Move your keyboard keys from QWERTY to Dvorak

[emilysgotcurls]

You forget the part where when you press a button, it will come up as the previous keyboard button...

[danskdvorak]

Vyggy:

An Appel one? they all change well. I have both the wireless and the wire one both succesfully converted...

[Vyggy]

Pity I cant do this to my current keyboard... its one of those stinky apple aluminium keyboards with fin layout...

[MrsRandomMadeMeDoIt]

its easier to type with faster aswell, the problem is just this.. not enought are using this, so when i go to school, ide have to adapt to the other and that would sux to, have to adapt forth and back. jeg er forresten dansker.. :p

[slayerpianoman]

you guys know you can just change the settings in the control panel to do this, right...???

[jaco2083]

no this dosen't change that, this tells you how to after changing settings making the keys the same as what they do

so where Q was, there is now ,

[lerikhkl]

I'm amused by your complete lack of understanding of how keyboards work :)

[SailorBJupiter]

HOW?????!!!!!!!!?!?!??!/!?!?

[METROIDBUSTERM]

@slayerpianoman Duh, but the keyboard would not look right when we do so. This is another step for changing it.

[pokekid54321]

i took out my j and thought it was broken but i just pushed it in and "viola" it was fixed.

Imcertainly not doing that again

[smurf88]

Wow.

[Ishar94]

at the end did you use a desktop keyboard... because in looked like it.

[danskdvorak]

Yes the old external Mac Keyboard.

[Ishar94]

I am a Dvorak user well just started to use it... ohh. is there any Mac keyboard that comes with the Dvorak layout

[danskdvorak]

Hi Ishar,

No, no premade dvorak Macs (Steve!?!) but all mac products - Macbook, macbookpro and the old mac keyboard* - I have come across has been easy to convert.

Tobias

* like the last keyboard in the above movie.

[Ishar94]

I have a new iMac with OS X.... and you mentioned that this only works with older Macs am I right??

[danskdvorak]

Hi Ishar.

No its all macs.

Go to systempref -> international -> Keyboard...

Down the list you will find dvorak.

Tobias

[kruks]

Also, many keyboards have keys that are designed with angles and heights intended for the layout the keyboard was sold for. Changing the key positions can result in improperly angled keys. It shouldn't matter much if a person is devoted towards learning Dvorak, but people should be forewarned that switching the key layout isn't an ideal permanent solution.

[danskdvorak]

In some cases no, that is true, but in most cases I would say it is the ideal permanent solution, perhaps only on an external keyboard. And every keyboard we have tested: Apple, Dell, Labtec, Acer, this solution, has worked as a charm.

We warn the user to be carefull when trying to change the key layout and for english/US users this is no problem because several pre-fabricated dvorak keyboards is out there to buy for them unwilling to use this method.

[kruks]

It should be mentioned that it can be advantageous not to change the keyboard layout. Learning Dvorak on a QWERTY layout will force the typist to memorize the Dvorak key positions instead of relying on sight. Learning by sight has a more gradual but much longer learning curve. In addition, a QWERTY layout will make it easier for anyone that may use the computer that doesn't know Dvorak.

[danskdvorak]

This might be true, but we have found the following method to work splendidly too:

Change the key layout, perhaps only on an external keyboard ( as an small investment in the effort to learn ). And then in a small floating window on your screen (mac-users use the application 'notes') place a small image so that it is easy to 'find your key' with out looking down.

Are you a Dvorak user?

[Ishar94]

Is there a way to do this on a desktop keyboard?

[danskdvorak]

Hi,

yes, we have tried it on mac (see end of movie) and labtec keyboards, but note as mentioned above: "Changing the key positions can result in improperly angled keys. I"

try it out.

[danskdvorak]

Yes you have to set Windows/OSX to dvorak. If you are english you can find more information here:

dvzine( DOT ) org/zine/16-17.html

dvzine( DOT ) org/zine/18-19.html

If your language is containing special characters (like Danish æøå) you need a special driver, look on the internet!

[dstrdm]

but, wherever i put the key "a" for example its going to write "a" on screen?

[kruks]

An "a" will show up no matter if it's QWERTY or Dvorak, as it's one of the few keys that is the same in ether configuration ("m" being the other).

Otherwise, it's a matter of changing the keyboard settings. Some Windows OS's allow a keyboard button to be attached to the toolbar, to allow the keyboard configuration to be switched at any time. This is useful when learning Dvorak, in case a person needs to switch to QWERTY to type quickly until they've learned Dvorak, or if the computer is shared.

[danskdvorak]

OSX(Mac)-users also have this possibility!

[Hubbenbach]

I'm going Dvorak..