So What's the Dvorak Keyboard?

(Netscape 4 didn't like my picture at one time; other browsers were ok)

I like to refer to it as "keyboard-level encryption" but security is hardly the reason that I use this sensible replacement for the traditional keyboard that has come to dominate the world's key-input devices. When people ask, I say "I type a little faster, quite a bit more accurately, and with less effort than on a 'QWERTY' keyboard." Having read all 50 screens of the larger refutation linked below, I have to concede that the little scientific evidence suggests that the best typists do not benefit much from Dvorak, yet everyone I know who has bothered to learn it loves it (especially me--I have even mastered the new set of vi keys).

• Straight to the FAQ.
• An overview with more OS's and some really interesting history.
• Dylan has a pretty picture and a fair number of links including some guy who wrote against the Dvorak keyboard. This refutation includes an incredibly detailed history of the typewriter wars of the last century. Dylan's Mac Layout is customized for Duo's and has the [ and ] keys in a different place than most.
• More 'proof' that QWERTY is at least as good as Dvorak... ;) Okay, so I really only use Dvorak for the extra 'cool factor'...
• I think this was posted to slashdot and thus all of my friends had to mail it to me. It is a short summary of refutations against the Dvorak keyboard.
• A basic course in Dvorak.
• My xmodmap file to remap your X keyboard. xmodmap is awesome; it has options to swap backspace and delete, among other things.
• The mac layout from Dvorak International. These two layouts are identical as far as I can tell. Someone should tell me if Win95's builtin (though when I tried to switch the machine asked for the CD) Dvorak layout is the same as these two.
• I don't have a link, but I discovered that linux has a nice dvorak mapping in /usr/share/keytables.

My Personal Experience

I was first exposed to the Dvorak keyboard as part of an assignment in high school Computer Science AP. I figured the web might have information about the keyboard and our teacher suggested we try to learn more. Typing Dvorak Keyboard into any net-search engin still turns up a load of pages with all sorts of hacks to get Dvorak working in many environments.

The original CSAP assignment was to write a program to compare the number of finger jumps necessary on different keyboards. Dvorak did suprisingly well and, unlike the Maltron keyboard or a set of data-hands (Hi, JD), Dvorak is trivially implemented with current hardware on almost every computing platform. It was built into the Apple //c (ever wonder what that "Keyboard" button was for?) and Apple IIgs. It is even a standard layout in Windows (3.1 and 95). A Mac layout and an xmodmap script were available on the web when I first looked.

I started learning Dvorak when I discovered that I had to take an "Applied Art" from the Business or Home-Ec departments of my high school. The only classes available second semester senior year (in the period I had free) were "Foods" and "Typing." I was all set to learn about food when it occured to me that I could probably convince someone to let me teach myself Dvorak during that period. I had even purchased "Mavis Beacon Teaches Typing" for my little brother. Mavis has a wonderful option to teach Dvorak, completely different lessons and everything. After much running around to many different people, my friend Mr. Gnagni in the computer lab loaned me a Mac SE for the semester and I secured the required permission from the teacher.

I switched the Apple IIgs at home to Dvorak and then went all the way when I only took my Mac to college. I now use Dvorak everywhere but the VT. Learning was fun, especially as I went from only being able to do one or the other on certain machines where I had practiced to being able to switch back on forth on demand. I hope to get it working on a VT once I recompile screen to have more key-binding space.

Note the ANSI standard Dvorak layout is amazingly annoying because of its placement of the {, }, [, and ] characters. Most implementations have a more normal setup ([ and ] are not on the same key) but I had to hack my original mac layout. If I learned anything from adopting the keyboard, it is that you can customize such things. Talk to me if you don't like some little bit of the keyboard and can't figure out how to change it.

Just the other day...

Thanks a lot.  That is really cool.  I had never actually checked to see
where the new keys are.  This is actually the main reason that I've found
it hard to switch to Dvorak.  I think that it would be cool if you talked
about this in your web page.

On Tue, 23 Jun 1998, Spies_Soren wrote:

> woohoo, more mail from my dvorak page :)
>
> I have had to relearn the vi keys on the dvorak keyboard.  I have always
> used hkjl to move around, but now those keys live at new spots on
> the keyboard.  You just hit the QWERTY J when you want to go left,
> the QWERTY P when you want to go right, etc.  Is that what you mean?
> I've actually come to like them in their new spots.  I have one
> hand for up/down (left hand with index/middle fingers just below
> the home row where they land on J and K) and another for righte/left
> (pinky and index on the right hand).

CapsLock does not belong next to "A"!!