Human Factors Criteria for the Design and Acquisition of ... - FAA

Keyboards June 20049.5.2 Keyboard layoutDescription. Although other alternative layouts have beenproposed, to date, the three most common alternatives forkeyboard layout are the QWERTY (Sholes), Dvorak, andABC (Alphabetical) layouts.• 9.5.2.1 QWERTY layout. Keyboards intended for theentry of both alphabetic and numeric information shallconform to the standard "QWERTY" arrangement unlessthe alternate arrangement shows sufficient enoughimprovement over the standard layout to justify the trainingtime and other costs associated with the new arrangement.[Source: Alden, Daniels & Kanarick, 1972; ANSI, 1988; Ilinski, 2003;Kinkead & Gonzalez, 1969; Klemmer, 1971; Kodak, 1983; Lewis,LaLomia & Kennedy, 1999; Norman & Fisher, 1982; Sears, Jacko,Chu & Moro, 2001]Exhibit 9.5.2.1.a QWERTY or Sholes layoutEsc F1 F2 F3 F4 F5 F6F7F8F9F10F11F12~`!Tab Q W E R T Y U I O PCaps Lock@#$1 234567890-=BackspaceA S D F G H J K LShift Z XC%V^B&NShiftCtrl Alt Alt Ctrl*M(._:;?/{[+“‘}]|\Enter/Additional information. The de facto industry standard isthe QWERTY (also known as the Sholes) layout. Researchindicates that keyboard arrangement is not necessarily theprimary indicator of typing speed and there is no clear linkbetween keyboard layout and user cumulative traumadisorders, therefore it is difficult to justify alternativekeyboard layouts. Additionally, some researchers havefound that visual search time to locate keys is faster forQWERTY than for other arrangements.9-14