Keyboard layouts explained
Why keyboards differ between countries, what Dvorak and Colemak change, and whether switching is worth it.
A keyboard layout is the mapping between the physical keys and the characters they produce. The keys are in the same places on almost every keyboard; what changes is which letter each key types. Your computer's language settings decide the layout, which is why a keyboard can type differently on another machine.
QWERTY
Named after the first six letters of the top row, QWERTY is the most widely used layout, including in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom and many other countries. It comes from typewriters of the 1870s. US and UK QWERTY differ in a few symbol keys, such as the position of @ and ".
AZERTY
Used mainly in France and Belgium. A and Q swap places, as do Z and W, and M sits on the home row. Accented letters such as é, è and à have their own keys, and the digits on the top row need Shift.
QWERTZ
Used in Germany, Austria and much of central Europe. Y and Z swap places, because Z is far more common in German, and the umlauts ä, ö and ü and the letter ß have their own keys.
Dvorak
Designed in the 1930s by August Dvorak and William Dealey, it puts all the vowels on the left side of the home row and the most common consonants on the right, so that more typing happens on the home row and hands alternate more often.
Colemak
A modern alternative from 2006 that keeps many QWERTY keys in place, including the common shortcuts Z, X, C and V, while moving the most-used letters to the home row. It is easier to switch to than Dvorak.
Will switching make you faster?
Alternative layouts reduce finger travel, and many users find them more comfortable. Speed gains are less certain: the fastest typists in the world use QWERTY as well as other layouts, and switching means weeks of being slower. If you type with discomfort or are starting from scratch, an alternative layout is worth considering; otherwise, learning to touch type well on your current layout brings the biggest gain.
TypingSpark lessons work on US and UK QWERTY, Spanish QWERTY, French AZERTY, German QWERTZ, Dvorak and Colemak: choose your layout on the lessons page.