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TANGLED FINGERS AND JUMBLED KEYS
by
ALLISON STARKWEATHER
For over a century typists have used the Qwerty style keyboard layout
that is familiar to most of us today. Although this is the most
widely-used and well-known keyboard layout, it is not the only option
available. For many people, and especially writers, who often spend
hours at a time typing on their computers, it is possibly not even the
best option. A less well-known, but possibly better-designed, layout is
the Dvorak keyboard.
The Qwerty layout was named for the first six letters at the left side
of the top-most row on that keyboard configuration. The Dvorak
keyboard, on the other hand, was named for the man who created the
layout, Dr. August Dvorak. Its name has nothing to do with the layout
of the keys. The first five letters of the home row in Dvorak are
"A-O-E-U-I".
Here are pictures of a Qwerty and a Dvorak key layout:
What's so great
about Dvorak? Is Qwerty wrong?
No, Qwerty is not the "wrong" way to type. There's no wrong way, as
long as whatever you're using works for you. Neither Qwerty nor Dvorak
are "proper"; they're just different. Both have distinct advantages.
Qwerty is far more popular, and you will always be able to find a
keyboard in the Qwerty layout. It is also the layout used by most
businesses. Dvorak is harder to find and less well-known, but in
general is considered better for you physically. Use what works for you
and your needs.
Dvorak has been gaining popularity for several reasons. First, it
generally increases your typing speed by up to 20wpm. The Qwerty
keyboard was developed for the first manual typewriters. At that time
people could type faster than the machines could handle, and the keys
became jammed. Because of that, the keyboard layout was rearranged,
putting the most commonly used keys farther apart, and forcing typists
to slow down. The Dvorak layout, on the other hand, puts the most
commonly used keys on the home row, which means your fingers have to
travel less distance to get to the keys they use most often. This helps
speed up typing, and reduces repetitive motion, which in turn helps
with wrist and arm injuries caused by repetitive typing.
I can type fast;
does that mean I'm typing Dvorak?
No, Dvorak is not a style of typing, like hunt-and-peck or
touch-typing. Dvorak is merely the name given to a specific format of
key arrangement. For computer users, it is a relatively simple task to
switch to a Dvorak layout. All you really need is the keyboard driver,
the desire to make the switch, and the perseverance to keep going when
it seems like it would be easier to continue with your high speeds on
Qwerty, rather than work to improve your at-first low speeds on Dvorak.
If you wish, though, you can buy a keyboard that's already set up in
Dvorak. Also, keep in mind that it is never too late to make the
switch. Learning to touch-type Dvorak is no more difficult than
learning to touch-type Qwerty, with the caveat that if you already know
how to touch-type in Qwerty, you don't just have to program your
fingers--you have to reprogram
them. Although it is possible to switch to Dvorak and still retain your
Qwerty skills, it is more difficult and takes more practice than making
the switch cold-turkey. Learning curves when switching from Qwerty to
Dvorak vary; when I switched, it took me about two days for my fingers
to forget Qwerty, three days to learn the keyboard, and about three
weeks to get up to 60wpm. My fastest speeds with Qwerty had been in the
90s, but for everyday purposes, 60wpm allowed me to get along just
fine. Now, approximately two months after switching, my average typing
speed has increased, my writing speed has more than doubled, and my
maximum recorded speed is currently 110wpm.
Qwerty to Dvorak is not a well-known path, but it has been traveled
before, and we're always happy to help you along the way.
Originally published in Holly Lisle's VISION, issue #16.
Copyright © Allison
Starkweather, 2003. All rights reserved.
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