What is the
Dvorak Keyboard?
The Dvorak Keyboard is a keyboard layout invented by
Dr. August Dvorak, a professor of Education at the
The QWERTY Keyboard was designed so that keystrokes
would alternate sides of the keyboard to prevent jams. As years went by the
typewriter was improved and jams became a thing of the past. Then came the
electric typewriter and typist fatigue was now a problem, so the interest in
the Dvorak layout suddenly increased. The Dvorak layout was less tiring on a
typist and more efficient, which would increase office production.
To create this layout Dr. Dvorak had studied letter
frequencies and the physiology of the hand, to create a design that decreased
fatigue and increased efficiency amongst typist. These are the key principals
that where applied in the design of the Dvorak Keyboard layout:
Type letters alternating between hands.
For maximum speed and efficiency, common letters and
digraphs should be on the home row
The least common letters should be on the bottom row.
The right hand should do most of the typing.
Digraphs should be typed with adjacent fingers.
When stroking the keyboard use the inboard stroke
flow.
The Dvorak keyboard layout is set up for the ease of
learning, comfort and productivity of the typist. There were many different
designs for the Dvorak layout but the National Standards Institute settled this
when they approved a standard for the layout in 1982.Unfortunatly the Dvorak
layout is still only used by a small percentage. A lot of the reason due to the
cost to covert all the systems and the training time. Anyone interested in
using the keyboard layout at no extra cost, can give it a try, just by changing
some settings on their computer.
Many operating systems allow reassignment of the
QWWRTY keys to Dvorak keys. The software conversion listed here is for Windows
95/98.
Click on start
Click on Settings
Double Click on Control Panel
Click on Keyboard
Click on Language Tab
Click on Properties
Select Us-Dvorak from drop down list and back out
with 2 oks
You now have a Dvorak Keyboard but your key caps will
still read QWERTY. The conversion part was easy retraining your mind and
fingers will be a little tougher but I am sure the extra speed, efficiency and
the ease you have on the keyboard; will be well worth the extra work!
N Rushing