CR 14270:2001
(Main)European keyboards - Guidelines and overview (ISO/IEC 9995)
European keyboards - Guidelines and overview (ISO/IEC 9995)
This CEN report gives information on (the European national keyboards) keyboards used for European languages and shows how national bodies are using the international keyboard standards. It also considers common existing approaches on the future of keyboards and informs on the future international standardization..
The scope for the project according to CEN/TC 304 N872 "A meeting on the Keyboard PT in Nov 1998" is the following:
EUROPEAN KEYBOARDS. The deliverable is a CEN report giving guidance on the application of international keyboard standards in Europe. It will map how national bodies are using international keyboard standards, what national standards there are and give guidance to common approaches. The team shall, in contact with ISO, investigate the future of keyboards. Special attention shall be given to the Euro Sign on keyboards.
The report addresses this scope as follows:
How national bodies are using international keyboard standards and guidance to common approaches is given in clause 5 and Annex 3
National standards are listed in Annex 2
The future of keyboard standardization is discussed in section 6
The euro sign on keyboards is discussed in clause 5.4.
Clause 4 in this report gives information on international standards for keyboards. Of these ISO/IEC 9995 and ISO 9241-4 are most commonly used. (For exact references see clause 7)
Clause 5 gives common information on the use of these standards and on the euro sign on keyboards.
Clause 6 gives some information on future standardization.
Annex 2 gives information from the National Bodies on keyboard standards used in their countries.
Annex 3 gives some more information on the layout of a number of keyboards for European languages.
The report is meant to give guidance to many parties:
· A country which decides to make its own keyboard standard may use it as background information on what other countries have standardized.
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Evropske tipkovnice – Smernice in pregled (ISO/IEC 9995)
General Information
Standards Content (Sample)
SLOVENSKI STANDARD
01-oktober-2003
Evropske tipkovnice – Smernice in pregled (ISO/IEC 9995)
European keyboards - Guidelines and overview (ISO/IEC 9995)
Ta slovenski standard je istoveten z: CR 14270:2001
ICS:
35.180 Terminalska in druga IT Terminal and other
periferna oprema IT peripheral equipment
2003-01.Slovenski inštitut za standardizacijo. Razmnoževanje celote ali delov tega standarda ni dovoljeno.
CEN REPORT
CR 14270
RAPPORT CEN
CEN BERICHT
July 2001
ICS
English version
European keyboards - Guidelines and overview (ISO/IEC 9995)
This CEN Report was approved by CEN on 16 June 2001. It has been drawn up by the Technical Committee CEN/TC 304.
CEN members are the national standards bodies of Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece,
Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and United Kingdom.
EUROPEAN COMMITTEE FOR STANDARDIZATION
COMITÉ EUROPÉEN DE NORMALISATION
EUROPÄISCHES KOMITEE FÜR NORMUNG
Management Centre: rue de Stassart, 36 B-1050 Brussels
© 2001 CEN All rights of exploitation in any form and by any means reserved Ref. No. CR 14270:2001 E
worldwide for CEN national Members.
Table of content
1 SCOPE.3
2 BACKGROUND .4
3 DEFINITIONS.4
4 ISO/IEC 9995 AND OTHER INTERNATIONAL STANDARDS ON KEYBOARDS .5
4.1 ISO/IEC 9995 Information technology – Keyboard layouts for text and office systems .6
4.1.1 Part 1: General principles governing keyboard layouts.6
4.1.2 Part 2: Alphanumeric section .8
4.1.3 Part 3: Complementary layouts of the alphanumeric zone of the alphanumeric section.11
4.1.4 Part 4: Numeric section .12
4.1.5 Part 5: Editing section.12
4.1.6 Part 6: Function section .13
4.1.7 Part 7: Symbols used to represent functions.13
4.1.8 Part 8: Allocation of letters to the keys of a numeric keypad.14
4.2 Other standards for keyboards .14
4.2.1 Ergonomic requirements on keyboards in ISO 9241.14
4.2.2 Keyboard input of coded characters ISO/IEC 14755.14
4.2.3 Segmented keyboards layouts ISO/IEC 15411.16
4.2.4 Portable computer keyboard layouts ISO/IEC 15412.16
5 EUROPEAN NATIONAL STANDARDS .16
5.1 Report on the Enquiry on keyboards .16
5.2 General considerations.16
5.3 The alphanumeric section of the layout.17
5.4 Considerations on the euro sign.18
6 CONSIDERATIONS ON FUTURE STANDARDIZATION.19
6.1 Standardization of European keyboards .19
6.2 International standardization .20
7 REFERENCES .22
7.1 Standards .22
7.2 Bibliography .22
ANNEX 1 .24
CEN/TC304 N835 .24
ANNEX 2 .26
CEN/TC304 N855, updated March 1999 and 2000 .26
ANNEX 3 .39
The alphanumeric section of the layout of European keyboards.39
ANNEX 4 .42
JTC1/SC 35
.42
1 SCOPE
This CEN report gives information on (the European national keyboards) keyboards used for European
languages and shows how national bodies are using the international keyboard standards. It also considers
common existing approaches on the future of keyboards and informs on the future international
standardization.
The scope for the project according to CEN/TC 304 N872 “A meeting on the Keyboard PT in Nov 1998”
is the following:
EUROPEAN KEYBOARDS. The deliverable is a CEN report giving guidance on the application of
international keyboard standards in Europe. It will map how national bodies are using international
keyboard standards, what national standards there are and give guidance to common approaches. The
team shall, in contact with ISO, investigate the future of keyboards. Special attention shall be given to the
Euro Sign on keyboards.
The report addresses this scope as follows:
How national bodies are using international keyboard standards and guidance to common approaches is
given in clause 5 and Annex 3
National standards are listed in Annex 2
The future of keyboard standardization is discussed in section 6
The euro sign on keyboards is discussed in clause 5.4.
Clause 4 in this report gives information on international standards for keyboards. Of these ISO/IEC 9995
and ISO 9241-4 are most commonly used. (For exact references see clause 7)
Clause 5 gives common information on the use of these standards and on the euro sign on keyboards.
Clause 6 gives some information on future standardization.
Annex 2 gives information from the National Bodies on keyboard standards used in their countries.
Annex 3 gives some more information on the layout of a number of keyboards for European languages.
The report is meant to give guidance to many parties:
A country which decides to make its own keyboard standard may use it as background information on
what other countries have standardized.
A manufacturer who wants to produce keyboards for a country, may find information on the relevant
national keyboard standard.
A person who has to switch between keyboards from different European countries will find
similarities and differences between them.
A user who wants to specify keyboards for purchase.
The countries covered in this report are the CEN Member countries (Austria, Belgium, the Czech
Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands,
Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, United Kingdom) and some interested CEN Affiliates
(Estonia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Slovenia) and also Ukraine.
2 BACKGROUND
Keyboards are the main way to enter text and data into computer systems in particular and for
communication purposes, such as e-mail or for applications such as Internet shopping. A keyboard is
linked to a computer and depends on both the keyboard hardware and the software drivers. Over time we
have seen a quick development of the computer technology, but the layout of the keyboard still is more or
less the same. (In the very start the typewriter was the main equipment with a keyboard, while today most
keyboards are connected to a computer. Keyboards for typewriters were purely mechanical, but the
modern keyboard consists of a combination of hardware and software. Even if the appearance of the
keyboard and the way it works has developed since they were used mainly for typewriters, the layout of
the keys are still almost the same.)
The layout determines the relative positions of the keys on the keyboard and the allocation to the keys of
letters, numbers and other symbols, as well as of functions such as shift and “new line” (note here that
ISO/IEC 9995-7 terminology is different for such terms). Most of the layout, and also the way in which
each key in the alphabetic rows are a little offset from the key in front of it, is inherited from the
mechanical constructions of typewriters.
There are international standards for keyboards and specifically for keyboard layouts but they do not fully
standardize the way the characters and symbols are to be allocated to the keys on the keyboard. Only
some recommendations are given, and if one accepts ISO/IEC 9995-3, it also standardizes two layouts for
international use. Most European countries have national characters beyond the common Latin letters A
to Z. This has resulted in keyboard layouts in the national standards or de facto standards differing
between all countries.
3 DEF INITIONS
The following terms are used in the main body of this report. The definitions are the official definitions
taken from the standards ISO 9241, ISO/IEC 9995, ISO/IEC 14755 and ISO 15412.
capitals lock state: A state that, if activated, will result in the generation of the capital form of all
graphic characters on the keyboard for which such a form exists. National standards or usage may
determine which graphic characters are affected by this state.(ISO/IEC 9995-1)
beginning sequence: A specific sequence or combination of typing of keys, or an implementation-
defined mechanism, the effect of which is to put the system in a mode that will allow entering a specific
input sequence according to a method described in this International Standard. (ISO/IEC 14755)
control function: An action that affects the recording, processing, transmission or interpretation of data.
(ISO/IEC 9995-1)
ending sequence: A specific sequence or combination of typing of keys, or an implementation-defined
mechanism, the effect of which is to terminate the generating of a character whose selection was begun
by the beginning sequence in conformance with a method described in this International Standard.
(ISO/IEC 14755)
graphic character: A character, other than a control function, that has a visual representation normally
hand-written, printed or displayed. (ISO/IEC 9995-1)
graphic symbol: A visual representation of a graphic character, a control function or a combination of
one or more graphic characters and/or control functions. (ISO/IEC 9995-1)
group: A logical state of a keyboard providing access to a collection of graphic characters or elements of
graphic characters. Usually these graphic characters or elements of graphic characters logically belong
together and may be arranged on several levels within a group. The input of certain graphic characters,
such as accented letters, may require access to more than one group. (ISO/IEC 9995-1) (See note below)
group select: A function that, if activated, will change the keyboard state to produce characters from a
different group. (ISO/IEC 9995-1)
home row: Row of the keyboard to which the fingers typically return between keystrokes. (ISO 9241-4)
keyboard slope: Angle between the plane of the key top surfaces and the horizontal surface. (ISO/IEC
15411)
level: A logical state of a keyboard providing access to a collection of graphic characters or elements of
graphic characters. Usually these graphic characters or elements of graphic characters logically belong
together, such as the capital forms of letters. In certain cases the level selected may also affect function
keys. (ISO/IEC 9995-1) (See note below)
level select: A function that, if activated, will change the keyboard state to produce characters from a
different level. (ISO/IEC 9995-1)
level lock state: A state that, if activated, will result in the generation of the characters assigned to a
specific level. (ISO/IEC 9995-1)
portable computer: A lightweight compactly designed computer with a screen and attached keyboard
that is capable of running on battery power for extended periods of time and is relatively easy to transport
from one location to another by a single individual. (ISO/IEC 15412)
section: A block of keys, mostly with some functional relationship. (ISO/IEC 9995-1)
tactile indicator keys: Keys in the home row which contain a tactile aid for positioning the hands. (ISO
9241-4)
zone: A part of a keyboard section defined in ISO/IEC 9995. (ISO/IEC 9995-1)
Note -- As seen above the definitions of group and level are very similar. To clarify: a group is a
collection o
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