Localized Keyboards

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The information on this page is in draft form, and is still quite provisional. Please note issues on the talk page, and we will try to get information directly from the countries and language communities concerned.

There are numerous keyboard layouts in use for various languages in different countries on different physical keyboard arrangements. Ideally, we would provide XO-1s with

• a printed keyboard layout for the user's (schoolchild, teacher, GiveOneGetOne donor,...) principal language on the keytops
• keyboard layout files modified for the XO
• a correct locale setting, and an easy way to change it as needed
• a correct configuration for keyboard layout switching matched to the user's requirements, and an easy way to modify it

In practice, OLPC cannot customize XO-1s to this degree. It is expensive to create tooling, even for printing keyboard layouts, and more expensive to manufacture in small batches and to track and warehouse the number of SKUs (Stock-Keeping Units) that would be required. This is a particular problem for G1G1 in Europe, where there are dozens of languages and layouts in use, and no way to forecast demand for each.

The XO-2, with a touch screen graphical keyboard, will go a long way to solve this problem. It is much easier to provide a localized flash image for a country and language than to modify the hardware.

Many countries will have a single configuration that satisfies the vast majority of users. Peru, Uruguay, and Mexico, for example, can have the same Latin American Spanish keyboard for their default, with the ability to switch to the US alternative international keyboard, formerly known as US International, us_intl. Similarly for Ethiopia, Cambodia, or Mongolia--one native keyboard as the default, with easy switching to US English. The ×÷ key on the US layout is repurposed on other layouts as a keyboard switching key to cycle through a set of layouts. The configuration file on an XO-1 can be set up for three or even more keyboard layouts to access with the keyboard switching key.

But what about other countries? Nigeria has [more than 500 languages], nine of them designated official languages. OLPC has support for Hausa, Igbo, and Yoruba so far. Afghanistan's principal languages are Dari and Pashto, and there are others of importance. In Muslim countries, it is important to be able to write Arabic as well. India has 22 official languages out of more than 400 in use in ten different writing systems. Latin-alphabet keyboard layouts differ in the arrangement of letters (QWERTY, QWERTZ, AZERTY) in the accented letters and extra letters provided (é ñ ø å Đ), in currency symbols (€$₣₤₨₩₪₯), and in punctuation such as quotation marks (‘’ ‚‛ “” „‟ «»). Cyrillic and Arabic for various languages have various added letters and sometimes radically different keyboard layouts.

Well, the plan is to ask governments how many units should be built for each language group in their countries.

GiveOneGetOne Europe

G1G1 for Europe can't work that way. There are 27 member countries in the European Union, plus a number of candidate countries, and several co-operating non-member countries. Countries that will likely insist on support for their layouts include

• UK English
• France AZERTY
• Germany and Austria QWERTZ
• Switzerland Swiss German (default) and Swiss French layouts, and Italian
• Spain Spanish (significantly different from Latin American layout)
• Italy Italian

There must be some support for Greek and some Cyrillic layouts. European languages written in Cyrillic are Serbian, Macedonian, and Bulgarian, each with a different layout. Ukraine, Belarus, Moldova, and Russia are not included in this version of Europe.

Countries, Principal Languages, Layouts

EU, Europe

• Austria German QWERTZ ß
• Belgium French AZERTY, Flemish QWERTY «»
• Bulgaria Bulgarian Cyrillic , У Е И Ш Щ
• Cyprus Greek ;ςΕΡΤΥ ασδφγ,Turkish QWERTY ıIiİîÎğĞ
• Czech Republic Czech QWERTZ ěščřžý
• Denmark Danish QWERTY åø «»
• Estonia Estonian QWERTY õ€
• Finland Finnish QWERTY €«»
• France French, Breton, Provençal, all using AZERTY keyboard çôâê «» (Default and Alternative)
• Germany German QWERTZ ß
• Greece Greek ;ςΕΡΤΥ ασδφγ
• Hungary Hungarian QWERTZ ő
• Ireland UK English, CloGaelach (Irish Gaelic) QWERTY ċḋḟġṡ≤≥÷ «»
• Italy Italian QWERTY €«»
• Latvia Latvian QWERTY āēīōūģķļŗščž
• Lithuania Lithuanian QWERTY ąčęėįšųūž „“
• Luxembourg French AZERTY, German QWERTZ, Luxemburgisch
• Malta Maltese QWERTY ġċŧ «»
• the Netherlands Dutch QWERTY «»
• Poland Polish QWERTY łćżę
• Portugal Portuguese €«» (different from Brazilian Portuguese layout)
• Romania Romanian ăîşţ «»
• Slovakia Slovak QWERTZ ľščťžý
• Slovenia Slovene čšž «»
• Spain Spanish (different from Latin American layout), Basque, Catalan
• Sweden Swedish åæ «»
• United Kingdom UK English QWERTY £, Welsh, Scots Gaelic

EU candidate countries

• Croatia Serbo-Croatian QWERTZ čćšđž „“ «»
• former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM) Cyrillic ЉЊЕРТЅ
• Turkey Turkish QWERTY ıIiİîÎğĞ
• Albania Albanian
• Bosnia and Herzegovina Bosnian QWERTZ
• Montenegro Serbo-Croatian (Latin QWERTZ and Cyrillic ЉЊЕРТЗ)
• Serbia Serbo-Croatian (Cyrillic)
• Kosovo Albanian, Serbo-Croatian (Cyrillic)

EU non-member associates

Part of the single market through the European Economic Area or bilateral treaties

• Iceland Icelandic
• Liechtenstein German
• Norway Norwegian
• Switzerland German, Swiss German (Schwyzerdütsch), Romansch, Swiss French, Italian, English. Switzerland uses varitions of the French AZERTY and German QWERTZ keyboards.

European microstates using the euro

• Monaco French
• San Marino Italian
• Vatican City Italian, Latin

Non-member

• Andorra Catalan-Valencian-Balear, French

Americas

• English (US and Canada, Caribbean nations)
• French (Canada, St. Pierre et Miquelon, US)
• Spanish
• Brazilian Portuguese
• Dutch
• Native American languages

Africa and Arab Middle East

Lots, but only a few keyboard layouts

• Arabic
• Pan-African
• French
• US English
• UK English
• Portuguese
• Spanish

Asia

Lots

Oceania

Lots. Trials are planned for more than 20 countries.

Australia and New Zealand

• English
• Maori has its own keyboard.
• Australian Aboriginal languages

From discussion

Transcribed from http://lists.laptop.org/pipermail/localization/2008-June/001014.html

German-speaking countries, German Language keyboard variants

• German Germany
• German Austria
  • Those two are the same, there is no german-austrian keyboard. (confirmed by an Austrian.)
• German Switzerland
  • This one is different from the "standard" german layout. (confirmed by a Swiss person.)

French-speaking countries, French Language keyboard variants

• French Switzerland
  • This one is different from the "standard" french layout. (confirmed by a swiss person.)

Italian-speaking countries, Italian Language keyboard variants

• Italian Switzerland
• Italian Italy
  • Those are the same, or rather, there is no italian-swiss keyboard, they use the "standard" italian keyboard. (confirmed by a swiss person.)

and then we can discuss Belgian (French and Flemish/Dutch). Yup. Belgians (whether flemish or french speaking) use belgium AZERTY keyboards (which are different from french AZERTY keyboards), while Dutch people use Dutch QWERTY keyboards. (Dutch and Flemish are very similar languages...) (info from a person from Belgium)

Spanish-speaking countries, Spanish Language keyboard variants

• Catalan (Spain)
  • There are no Catalan keyboards (or other regional keyboards in spain), they all use spanish keyboards. (puh.) (confirmed by several spanish persons.)

Actually, the Catalan keyboard contains one extra letter.--Mokurai 19:18, 11 June 2008 (EDT)