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Information and Communication Technology Applications

Types of Keyboards. There are mainly two types of Keyboard—QWERTY and Dvorak.
Notes (a) QWERTY Keyboard. It is the most widely used standard keyboard throughout the world. It consists
of the standard typewriter layout plus some additional keys. It contains three types of keys–
alphanumeric keys, special keys and function keys. Alphanumeric keys such as A, B, C, 1, 2, etc. are
used to type alphabets and numbers. Special keys such as <Shift>,<Ctrl>,<Alt>,<Home>, <Scroll
Lock>, etc. are used for special functions. Function keys such as <F1>,<F2>,<F3>, etc. used to give
special commands depending upon the software used. The location of various types of keys is
shown in Figure 5.2. This keyboard is called QWERTY keyboard because the top of alphabet keys
begin with the letters Q, W, E, R, T and Y.

Figure 5.2: A QWERTY Keyboard

(b) Dvorak Keyboard. The Dvorak keyboard is a keyboard layout developed by August Dvorak and
William L. Delayed as an alternative to the popular QWERTY keyboard. The Dvorak keyboard was
designed to speed typing by placing the most frequently used keys on the home row as shown in
Figure 5.3. In addition the pair of letters that usually occur sequentially were separated so that the
hands could alternate type them. Although the QWERTY keyboard is the standard world wide, in
the future you may find using Dvorak keyboard easier and more efficient than QWERTY keyboard.

Figure 5.3: Keys Layout of the Dvorak Keyboard

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Using QWERTY Keyboard. Today most PCs have QWERTY keyboard. The function of important
keys on this keyboard are described below:
(a) Using Arrow Keys. Most keyboards provide two sets of arrow keys. The first set lies on bottom of
the keyboard, while the second set lies on the numeric keypad. There are four arrow keys on each
set-up. The Up Arrow key moves cursor on the previous row the Down Arrow key moves cursor on

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