A year ago, I made a big change in the way I type.
I switched to the Dvorak keyboard.
The Dvorak keyboard? If you’re not familiar with the Dvorak keyboard, you have to understand that the most-commonly-used QWERTY keyboard (named for the first 6 characters on the upper row ) is not the only keyboard that you can use with your computer. You can switch it to many other arrangements. Most of these are for other languages, some are for people who can’t use two hands to type, but there are also some, such as the Dvorak, that are alternative arrangements of the English alphabet. In fact, you can change the computer’s software settings to allow you to continue to use your old QWERTY keyboard, but have each key interpreted as its Dvorak equivalent. For example, when the computer is set to the Dvorak keyboard, the first 5 keys on the middle row will type “a o e u i” instead of “a s d f g”.
Why would you want to use the Dvorak keyboard?
It’s often said that the world’s fastest typists use (or used) the Dvorak keyboard. But I don’t think that’s the best reason to use it. Nor do I think that the Dvorak will, by itself, dramatically improve your typing speed. In my opinion, the two main reasons to use the Dvorak are (1) doing so can force you to learn touch-typing, and (2) it makes typing easier.
Touch-typing means typing without looking at the keyboard. Learning Dvorak is the perfect opportunity to learn the right way to type. For the typist who never learned touch-typing, doing so when learning Dvorak is what provides most of the increase in speed. That’s me. Though I have used the QWERTY keyboard for a long time, I never took a typing class and never learned to type properly. I’ve just gotten used to the QWERTY keyboard and pretty good at it.
The Dvorak keyboard is easier to use because, after you’ve learned it, you can type with less hand and finger movement. This is because the keys for the letters that are used the most are right under your fingers when they are in the “home” position (on the middle row).
Dvorak’s first 10 keys in the middle row,
A O E U I D H T N S
allow you to type common words such as,
a, an, and, as, at, do,
he, I, in, into, it, its, no, not,
one, out, she, so, than, that,
the, then, these, this, to, and us
without having to move your fingers away from the middle row. In comparison, the A S D F G H J K L ; on the home row of the traditional keyboard allow you to type a, as, all — and that’s about it for common words. The Dvorak keyboard is also designed so that many words are typed with both hands, one hand types the first letter and the other hand types the next letter, and so on.
Honestly, I think that most typists could get pretty good, and pretty fast, on any arrangement of letters on a keyboard, even a completely random arrangement. People learn, they adapt, and they get better with practice. A random arrangement might not be optimal and it might require some extra effort to make it work, but I think people could use it successfully once they got used to it. But if you can choose the way the letters are arranged on the keyboard, why wouldn’t you choose the one that makes the most sense? You should choose the keyboard arrangement that lets you type with the least effort, right?
I’d been using the QWERTY for decades. I never completely learned to touch-type, thought I did make some attempts. Changing to Dvorak wasn’t easy. A year ago I switched to the Windows settings on my computers (home and work) to Dvorak.
Even as I was learning to touch-type using the Dvork keyboard, I couldn’t do it 100% of the time. So I bought some stickers to put over the keys on my work computer. That way, what I saw on the physical keyboard matched the computer’s software setting. Weirdly, even as I got better at typing “normal words” on the new keyboard, I found that I usually couldn’t type a password without looking at the keyboard.
On one of my home computers, I removed the keys from the keyboard and put them back in the Dvorak style. (This can only be done if all the keys on the keyboard are exactly the same size and shape; some keyboards are like this, and some aren’t.) I also used a file to cut small notches in the new layout’s home keys, the U and the H, to make them easy to find by touch.
I left the other home computer’s keyboard alone. When I use it, I switch the software to Dvorak mode; when anyone else uses it, it’s QWERTY as normal.
The first several weeks were agony. Keyboard work that once took five or ten minutes suddenly took half an hour. It was hard work to make myself type. My productivity definitely took a dive. But my speed and accuracy steadily improved. I often used online typing tutors and games (dvorak.nl, typingclub.com, nitrotype.com, typeracer.com, 10fastfingers.com) in my spare time. Within a few months, typing was no longer torture. Soon after that I was typing as fast as I ever had. And now, after a year, I can type better and faster than I ever did before.
Was it worth doing?
I’ll admit it’s an open question whether the benefits I am gaining will be worth the time and effort I spent to learn the Dvorak layout. I might not live long enough to get any return on my investment. If I were younger, I would say definitely yes. Anyone who is college age or younger should switch to Dvorak and never look back. As I am somewhat past middle age, the answer isn’t so clear. I’ve never been someone who thinks everyone else is doing it is sufficient justification for doing something, so why should I use the traditional keyboard? I like learning new things. I’m glad I’m using the Dvorak keyboard.
Here’s an idea for computer manufacturers: Why not make it easier to switch between QWERTY and Dvorak on all computers? Anyone learning to use a keyboard (e.g., children) can begin with Dvorak and never bother learning QWERTY. But with touch of a key, the Luddites and oldsters can switch back to the traditional keyboard.
