EurKEY

Lore & Background

The original motivation behind EurKEY was to allow non-native English-speaking programmers to use the US layout, which places programming symbols like { and } closer to the home row than many national layouts do, while still enabling them to write in their native language without switching layouts. The US layout serves as the base, extended with symbols for many European languages, special characters, the Greek alphabet, and common mathematical symbols accessible via the AltGr key.

In 2017, a petition was started to promote EurKEY as a European standard. The initiators argued that national layouts hinder the free movement of goods (notebooks) within the European Union, that software is optimized for the US market and its main keyboard layout, and that learning touch typing is made difficult by studying or working abroad.

Besides the original EurKEY, a version called EurKEY Colemak-DH was developed in 2020. It combines EurKEY's multilingual support with the ergonomic Colemak (US) layout using the DH-Mod, which addresses criticism that Colemak focuses too much on the middle row and that D and H can cause awkward lateral hand movements. The Colemak basis is intended to be nearly as easy for programmers as the original EurKEY, and simple usability is maintained by not changing common shortcuts like Ctrl+Z/X/C/V.

Reader's Guide

EurKEY's significance lies in its attempt to bridge the gap between the US keyboard layout—preferred by programmers for its convenient placement of programming symbols—and the need for multilingual support among European users. By using the US layout as a base and adding European characters via the AltGr key, it offers a single layout that serves both programming and native-language typing without requiring layout switching. The 2017 petition to make EurKEY a European standard highlights perceived issues with national layouts, such as hindering the free movement of notebook goods within the EU and complicating touch typing for those studying or working abroad. The development of EurKEY Colemak-DH in 2020 further extends the concept by incorporating ergonomic principles from Colemak, aiming to reduce hand strain while retaining multilingual capabilities. The article notes that Colemak's ergonomic advantages apply primarily to English users, but it suggests an advantage for Germanic languages due to their similarity to English, and notes that English is the most widely spoken foreign language in the EU (38% of the population), with 54% of the EU population able to speak at least one other language besides their mother tongue.

Did You Know?

• Since xkeyboard-config version 2.12 (May 2014), EurKEY is directly selectable in many Linux distributions without additional packages.
• A petition to promote EurKEY as a European standard was started in 2017.
• EurKEY Colemak-DH, developed in 2020, uses Colemak (US) with the DH-Mod as its basis.

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