ISO/IEC 9995-10:2025

Information technology - Keyboard layouts for text and office systems - Part 10: Conventional symbols and methods to represent graphic characters not uniquely recognizable by their glyph on keyboards and in documentation

Within the general scope described in ISO/IEC 9995-1, this document specifies symbols and methods to distinguish graphic characters which share the same glyph or are represented by similar glyphs on keyboards (including virtual keyboards) and in documentation. Each of these symbols is intended to be considered as universal and non-language related equivalent of names for the function they represent.

Technologies de l'information — Disposition des claviers conçus pour la bureautique — Partie 10: Symboles et méthodes conventionnelles pour représenter sur claviers et dans la documentation des caractères graphiques non reconnaissables de manière univoque par leur glyphe

L'ISO/CEI 9995 décrit un cadre général pour la disposition de claviers alphanumériques et numériques sur tout l'éventail des application actuelles et futures utilisant des claviers. Les fonctions remplies par les claviers sont groupées en trois catégories qui correspondent aux principales sections matérielles du clavier. La mise en ?uvre de l'ISO/CEI 9995 dans la conception de claviers fournira aux utilisateurs une interface unifiée, prévisible, en divisant le clavier selon des zones et sections fonctionnelles et en attribuant des fonctions aux touches. L'ISO/CEI 9995-10:2013 décrit des symboles et méthodes conventionnels pour représenter, dans la gravure du clavier et dans la documentation, des caractères graphiques non reconnaissable de façon univoque par leur glyphe.

General Information

• Status: Published
• Publication Date: 20-Nov-2025
• ICS: 35.180 - IT Terminal and other peripheral equipment
• Technical Committee: ISO/IEC JTC 1/SC 35 - User interfaces
• Drafting Committee: ISO/IEC JTC 1/SC 35/WG 1 - Keyboards, methods and devices related to input and its feedback
• Current Stage: 6060 - International Standard published
• Start Date: 21-Nov-2025
• Due Date: 02-Feb-2027
• Completion Date: 21-Nov-2025

Relations

• Revises: ISO/IEC 9995-10:2013 - Information technology - Keyboard layouts for text and office systems - Part 10: Conventional symbols and methods to represent graphic characters not uniquely recognizable by their glyph on keyboards and in documentation
• Effective Date: 03-Feb-2024

Overview

ISO/IEC 9995-10:2025 specifies conventional graphical symbols and methods to distinguish graphic characters that are not uniquely recognizable by their glyph on keyboards (including virtual keyboards) and in documentation. Within the general framework of ISO/IEC 9995-1, this second edition defines a set of universal, language‑neutral symbols that act as equivalents of character names to avoid ambiguity when glyphs look identical or similar (for example on keytops or in UI labels). The standard replaces ISO/IEC 9995-10:2013 and adds clarifications (notably a broadened application for symbol 44).

Key topics and requirements

• Definition and presentation of 50 standard symbols (Table 1) that combine character glyphs with additional marks (dots, short lines, overlays, framed markers) to uniquely identify characters.
• Coverage of common ambiguity groups: hyphen/dash variants, tildes, asterisk variants, full stop/middle dot/bullet, comma/apostrophe/quotes, angle brackets, primes, slashes, diacritical and combining overlays (e.g. U+0334–U+0338).
• Symbols 41–45: base marks and cap‑height markers to indicate diacritical marks and modifier letters; symbols 46–50 for special overlay combining marks.
• Reproduction rules: symbols must be shown in the orientation given in the table; exact proportions and line‑thickness may vary provided symbols remain clearly identifiable. Colour or shading may be used per the general remarks.
• Conformance notation: references to individual symbols shall use the form ISO/IEC 9995-10-xxx.
• Interoperability: the characters represented are those of the universal character set defined in ISO/IEC 10646 (Unicode).

Applications and users

ISO/IEC 9995-10:2025 is intended for:

• Keyboard designers and manufacturers (physical and virtual keytops) who need unambiguous labels.
• Operating system and input‑method developers implementing dead keys, combining marks and layout documentation.
• Localization and documentation teams preparing user guides, layout maps and key references.
• Accessibility and UX designers who must present clear, language‑neutral symbolization of ambiguous glyphs. Practical uses include keytop legends, virtual keyboard labels, specification of dead‑key behaviour (in concert with ISO/IEC 9995-11), and unambiguous documentation of character allocation.

Related standards

• ISO/IEC 9995-1 - General principles governing keyboard layouts
• ISO/IEC 9995-11 - Labelling of diacritical marks and dead key methods (see references to dead‑key handling and “peculiar character” mechanisms)
• ISO/IEC 10646 - Universal character set (Unicode)

Keywords: ISO/IEC 9995-10:2025, keyboard layouts, graphical symbols, diacritical marks, dead key, keytop labelling, virtual keyboard, Unicode, ISO keyboard standard.

Standards Content (Sample)

International
Standard
ISO/IEC 9995-10
Second edition
Information technology —
2025-11
Keyboard layouts for text and office
systems —
Part 10:
Conventional symbols and methods
to represent graphic characters
not uniquely recognizable by
their glyph on keyboards and in
documentation
Technologies de l'information — Disposition des claviers conçus
pour la bureautique —
Partie 10: Symboles et méthodes conventionnelles pour représenter
sur claviers et dans la documentation des caractères graphiques
non reconnaissables de manière univoque par leur glyphe
Reference number
© ISO/IEC 2025
All rights reserved. Unless otherwise specified, or required in the context of its implementation, no part of this publication may
be reproduced or utilized otherwise in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, or posting on
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or ISO’s member body in the country of the requester.
ISO copyright office
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CH-1214 Vernier, Geneva
Phone: [phone]
Email: [e-mail]
Website: www.iso.org
Published in Switzerland
© ISO/IEC 2025 – All rights reserved
ii
Contents Page
Foreword .iv
1 Scope . 1
2 Normative references . 1
3 Terms and definitions . 1
4 Conformance . 1
5 Description of the conventional graphical symbols and methods . 1
5.1 General .1
5.2 Graphical symbols combining the character glyph with an additional mark .2
5.3 Graphical symbols used as additional marks for specific characters .2
Bibliography .11

© ISO/IEC 2025 – All rights reserved
iii
Foreword
ISO (the International Organization for Standardization) and IEC (the International Electrotechnical
Commission) form the specialized system for worldwide standardization. National bodies that are
members of ISO or IEC participate in the development of International Standards through technical
committees established by the respective organization to deal with particular fields of technical activity.
ISO and IEC technical committees collaborate in fields of mutual interest. Other international organizations,
governmental and non-governmental, in liaison with ISO and IEC, also take part in the work.
The procedures used to develop this document and those intended for its further maintenance are described
in the ISO/IEC Directives, Part 1. In particular, the different approval criteria needed for the different types
of document should be noted. This document was drafted in accordance with the editorial rules of the ISO/
IEC Directives, Part 2 (see www.iso.org/directives or www.iec.ch/members_experts/refdocs).
ISO and IEC draw attention to the possibility that the implementation of this document may involve the
use of (a) patent(s). ISO and IEC take no position concerning the evidence, validity or applicability of any
claimed patent rights in respect thereof. As of the date of publication of this document, ISO and IEC had not
received notice of (a) patent(s) which may be required to implement this document. However, implementers
are cautioned that this may not represent the latest information, which may be obtained from the patent
database available at www.iso.org/patents and https://patents.iec.ch. ISO and IEC shall not be held
responsible for identifying any or all such patent rights.
Any trade name used in this document is information given for the convenience of users and does not
constitute an endorsement.
For an explanation of the voluntary nature of standards, the meaning of ISO specific terms and expressions
related to conformity assessment, as well as information about ISO's adherence to the World Trade
Organization (WTO) principles in the Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT) see www.iso.org/iso/foreword.html.
In the IEC, see www.iec.ch/understanding-standards.
This document was prepared by Joint Technical Committee ISO/IEC JTC 1, Information technology,
Subcommittee SC 35, User interfaces.
This second edition cancels and replaces the first edition (ISO/IEC 9995-10:2013), which has been technically
revised.
The main change is as follows:
— addition of a “General Remark 4” to symbol #44 which broadens the application of this symbol.
A list of all parts in the ISO/IEC 9995 series can be found on the ISO and IEC websites.
Any feedback or questions on this document should be directed to the user’s national standards
body. A complete listing of these bodies can be found at www.iso.org/members.html and
www.iec.ch/national-committees.

© ISO/IEC 2025 – All rights reserved
iv
International Standard ISO/IEC 9995-10:2025(en)
Information technology — Keyboard layouts for text and
office systems —
Part 10:
Conventional symbols and methods to represent graphic
characters not uniquely recognizable by their glyph on
keyboards and in documentation
1 Scope
Within the general scope described in ISO/IEC 9995-1, this document specifies symbols and methods
to distinguish graphic characters which share the same glyph or are represented by similar glyphs on
keyboards (including virtual keyboards) and in documentation. Each of these symbols is intended to be
considered as universal and non-language related equivalent of names for the function they represent.
2 Normative references
The following documents are referred to in the text in such a way that some or all of their content constitutes
requirements of this document. For dated references, only the edition cited applies. For undated references,
the latest edition of the referenced document (including any amendments) applies.
ISO/IEC 9995-1, Information technology — Keyboard layouts for text and office systems — Part 1: General
principles governing keyboard layouts
3 Terms and definitions
For the purposes of this document, the terms and definitions given in ISO/IEC 9995-1 apply.
ISO and IEC maintain terminology databases for use in standardization at the following addresses:
— ISO Online browsing platform: available at https:// www .iso .org/ obp
— IEC Electropedia: available at https:// www .electropedia .org/
4 Conformance
Whenever a symbol defined in this document is referenced elsewhere, the reference shall have the form
"ISO/IEC 9995-10-xxx", where "xxx" is the number under which the symbol is listed in this document.
5 Description of the conventional graphical symbols and methods
5.1 General
This document provides graphical symbols usable to distinguish graphic characters which share the
same glyph, or which have glyphs only being unique in running text by taking their size or position into

© ISO/IEC 2025 – All rights reserved
consideration, and thus being confusable when shown outside of running text, as when used as labels on
keytops.
EXAMPLE The comma, the apostrophe, the English closing single quote, and the diacritical mark on Romanian ș
and ț all share the same glyph shape in common fonts.
Such distinction is provided by adding additional marks to the glyphs of the graphic characters.
The graphical symbols defined in this document are listed in Table 1, shown there in column 3, together
with a unique number in column 1.
These graphical symbols shall be reproduced on the equipment in the orientation shown in the table. They
have the associated meaning only if they are used in the orientation given in the table.
The exact proportion of the symbol parts and the thickness of the lines does not need to be retained, as long
as the symbols are clearly identifiable.
5.2 Graphical symbols combining the character glyph with an additional mark
The symbols 1–40 and 46–50 can be used to represent the graphical character listed in column 4 of Table 1
uniquely, showing a depiction of that character together with a specific additional mark (dot, short line, or
special symbol).
All these graphical symbols represent characters of the universal character set defined in ISO/IEC 10646.
Whenever a character listed in column 4 of Table 1 is used in documentation or allocated to a key, it should be
indicated by the corresponding graphical symbol in cases where showing the character itself is considered
ambiguous or misleading.
Graphical symbols are provided for characters which resemble:
— the "universal dash" U+002D HYPHEN-MINUS (symbols 1–13);
— the tilde (symbols 14–15);
— the asterisk (symbol 16);
— the full stop (symbol 17–18);
— the comma (symbols 19–25);
— the less/greater-than and much-less/greater-than symbols (symbols 26–33);
— the free-standing (non-spacing) acute and grave accents U+00B4/U+0060 (symbols 34–38);
— the slash (symbols 39–40).
This implies that the listed resembled characters themselves, for which no graphical symbols are given in
this document, are represented by themselves without any additional mark.
Also, symbols 46–50 are
...