set. This may or may not be the case, but it is something to keep in mind. A small amount of data, however, is not surprising and certainly not deserving of conspiracy suspicion; after all, Dvorak would have had to train typists on the DSK, and there still can't have been many.
Nevertheless, despite any possible errors and inconsistencies, it's very interesting to look at and compare the lists. The QWERTY list includes such words as “the”, “to”, and “that.” (“The”, in fact, is the most frequently misspelled word on QWERTY, and not exactly an uncommon one.) The Dvorak list, on the other hand, is mostly longer words, like “beautiful”, “arrangement”, and “husband.” Only one (“new”) is shorter than 4 letters.
Problems with / Disadvantages of Dvorak
Of course, nothing is ever perfect. Here are some of the problems Dvorak users may have to deal with:
- Many of the shortcut keys have moved. A typist who switches will have to learn new keystrokes and redevelop your muscle memory for cut, copy, paste, save, undo, and so on. In general, this is a small problem—most people get used to it fairly quickly. Some people like to have cut, copy, and paste on their left hands so that when they're editing, they can have one hand on the mouse and cut and paste with the other (C and V are too far to reach with the left hand alone, although some people report learning to move to the right side of the keyboard and using the right Ctrl key instead.) Some people remap the ;qjk keys to ZXCV when the Control key is pressed using certain software programs, and the TypeMatrix has dedicated Cut, Copy, and Paste keys in a convenient location.
- It's less compatible than QWERTY. Nearly everywhere you go, at least in the US, there will be a working QWERTY keyboard. (Some other countries have similar but slightly different keyboards, like the German QWERTZ or the French AZERTY.) Not so with the Dvorak layout.
- It works its best only in English. Dvorak designed the DSK for English, but other languages obviously have different letter frequencies. Nevertheless, Dvorak is often still better than QWERTY in many languages. What really needs to happen is for someone to get a project together that analyzes each language the way Dvorak did (with the aid of a computer, to make it a bit easier and more accurate). There have already been some limited efforts for other languages. It's worth checking them out, although you should note that they won't be accessible from nearly as many computers as US Dvorak will be, so you may have to live with the default when you use other computers or carry the keyboard map on a flash drive.
- Some Unix commands are optimized for QWERTY and will be awkward in Dvorak. (Try typing 'ls', one of the most common commands.) Chances are you won't care (or know what UNIX commands even are), and if you do, it's generally not a deal-breaker, just something to be aware of. (Some people move their hands out of the normal touch-typing position for these commands in order to make them less awkward.)
- Many programming languages use a lot of symbols like brackets, braces, and semicolons, many of which are in awkward positions in Dvorak. To be honest, though, it's really a problem with nearly every keyboard layout, not just Dvorak. It should be noted that there is a layout called Programmer Dvorak, which keeps all the letters in Dvorak's positions, then reverts the numbers to Dvorak's original layout (7531902468) and places the numbers in the shifted position (caps lock works on the numbers if you need to type extended runs of digits). The final result has most of the braces and such on the numerical key row, so you don't have to overuse your pinkies to hit them.
Some people claim that Dvorak is no better than QWERTY. My general response to this is nonsense. There are three primary reasons why they (or you) might think this:
- You don't want to believe you aren't typing the most efficient way possible.
- You read an article that presents poor information.
- You tried it, didn't like it, and decided that meant it stank for everyone.
If you read the article carefully, you might notice that it's really based on circular reasoning—few people use the Dvorak layout because it isn't better, and it isn't better because few people use it. Of course, besides the scientific evidence, there's the fact that (according to a survey taken in the 1980s), over 100,000 people use the DSK, and it's hard to believe that they are all using Dvorak if it's just an “urban legend”, as L&M claim.
Another frequently cited study by Dr. Earl Strong claims that Dvorak showed only a slight advantage over QWERTY (the study measured only the speeds of two groups). However, the study had some serious problems—for one, tired and newly retrained Dvorak typists who had just gone through an exhausting training course were measured against QWERTY typists who had not been doing any training at all. When other researchers found Strong's conclusions suspicious, they asked him for his raw data, only to find that he had destroyed it. Strong was known to be a personal enemy of Dvorak's, and he once said, “I have developed a great deal of material on how to get this increased production on the part of typists on the standard [QWERTY] keyboard...I strongly feel that the present keyboard has not been fully exploited, and I am out to exploit it to its very utmost in opposition to the change to new keyboards.” To quote Marcus Brooks on the website I have linked below, “...I think that quote just about says it all, don't you?”
Even if the study contained no bias at all, it'd be a major stretch to claim that the results apply to new typists, rather than just people switching layouts.
Rather than repeating more perfectly good information here, I'll encourage you to visit Marcus Brooks' page if you're still interested.
Another reason that people sometimes don't want to use Dvorak is the difficulty they say you have using other keyboards after switching layouts. First of all, there are a number of ways to use Dvorak on another computer. Secondly, people who use both layouts regularly often have no difficulty at all switching between layouts. You'll find plenty of skeptics who claim it's impossible, but I'd be quite happy to demonstrate placing a QWERTY keyboard and a Dvorak keyboard side-by-side and switching between them multiple times in the same sentence. Personally, I don't even have to think about it because I use a keyboard with one design for Dvorak, and another design for QWERTY, so my fingers can detect the difference and know which layout to use before I even begin typing. (I still can use Dvorak or QWERTY on the “wrong” keyboard design, I just have to think about it for a second.)
All this said, feel perfectly free to try the Dvorak layout and draw your own conclusions about whether you think it's really better. All I do ask is that if it doesn't work for you, you don't go around parading that Dvorak totally stinks because it didn't work for you. Plenty of other people use it daily, and it works great for the majority of them.
Compatibility Notes
- Most mobile devices don't support Dvorak, but this isn't usually a problem since you can't touch-type on that little keyboard anyway.
- Dvorak typewriters do exist, but at this point they're pretty hard to find. (Searching eBay for “dvorak typewriter” got me exactly one hit.) Typewriters have a pretty different feel from computer keyboards though, so if you know much QWERTY at all you will probably be able to switch without much difficulty.
- Some really old dumb terminals don't support Dvorak. It's pretty unlikely that you'll have to use one, though.
- You may have problems with certain dedicated kiosks, library catalogs, and so on; then again, this is rarely much of a problem since you don't use these types of computers for very long.
- Some really annoying and recalcitrant programs enjoy ignoring the operating system's keymappings. The best thing to do here is usually to buy a hard-wired keyboard (or replace the program).
Similar Efforts in Other Languages
As I mentioned earlier, the Dvorak keyboard was designed for the English language. It still works better than QWERTY for many similar languages, but all languages have different letter frequencies. To my knowledge, nobody else has researched as extensively as Dvorak did, but several small projects have created Dvorak-like keyboards, which you can find with a bit of Google searching.
It should be noted that you can make your own layouts if you have a small amount of computer skill and a will to mess around. The Windows tool for this is the Microsoft Keyboard Layout Creator. Other operating systems have their own, which you can once again find with a bit of research. In addition, certain high-end keyboards like the Kinesis Contoured let you remap the keyboard on a hardware level.
Using Dvorak
So what can you do if you want to use Dvorak on an ordinary computer with a QWERTY keyboard? And for that matter, how can you switch your own computer?
- Convert the computer. Every modern operating system includes an option to use the Dvorak layout. As long as you aren't locked out of the control panel (which may be the case on some public computers with paranoid administrators), you can change it and switch back when you're done with the computer. (Obviously, don't forget the last step if it's not your computer or you'll wind up making quite a few enemies when subsequent users find that the keyboard doesn't work right for them.) See Marcus Brooks' page for instructions, or try Google if the information you need isn't there. There are, however, a few recalcitrant programs that like to ignore your keyboard settings and read the keyboard's scan codes directly, and your keyboard will revert to QWERTY. So you can pick the next option instead if you're having problems with it.
- Get a hard-wired keyboard. A number of keyboards are wired to send Dvorak keystrokes, including the TypeMatrix (see the Keyboards section), which has the added convenience of being small enough to be easily tossed into a laptop bag, briefcase, or backpack. If there's a visible USB port (and the paranoid lab supervisor who thinks you're going to plug in a USB-based bomb isn't around), you can plug it in and you're ready to go. There is also a device called the QIDO (http://www.keyghost.com/qido/), which works like a hard-wired keyboard but plugs in between the keyboard and the computer. Obviously, this is more portable, but also requires you to fool around with cables.
- Keep practicing QWERTY (or learn it if you never have). This is obviously more appealing if you knew QWERTY and then switched, because otherwise you're using your time learning an inefficient and poorly designed keyboard. Most people find QWERTY to be pretty uncomfortable after a successful switch, too. That said, many people can keep both layouts in their head and type on the QWERTY layout when they encounter a computer that doesn't have Dvorak. (Warning: Some people find that they are unable to continue typing in QWERTY, so be ready for the possibility that you may be stuck with Dvorak.) It should also be noted that, obviously, if you stop using QWERTY, you'll lose speed and eventually forget it. On the other hand, if you use the layout at least occasionally, you'll probably be able to keep it going. Another thing that helps some people to keep the two layouts straight is to type Dvorak on some sort of ergonomic or otherwise unusual keyboard and QWERTY on a “normal” keyboard. (I can happily switch from a Dvorak ergonomic keyboard to a QWERTY standard keyboard on the same desk and not even have to think about changing layouts.)
A lot of people (like me) use QWERTY, hear about Dvorak, and want to switch. A few notes:
- If you never learned to touch type on QWERTY, or you've never been good at it, you'll probably love Dvorak. If you're pretty good at QWERTY, you may be frustrated for a while as you lose your typing speed, but chances are good you'll recover it after a bit of training and be quite happy with it.
- If you can already type QWERTY at around 90 WPM or greater without any discomfort, think long and hard before you switch. You may do better and enjoy the change, but many fast QWERTY typists don't do so well on Dvorak, simply because they're already so good. You will almost certainly be more comfortable (even though you don't realize how uncomfortable QWERTY is until you try Dvorak), but don't count on a speed increase.
- While you're retraining, don't type QWERTY at all if you can help it. You'll be much less frustrated that way, even though your typing may be infuriatingly slow for a while.
- Try to limit your work outside of training, and definitely don't do it in QWERTY! For this reason, it's best to wait until you can get some time off from work, if you can help it.
- If you don't want to lose your QWERTY skills, it may be helpful just to type a few lines in QWERTY every couple of days so you don't forget the layout entirely. Then again, plenty of people type in only Dvorak for days while retraining, and are still able to use QWERTY when they're done.
- Consider switching to a keyboard with a different feel when using Dvorak—it helps many people to keep the layouts separate. Of course, if you pick a significantly different keyboard, making that change at the same time as you change the keyboard layout may be a recipe for frustration, so it may be better to start your Dvorak training and then switch keyboards a few days in.
At the beginning of last year (early 2010), something inspired me to try the switch again. And this time, my progress amazed me—working for only an hour or two a day, within a week I was up to 40 WPM! (Just another showing of the ease of learning Dvorak, I suppose.) By early 2011, I was at a 60 average on typing tests, and recently (December 2011) I maintained a speed of 108 WPM over three minutes. I can still type QWERTY, although it feels awkward and uncomfortable compared to Dvorak, and I much prefer to change the layout.
So now I'm a Dvorak convert. And I'm certainly glad I made the change.
Keyboards
Good hardware is a nice thing to have. You could take the step of moving to a more ergonomic layout and continue to type on a $5 keyboard, but it's certainly not ideal. Some notable keyboards are listed below. If you just want a completely normal, new keyboard that actually costs some money, heading out to a local store and trying out keyboards will get you one that works well for you.
- IBM Model M: Many people swear by the Model M, which was made in the eighties and clearly goes down in history as one of the sturdiest keyboards ever made (it weighs over 5 pounds fully assembled, which makes it stay put on your desk). See this PCWorld article for an interesting analysis. Many of them are over 20 years old, and people still use them daily. It doesn't have any ergonomic features, but it has a great no-nonsense design, without shortcut keys that get in your way (if that's what you like), and it has a great feel. Some sell for over a hundred dollars, but IBM made enough of them that they occasionally show up in dumpsters or at garage sales for $2. If you spot one, it'd be a good thing to grab and try out. You'll probably need to pick up some converters, since most of them use the old 'big' keyboard connectors (remember those big round plugs?) or PS/2, which many modern computers lack. (Available used only, varying prices)
- Northgate OmniKey: This keyboard is very similar to the Model M. Some models reportedly have switches, accessible by popping off the logo panel, that let you convert the keyboard to Dvorak. (Available used only, varying prices)
- TypeMatrix: A fairly new entry to the high-end keyboard market, the TypeMatrix is a design that combines straight key columns with a compact design and separated hands. Straight columns are more comfortable—angled ones force an uncomfortable tilt in the left hand, since the keys lean to the left as you go up. (Dvorak noted this fact in his book, Typewriting Behavior, and suggested sitting slightly to the right of your keyboard to compensate.) The compact layout allows all the functionality of a standard keyboard, limits the distance you have to reach for the mouse, and makes it easy to toss in a travel bag. The key switches aren't quite as sturdy as those of the Model M, but it still feels quite good. The Backspace, Enter, and Delete keys divide the middle of the keyboard, simultaneously allowing you to hit these keys with your stronger index fingers and splitting your hands up a bit further so they don't have to lean so far towards the center of the keyboard. All TypeMatrices have a hard-wired Dvorak mode activated by hitting Fn-F1. (Annoyingly, you must do this every time you plug in the keyboard or turn on the computer, but it's a small problem that you get used to quickly.) ($110-$120, http://www.typematrix.com)
- Kinesis Contoured: The Kinesis is a keyboard with hands split far apart, concave wells to fit the natural shape of your hands, tremendous programmability (you can program every key, making it easy to create your own keyboard layout or remap any particular key if you so desire). It also has an optional foot pedal (which you can program to do whatever you want) and a QWERTY-Dvorak hard-wired switchable model with dual-legend keys. It's a bit unusual, but many people swear by it, and I can testify that it's extremely comfortable. I own both the Kinesis and the TypeMatrix and use them both on a regular basis. ($299-359, http://www.kinesis-ergo.com/)
If you use Dvorak, you're likely to have some trouble with using your preferred layout, especially on a shared computer. If you don't use Dvorak, it's nice to help people who do, and you should at least ensure access.
If you are in charge of a computer lab, make sure the keyboard layout settings can be changed. Provide easy access to a USB port for keyboards (or flash drives for that matter). Instead of locking down the control panel for security, which prevents people from using the keyboard layout of their choice, accessing accessibility features, or making other perfectly harmless and useful setting changes, consider a security program that instead simply resets the machine to its previous state when rebooted. This accomplishes exactly the same thing (with some added protection against malware) without annoying people.
If you use Dvorak and others occasionally need to use QWERTY on your system, things may get a bit more complicated. Microsoft Windows allows users to set their own keyboard preferences, and leaves the login screen at the default QWERTY. Unfortunately, this apparent simplicity often disappears if you switch users without logging out, in which case it will stick on the most recently used layout. Experiment with this and figure out what you need to do to switch back so that others can log in. If there's only one user account shared by multiple people, things are a bit easier; you can just hit the keystroke that switches layouts (Alt-Shift is the default on Windows).
One simple way to get around the login problem is to use passwords consisting of only the characters a, m, A, M, 0-9, and the special characters on the number keys—these characters are in the same place on both QWERTY and Dvorak.
As for letting people know how to switch layouts, you can make a sign and post it next to the computer, like so:
This computer uses two keyboard layouts (QWERTY and US-Dvorak). If you are not getting the characters you expect, press Alt-Caps Lock to switch layouts.
If you want to advertise a bit, you could do that:
This computer defaults to the Dvorak keyboard layout, a significantly easier and more comfortable way to type. If you prefer the QWERTY layout (or the computer is currently in QWERTY mode and you want Dvorak), press Alt-Caps Lock.
Obviously, if QWERTY is the default, you need to change it up a bit:
This computer defaults to the QWERTY keyboard layout. If you prefer Dvorak, an easier and more comfortable way to type (or you use QWERTY and Dvorak is currently selected), press Alt-Caps Lock to switch layouts. For more information about Dvorak, see <local Dvorak user>.
If the environment permits it, you can be a bit more clever:
This computer uses the home row keys AOEUIDHTNS. If you prefer the nonsensical series ASDFGHJKL; or you are getting nonsense when typing, you might try pressing Alt-Caps Lock.
I'm sure you can come up with an interesting way to explain Dvorak for your computer.
If you use Dvorak on a computer that's basically just yours and you use some sort of hard-wired Dvorak ergonomic keyboard (like a Kinesis Contoured, say), it's nice to keep a cheap QWERTY keyboard plugged into your computer in case a QWERTY user (or IT) comes into your office and wants to use your computer.
Sometimes Dvorak users may run into a situation where they cannot access the Dvorak layout—perhaps someone has disabled access to the control panel, or maybe you brought your own keyboard but there's no accessible USB port to plug it into. The best thing to do in this case is probably to find the system administrator or the person responsible for the computer or lab, and respectfully explain the problem and ask for access. Chances are that the administrator just didn't realize that people might want to use Dvorak.
Occasionally, you may find someone who is actively opposed to your use of Dvorak. In this case, you either need to talk to someone more sensible who can order them around, or you can just try to use it without telling anyone. However, sometimes their dislike of Dvorak may be because they were fooled into thinking that Dvorak's superiority is a myth (most likely by two economists by the names of Liebowitz and Margolis), in which case you may be able to change their mind by pointing them to “The Fable of the Fable”, and another site or two with actual facts about Dvorak.
In a few cases, like when taking the GRE, you may simply be out of luck. In that case, you may just have to go back to the old keyboard (or just hunt-and-peck if you never learned it). Fortunately, these situations are few and far between today, with the advent of computers and their switchable keyboard layouts (and hard-wired keyboards like the TypeMatrix), so it's unlikely to be a serious issue.
Could We Do Better?
Every user on every keyboard layout has some little problem with their layout (or a big one, on a bad layout). The most common complaints on Dvorak include the use of the right pinky, one of the weakest fingers, for the two common letters 'l' and 's', and the position of 'u' rather than 'i' on the home position, when 'i' is more common than 'u'. Dvorak didn't publish a log of all the keys he moved around and why, and he's not alive to ask today, so we can only guess. One possible explanation for the u is that 'ou' is one of the most common letter sequences, while most of the sequences involving 'i' contain consonants (so you have time to reach over for the 'i' while on the other side of the keyboard). Obviously, if all five vowels are going to be under one hand and on the home row, one has to be a small reach, and 'i' seems as good a choice as any: 'a', 'o', and 'e' are used too often, and 'u' is better in home position for reasons already discussed.
As for the 'l' and 's', I can only say that Dvorak must have had a good reason; he did attempt to put frequently used letters under stronger fingers, and he certainly didn't say “I think I'll just put the 'l' over here because I feel like it” after all his research. Some people try to move some of these letters around. While you're free to do this, you should keep two things in mind. First, the Dvorak keyboard is a very carefully balanced layout, and moving one thing is likely to have a domino effect throughout your entire keyboard and possibly make many other keystrokes more difficult. Secondly, nearly every computer has the standard Dvorak layout (it being an ANSI standard), but your customized layout may be really hard to use on any other computer.
There are some projects that claim to have produced “better” keyboards than the DSK. Many of these do achieve slightly lower movement. Unfortunately, some writings erroneously assume that low movement is the same as low effort. I put Colemak, probably the third most popular layout for English, to a simple test, typing some of the most common two-letter sequences in English (ou, th, and so on), and found many of these to be pretty awkward. This simply goes to show that designing a good keyboard has far more parts than simply finding the spots that will allow your fingers to travel the shortest distances.
Colemak may actually be better than Dvorak; however, it has yet to be scientifically proven. Very little research has been done on keyboards in the last few decades. I am personally skeptical, due to my test and the fact that it was actually designed as an intermediate layout (to be easier to retrain on than Dvorak). More importantly, though, any difference would be fairly small (the finger distance saved by using Colemak instead of Dvorak is pretty low), and Dvorak is a standard, whereas finding Colemak support is much more of a challenge (it's not included with Windows).
In the future, it may be possible to do better than Dvorak, particularly with the aid of a computer to redesign the layout. However, getting people to switch to using Dvorak is enough of a challenge without throwing yet another keyboard layout into the works. A century in the future, English may have very different letter frequency. But we can't predict that; if the time comes that it becomes necessary, someone will (hopefully) do it. And we don't even know for sure that typing will still be commonplace in 2111.
Conclusion
Typing is a major part of most people's lives today, and mostly typing with the QWERTY keyboard layout. The keyboard remains popular as an input device because it is cheap and has a versatility that any other input device has yet to match, allowing one to write, enter program commands, and play games. It can also be used (slowly) by somebody who has no training whatsoever, and can be mastered in a relatively short period of time. Devices like the stenotype (used for court reporting) record shorthand at amazing speeds (the world record is a blazing 375 words per minute, and most experienced users routinely reach 200), but require a great amount of training. Other options include things like voice recognition, but they all have some sort of disadvantage that generally leaves the keyboard standing as the best option.
If everyone had switched to Dvorak when it was developed, chances are that there would be fewer computer-related discomfort issues, less frustration with learning to type, and more efficiently-completed work. But with the old layout so common already, switching will be even harder today than it was when the DSK was developed. I've heard a number of suggestions for getting people to use Dvorak, including legislation to require a way to switch layouts on all public computers and requiring both Dvorak and QWERTY legends on new keyboards. Unfortunately, these and all similar laws are a bit extreme, and it seems unlikely that such a law will ever be passed. So we're stuck in a vicious circle: poor compatibility discourages people from using Dvorak layouts, while there's poor compatibility only because few people are using Dvorak. But I think it can be broken. Part of the problem is that many people who would benefit and would be willing to switch simply don't know about it. (Even worse, new typists are trained on an old and poorly designed QWERTY layout every single day, for which there is absolutely no reason but inertia.) As more people learn about the DSK (and spread the word to others), the number of people using Dvorak layouts (or similar layouts in languages other than English) will hopefully increase and eventually reach a point where enough people are aware of it and using it that compatibility should become a given.
Of course, this may never happen. But I think even people who don't use or care to use Dvorak hope it will—the advantages of using it over QWERTY are difficult to ignore. Maybe we can overcome our reluctance of change and finally accomplish what Dvorak hoped we could years ago, and it will only be too bad that he wasn't alive to see his pessimism proven wrong.
--
Soren "scorchgeek" Bjornstad
http://www.thetechnicalgeekery.com
Copyright 2011 Soren Bjornstad.
Verbatim copying and redistribution of part or all of this work
is permitted, provided this notice is preserved.
Further Reading and Links
(This section is not in the PDF version.)
- Marcus Brooks' excellent Dvorak portal, known especially for its "Dissent" page.
- List of QWERTY and Dvorak Typing Demons.
- A website with really poor grammar and bad design, but interesting information.
- An online Dvorak typing course.
- ABCD (A Basic Course in Dvorak), another online typing course.
- TypeMatrix, a compact and comfortable keyboard with a Dvorak option.
- Kinesis Ergo, a company that makes a few ergonomic keyboards, including some with built-in Dvorak.
- Dvorak Anywhere, which converts QWERTY keystrokes to Dvorak.
- A Dvorak Zine, quite funny and informative at the same time.
- The Wikipedia page for the DSK.
- An old article about the Dvorak keyboard.
- Altkeyboards, a mailing list about alternative keyboards, which frequently discusses Dvorak.
Back to Top
![Contact Information (webmaster[REMOVE_THIS_BEFORE_SENDING]@thetechnicalgeekery.com](../Email.png)