Why does typeSmart not support the Dvorak keyboard layout?

The Dvorak keyboard layout was designed in the 1930s by Dr August Dvorak, a distant cousin of the Czech composer Dvorak.

In theory, the Dvorak keyboard layout should be superior because of the simplified and more logical design of the layout. In particular, 70% of strokes are made with the Home Keys in the Dvorak layout, compared to 32% for the QWERTY layout. However, there is conflicting data and opinion as to how much benefit that provides.

Published research indicates that the Dvorak layout is superior for traditional typing in terms of learning time, typing speed, accuracy and finger-keyboard travel distances.

On the other hand, one must take into account

1. the retraining time (20-40 hours for expert typists using software)
2. the potential difficulty of switching frequently between the two layouts in many business and education environments that would have a mixture of the two, or between work and home.

Also, Dvorak studied only the layout of the typewriter keyboard and neglected to challenge the METHOD of learning to use it. According to our research, the root cause of the problem is the Home Keys Technique.

TypeSmart has been developed to

• eliminate the awkward keystrokes that may lead to RSI.
• teach people to use the most commonly available keyboard easily, thus removing the need for multiple keyboards.
• use acclerated learning techniques so that people learn faster and can get on with the real business of creating text on the computer.

Thus the eText Method used by typeSmart significantly reduces the problems that triggered the research into alternative keyboards in the first place.

Related Questions

• Is typeSmart designed for the QWERTY standard industry keyboard?