Several weeks ago, a co-worker here at BAKA asked me whether it was possible to use a specially-modified Dvorak keyboard on a Macintosh. This co-worker happens to have only one hand — his left — and has a special keyboard for his DOS compatible computer that uses a modified version of the Dvorak layout designed for use with the left hand only.
Armed with a photocopy of his special keyboard and a copy of ResEdit, I created a KCHR resource that offered the key layout he was used to. I then pried off all of the key caps from an Apple standard keyboard, and rearranged them to match the keyboard layout I’d created. We plugged in the keyboard and copied the KCHR into his System, and sure enough, we had a fully-functional left-handed Dvorak keyboard. He was thrilled!
Now, in the DOS world, this just wouldn’t be possible. The modularity of Apple’s resource design is what allows it. This is why the aforementioned co-worker had to spend hundreds of dollars on a specially configured keyboard for his DOS clone — and it just took a couple of hours to produce the same thing for a Macintosh.
Today, Jim decided to move up to a SwitchBoard keyboard (a modular keyboard produced by Data Desk), so I quickly tweaked my KCHR resource to work with an extended keyboard’s layout.
Now that I have both of them done, I’m taking this opportunity to do something I’d planned to do all along — share them! If you or someone you know wants to use a left-handed Dvorak keyboard layout, for whatever reason, be my guest. By all means distribute them to anyone you think may be interested. All I ask is that you keep the keyboard layouts together with this READ ME file.
How to Install...
These keyboard layouts definitely work with System 7 and later, should work fine with all versions of System 6, and may even work with earlier versions of the Macintosh operating system.
In System 7, you can drag one or both to your active System Folder’s icon. (The System Folder should be closed when you do this.) The Finder will offer to install the item(s) into the System file for you. Let it. If you have any applications open, the Finder will remind you to close them all and then try again.
In System 6 or earlier, you will need a resource-moving utility such as ResEdit to manually copy the KCHR resource from one or both of the files into your System file, within your active System Folder.
Once you’ve installed the KCHR(s) into your System, you can select the appropriate one using the Keyboard control panel. (In System 7, this should be in your Control Panels folder, accessible via the Apple menu, and in System 6, it should be one of the items available in the Control Panel desk accessory, again in the Apple menu.) The layouts are customized for the original ADB Apple Keyboard (“Left Dvorak Std”) and the ADB Extended Keyboard II (“Left Dvorak Ext”), though the latter works perfectly with the SwitchBoard and should match the original Extended Keyboard as well.
Please feel free to let me know if you discover that neither of these layouts works properly with your keyboard. (Specify what keyboard you have!)
Modifying the Keyboard...
The hardest part of the “installation” is modifying a keyboard so the key arrangement matches the key layout specified in these KCHRs. It’s not that tough to pry up the key caps and pop them back into their new locations, but it is tedious. :-) Another potential challenge is that, on different keyboards, certain keys have different shapes or sizes! For example, that the backslash key on an extended keyboard is wider than the standard key, and therefore won’t fit in a new location. (This is why a different layout is required for different style keyboards.)
You’ll also notice that the sculpted key caps on most keyboards have slightly different heights depending on the row they were intended to occupy. Your modified keyboard will undoubtedly have an amusing unevenness. This doesn’t interfere with typing (at least, Jim hasn’t complained!) but it takes a little getting used to.
There’s a special tool for prying key caps off a keyboard, with two stiff wire loops. Your local Apple dealer almost certainly has one, and can either rearrange the keys for you, or might be willing to lend you the tool for a few minutes. If you have trouble with the keyboard or don’t even want to try, please get in touch with me; we might be able to arrange something.
Please Write...
If you find these keyboard layouts and instructions useful, please send a letter or an e-mail message to one of the above addresses to let me know! Should you feel the urge to pay for them, please send a donation to a local organization that helps handicapped people find appropriate jobs. (If you don’t have any near you, I can suggest a couple near me.)
