Questions tagged [keyboard]
physical interface for entering text character by character.
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Is "guessing" commonly implemented into mobile touch keyboards to avoid typos?
I've been contemplating the idea of increasing UX for mobile touch screen phone users by programming a keyboard to avoid typos when touches fall in-between keys by guessing the key that the user most ...
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Why are keyboards still the predominant input device? [closed]
While reading about the history of the computer keyboard I was a little surprised to hear that it is still the primary interface between humans and computers...
Despite the development of ...
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Learning multiple keyboard layouts
Spanish keyboards are not very friendly to C++ developers. While | # and ~ are hard but reasonably accessible, [ ] { and } are really hard to type. Not to mention, there are some dead keys that force ...
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How should I handle the Esc key in a "Press any key" screen?
Simple question, but I'm on the fence as to the answer. If I design a "Press any key to X" screen, should I register the Esc key as one of those "any key"s, or as a cancellation control? Is there an ...
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Why no typographic apostrophe in auto-correct?
Probably the first kind of automatic alteration or correction of characters entered by the user by means of a keyboard, were “smart quotes”, i.e. the replacement of ' and " by proper typographic, ...
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Start an activity when a barcode is read
I am designing a Point of Pay, as in a Point of Sales, pretty much the same functionality.
Someone comes with a payment slip containing a barcode and the cashier will scan it, and the system can ...
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Multi-range Slider for Budget Allocation
I'm currently designing a slider that will be used to allocate a fixed budget to different channels. I posted some shots of the current design below. Right now, it's possible to simply drag the slider ...
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Comparing mouse + Keyboard vs Touch Screen Input Devices?
Is there any research that compares the User Experience of using the mentioned Input Devices ?
Thanks
Edit: Basically for my dissertation i'm planning on creating a usable interface for a voting ...
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Why is 'shift + space' not popularly used?
Why isn't SHIFT+SPACE popularly utilised?
Chrome uses space as "page down", and SHIFT+SPACE as "page up". However, I haven't been able to find a single occurrence of it being utilised during typing.
...
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Why do modern keyboards have Scroll Lock?
The Scroll Lock key is useless in the modern day, and some higher-end keyboards don't even have it:
Same can be said for the Pause and Break keys, but however it pauses the BIOS POST output on many ...
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Why does the caps lock key have a down arrow as its icon?
The caps lock key has a downwards arrow like this as its icon on most keyboards:
Isn't that hugely counter intuitive and inconsistent with the way the Shift key is designed like? One would imagine ...
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Show special keyboard view when entering a password on mobile devices?
Mobile operating systems typically show different virtual keyboards depending on context. The default keyboard might show A-Z, while a keyboard for entering a telephone number might show 0-9 (so you ...
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Why does the Caps Lock not toggle upper and lower case for selected text?
In most word processors, you can easily toggle many text styles. For example:
Ctrl + B - Will bold or un-bold selected text.
Ctrl + U - Will underline or un-underline selected text.
Ctrl + I - Will ...
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Tab sequence in dynamic forms
This question is about usable tab sequences in dynamic forms. Is it possible to exclude conditional fields from the tab sequence when they are hidden, and include them when they are visible? Assume ...
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Is there a standard hotkey list somewhere
There are numerous key combinations that can be considered as being part of an unofficial (as far as I know) standard. But is there a list of such combinations somewhere? Some examples:
F1 - Help
F3 -...
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Should Keyboard and Mouse stay next to each other? [closed]
I am looking for some recommendations / papers that claim that a keyboard and a mouse should be placed next to each other.
What about a case where the mouse is a used as an input device and the ...
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Is there a logical alternative for the Escape key?
I have a game that can be played in your browser. It's a retro game (multiplayer snake) and the menus and your snake can only be controlled using your keyboard. Mouse input is ignored.
I was using ...
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What are the proper keys for navigating multi-column "search as you type" results?
Given a search box that has a menu which opens after the user begins to type listing results in two columns, plus a "view more results" button and a "close" button, what are the correct keys for ...
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TAB functionality in SE when editing code -- What's the UX view on it?
Disclaimer: I'm cross-posting this question from Meta SE to get input from the UX fanatics here.
I've seen people complain about not been able to use TAB to format code in SE. There are many fixes ...
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Why are product keys always uppercase?
As the title says, is there a specific reason for why products keys are (almost) always in uppercase? Does it serve a purpose?
Here's what I mean by a product key:
ABCD-1234-EFGH-5678-IJKL
Why ...
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Is it okay to map the left/right arrow keys to a website's navigation?
When making a site accessible by allowing keyboard navigation is it OK to use the left and right arrow keys to move between columns (in addition to the tab key which traverses all of the column's ...
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Why are computer keyboard keys printed in Uppercase? [duplicate]
Although many users mostly type lowercase letters, why are all keyboards printed with uppercase letters?
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Why Greek letter mu (μ) on European keyboards?
AZERTY-style keyboard layouts in France and Belgium have a dedicated key for typing the Greek small letter mu (μ). While not having a dedicated (μ) key, keyboards in Germany, Denmark, Finland, Iceland,...
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Why do some keyboards extend the Return key up into the backslash?
Most keyboards have a rectangular Return (often labeled Enter) key. Above it they have the \ key and above that is a rectangular Backspace key.
Some keyboards, however, have a weird shaped Return key ...
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Normative ordering for modifier key combinations
When indicating valid key modifier combinations to users, is there a "correct" or normative order in which to describe them? For instance, if you wanted the user to press shift and control and alt and ...
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What are the best ways to use a "start here" sign
I gotta show to the user where to start using a special virtual keyboard, what are the best ways to do it ? Where to put a button to close the sign ? What is the best positioning to it ?
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Should we bring back the user to the ABC mode on the SmartPhone keyboard automatically after they have entered some symbols/numbers/punctuation?
Should we bring back the user to the ABC mode on the SmartPhone keyboard automatically after they have entered some symbols/numbers/punctuation marks?
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Should I use the name "Enter" or "Return" key?
I'm trying to list the what various keys do inside the documentation for my CLI program, but I'm not sure what to refer to this key as. It is commonly referred to as either Enter or Return, but which ...
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Smoothly transitioning from mouse drag to text entry
I have an application I'm working on where a portion of the interface is very mouse-centric. You drag the mouse to create/manipulate regions, then assign properties to those regions. Below is an ...
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Why is the "Shift" key below the home row and not on the bottom row?
It is suggested that one should use only four fingers (index finger to little finger) to type letters and numbers, while the thumbs are only used for spaces and other keys in the bottom row. Also, it ...
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On a US keyboard why is + shifted but - isn't?
I am wondering why standard US keyboards allow you to type - by simply hitting the key, but the + button right next to it needs the Shift key. The default for that key is = and not a minus symbol. + ...
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Is multi-layer ESCAPE expected?
We design an application, containing a grid with an active filter search and inline-editable columns. Each row represents a record, of which multiple fields are editable. The application should be ...
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Why doesn't the space bar have anything written on it?
All the key on the keyboard have something written on them which more or less describes their functionality, except for, traditionally, the Space bar.
Why don't the majority of keyboard space bar ...
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Why are the characters on the keyboard all capitalized?
Why are all the letters (A, B etc) and all the writings (Home, Page Up etc) on the keyboard, capitalized?
Especially, the letters, because a new user could rightly expect uppercase letters to be ...
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Replace mode in a text editor, do we still want it? (Insert Key)
Most people are familiar with accidentally bumping the insert key,
and then typing and finding that there text has been replaced. (overwritten with the new text they just typed.)
I've used it maybe a ...
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Dedicated buttons for Copy/Paste on keyboards [closed]
Given that many people (myself included) use these functions a lot, wouldn't it make sense to have two keys that would replace Ctrl+C and Ctrl+V in modern keyboards?
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Best practices for hardware keyboard input on tablet
I'm creating a form Android tablet app that will be used connected to a physical keyboard. The goal is to help users quickly fill out forms while visiting our conference booth. The tablets will be ...
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How to structure UI dependent on onscreen keyboards?
We are developing a Windows 8 tablet application but this should be applicable to every tablet OS. There are several textboxes which open up the onscreen keyboard when they get focus.
In most cases ...
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Why CTRL + C multiple times [duplicate]
I have recently noticed that I press CTRL + C more than once, even if I know that the file has been copied to the clipboard. But I press CTRL + X or CTRL + V only once.
Why do I do this? Is this ...
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Why do keyboard keys have (most) letters in top left corner?
I was just looking at my keyboard (Logitech K200) for the millionth time and realized that the names of each key were "mostly" in the top left. The row of numbers at the top is just left aligned with ...
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Why are there two Enter keys and two ALT keys etc… on a general windows PC's keyboard?
I am not a typing expert but I found it unusual to have some keys been repeated on keyboard. What's the logic behind this?
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Is white text on dark background better for usability on smartphone / tablet keyboards than the reverse?
Which is a better and usable Smart Phone or Tablet keyboard?
White / light characters on Black / Dark keys on the keyboard layout.
Black / Dark Grey text on the white / light grey colour keys layout.
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Is it good to change keyboard's input language automatically in JavaScript?
In some websites, there are forms to be filled by the end-user.
In multilingual contexts, some developers try to change the input language of the keyboard or hook to the field that should be filled ...
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Tablet/kiosk app - showing the keyboard by default
We have an iPad/Android Tablet input form with a single text input box on it.
This is a kiosk app used by tourists and business men.
We have two options
Option 1)
Form loads
Input box ...
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Is Shift+Click for item selection a historical mistake?
I recently encountered a proof of concept demonstration which used the mouse to "drag and select" multiple items in a list.
The current, widely accepted solution for multiple item selection is to ...
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Chinese Smart phone keyboard
Do the Chinese Smart phone keyboard need a lot of keys on their keyboard compared to the simple generic iOS keyboard that we see currently?
(iOS has less keys and its simple to look at. Compare it to ...
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What type of users use exclusively the keyboard to navigate a site?
A little background first
At the company I work for, we're working on an e-learning application, aimed (exclusively) at dentists and their teams. While trying to decide how important accessibility ...
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Keyboard shortcut for selection field
In our (desktop) application, we have two different families of selection fields. Some can open a dropdown dialog (combo boxes, date fields which open a calendar in the drop down), and the others can ...
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How do you indicate an element is moveable by keyboard arrows?
I am building a drag and drop interface where elements can be moved by a mouse or by the keyboard arrows. How should I 'tell' the user these elements are moveable using the keyboard?
Any idea or a ...
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Merits of smaller less verbose keyboards for phones/mobile devices
Are there any merits to using a smaller and or possibly less verbose keyboard on mobile devices in certain scenarios?
I was thinking possibly changing keyboards for logins or other areas where you ...
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