Keyboard Artwork Library

Note about the origination of this page

This page was started as a result of some text in the Talk:Hardware specification page as of 2006-06-11 0630 Z.

How will be the keyboard? AZERTY, like in France, or QWERTY, like in UK?

Keyboards are always set up for local languages; what keyboard engravings you get will depend on your geography. -jg

The specification says the following about the keyboard.

Keyboard: 80 keys, 1.2mm stroke; sealed rubber-membrane key-switch assembly

Does "sealed rubber-membrane key-switch assembly" mean that the "keyboard engravings" mentioned above are all done, at some stage in the manufacture, onto a single piece of material?

Yes - jg

If so, could you possibly publish the graphic art used for one of them please?

Interesting request - seems reasonable to me, once we have such artwork. -jg

This would be useful as it could enable people wanting minority script support to make the artwork needed. Could you possibly say how straightforward or not straightforward it is to make a keyboard for a minority script and what the minimum number needed would be for such special manufacture to be viable please?

I suspect (but don't know) it is a silkscreen sort of process. Keyboards for other scripts are SOP (standard operating procedure) for computer manufacturers.

Are the "keyboard engravings" actually engravings or are they simply printings?

Printing of some sort, from the samples I've seen. - jg

Would a field programmable version based on the idea for a piece of electronic paper as mentioned in the Hardware Ideas - The Keyboard page be useful to the project?

The purpose of this page is to provide a collection of artwork for keyboards all in one place.

Some of the artwork could be for keyboards which have been made and some of the artwork could be here waiting for use.

The possibility exists that blank keyboards could be produced with an electronic paper surface so that keyboards needed in small quantities, even one-off, could be laboratory programmable or field programmable without a special silk screen needing to be produced in a factory.