ISO/IEC 22121-2:2023
(Main)Information technology — Virtual keyboards user interfaces — Part 2: On-screen keyboards with direct touch interface
Information technology — Virtual keyboards user interfaces — Part 2: On-screen keyboards with direct touch interface
This document specifies the design and specification of on-screen keyboards (keyboards that are displayed on a screen) with direct touch interface, including those with some audio feedback. This document specifies keyboard layouts designed for on-screen keyboards with direct touch interface and ways for interaction with them. It is not applicable to virtual keyboards that are not displayed on a screen, and on-screen keyboards that do not provide a direct touchscreen interface such as on-screen keyboards relying on an accessory unit like a trackpad or a remote control for interactions with the user. It is not applicable to physical keyboards that use real or adaptable keys, which can be customized to user needs, for example, with LCD display.
Technologies de l'information — Interfaces utilisateurs des claviers virtuels — Partie 2: Claviers sur écran dotés d’interface tactile
General Information
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Standards Content (Sample)
INTERNATIONAL ISO/IEC
STANDARD 22121-2
First edition
2023-03
Information technology — Virtual
keyboards user interfaces —
Part 2:
On-screen keyboards with direct
touch interface
Technologies de l'information — Interfaces utilisateurs des claviers
virtuels —
Partie 2: Claviers sur écran dotés d’interface tactile
Reference number
© ISO/IEC 2023
© ISO/IEC 2023
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© ISO/IEC 2023 – All rights reserved
Contents Page
Foreword .v
Introduction . vi
1 Scope . 1
2 Normative references . 1
3 Terms and definitions . 1
4 Conformance . 4
4.1 Conformance with this document . 4
4.2 Claims of conformance . 4
5 General requirements for on-screen keyboards with direct touch interface .5
5.1 Character availability . 5
5.2 Single finger/stylus and multiple finger text input . 5
5.3 Adjustment . 6
5.3.1 Long tap duration . 6
5.3.2 Double tap duration . 6
5.3.3 Touchpad pressure . 6
6 Mapping of keyboard layout standards . 6
6.1 General . 6
6.2 Alphabetic characters . 7
6.2.1 Key and row position numbering system . 7
6.2.2 Set of characters to be mapped to on-screen keyboards layouts . 8
6.2.3 Mapping of physical keyboard layout . 9
6.3 Numeric characters . 9
6.4 Space key and other non-graphic keys . 10
6.4.1 Space bar/key . 10
6.4.2 Backspace/backward erase key . 10
6.4.3 Return/enter key. 10
6.4.4 Tabulation key . 11
7 Specific toggle keys and commands .11
7.1 Toggle key layout and operations . 11
7.1.1 General . 11
7.1.2 Location on the on-screen keyboard . 13
7.1.3 Locking/unlocking toggle keys . 13
7.2 Toggle key functionality .13
7.2.1 Level 2 selection toggle key . 13
7.2.2 Group selection toggle key . 14
7.2.3 Layout selection key .15
7.2.4 Speech dictation toggle key . 15
7.2.5 Keyboard deactivation toggle key . 15
7.3 Toggle key status indication .15
8 Associated characters .16
8.1 General . 16
8.2 Access to associated characters . 16
8.2.1 Access to associated characters with a selection box . 16
8.2.2 Access to associated characters with a long tap . 16
8.3 Selection of associated characters . 16
8.3.1 Selection of associated characters with accessible input mode enabled . 16
8.3.2 Selection of associated characters with accessible input mode disabled . 17
8.4 Insertion of associated characters. 18
9 Keyboard mode context dependency .18
9.1 General . 18
9.2 Numeric input fields . 19
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© ISO/IEC 2023 – All rights reserved
9.3 Email address input fields . 20
9.4 URL/URI input fields .20
9.5 Input fields with preselected values . 20
10 User customization and creation of new keyboards .20
10.1 Customization of the keyboard .20
10.2 Switching between keyboards . 21
10.3 Loading, saving and sharing the keyboard layout . 21
10.3.1 Modifying a keyboard layout . . 21
10.3.2 Loading a stored keyboard layout . 21
10.3.3 Adding a new keyboard layout. 21
11 Activation/deactivation of on-screen keyboard .21
11.1 Manual activation/deactivation of on-screen keyboard . 21
11.2 Automatic activation/deactivation of on-screen keyboard . 21
11.2.1 Automatic activation . . . 21
11.2.2 Automatic deactivation . 21
11.2.3 Input fields with pre-selected values . 22
11.3 Location of toggle key .22
12 Positioning and sizing .22
12.1 Positioning . 22
12.2 Sizing .22
12.2.1 Relative size of on-screen keyboards . 22
12.2.2 Resizing . 23
12.3 Display space constraints . 23
12.3.1 Key size .23
12.3.2 Number of displayed keys . 24
12.4 Resizing rules . 24
12.5 Field overlapping . 24
12.5.1 General . 24
12.5.2 Context of use . 24
12.5.3 Typing text messages . 24
12.5.4 Typing text on forms .25
12.6 Rotation rules (landscape/portrait) . 25
12.6.1 General . 25
12.6.2 Rotation within applications . 25
12.6.3 Optional resizing .25
13 Shading and styling of on-screen keyboard keys .25
13.1 Contrast ratio . 25
13.2 Highlighting. 25
13.3 Colours and shades . 25
13.4 Key label size . 26
Bibliography .27
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© ISO/IEC 2023 – All rights reserved
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).
Attention is drawn to the possibility that some of the elements of this document may be the subject
of patent rights. ISO and IEC shall not be held responsible for identifying any or all such patent
rights. Details of any patent rights identified during the development of the document will be in the
Introduction and/or on the ISO list of patent declarations received (see www.iso.org/patents) or the IEC
list of patent declarations received (see https://patents.iec.ch).
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.
A list of all parts in the ISO/IEC 22121 series can be found on the ISO website.
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.
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© ISO/IEC 2023 – All rights reserved
Introduction
Virtual keyboards can be difficult for users as different types of keyboards and functionalities exist,
and they are spreading exponentially; with the rise of tactile mobile phones and devices, most users in
the world will have to use such interfaces for communication, work or leisure.
The most widespread type of virtual keyboard is found on devices that use both a screen to display the
virtual keyboard (on-screen keyboard) and a built-in, direct touch interface to operate it.
Devices that use an on-screen keyboard with a direct touch interface include at least one touchpad
screen that allows both the display of the keyboard interface and the interaction with the user. These
features are mostly found in handheld devices such as mobile phones, tablets and connected watches,
but can also be seen in other devices such as laptop computers, kiosks, automated teller machine (ATM)
whiteboards, or other touchpad devices used for presentation and demonstration purposes.
The main purpose of this document is to provide a reliable, harmonized and easy-to-use interface for
all on-screen keyboards with a direct touch interface across the various devices that might be using
it, especially mobile and connected devices. It considers a wide range of user needs such as changing
keyboard layouts for multilingual users, customization, responding to accessibility, or adapting the
available keys depending on the context of use, to allow faster typing.
The ISO/IEC 22121 series specifies the requirements and recommendations for all types of virtual
keyboards. This document specifies the requirements and provides further recommendations for on-
screen keyboards with direct touch interface. This document is harmonized with ISO/IEC 24757, which
describes any type of keyboard.
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© ISO/IEC 2023 – All rights reserved
INTERNATIONAL STANDARD ISO/IEC 22121-2:2023(E)
Information technology — Virtual keyboards user
interfaces —
Part 2:
On-screen keyboards with direct touch interface
1 Scope
This document specifies the design and specification of on-screen keyboards (keyboards that are
displayed on a screen) with direct touch interface, including those with some audio feedback.
This document specifies keyboard layouts designed for on-screen keyboards with direct touch interface
and ways for interaction with them.
It is not applicable to virtual keyboards that are not displayed on a screen, and on-screen keyboards
that do not provide a direct touchscreen interface such as on-screen keyboards relying on an accessory
unit like a trackpad or a remote control for interactions with the user.
It is not applicable to physical keyboards that use real or adaptable keys, which can be customized to
user needs, for example, with LCD display.
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
ISO/IEC 9995-7:2009, Information technology — Keyboard layouts for text and office systems — Part 7:
Symbols used to represent functions
3 Terms and definitions
For the purposes of this document, the following terms and definitions 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/
3.1
on-screen keyboard
virtual keyboard (3.3) displayed on any type of screen
Note 1 to entry: On-screen keyboards are one specific type of virtual keyboards, probably the most common, that
use a screen to display a visual keyboard.
Note 2 to entry: This type of virtual keyboard can be used on personal computer’s screens, on feature phones and
tablets, mobile phones and tablets, TVs, kiosks, whiteboards.
© ISO/IEC 2023 – All rights reserved
3.2
physical keyboard
mechanical or electronic input device using an arrangement of buttons or keys
Note 1 to entry: Some physical keyboards are adaptable (for example, using LCD screens instead of keys with
printed symbols and characters).
3.3
virtual keyboard
software alternative to a physical keyboard (3.2)
3.4
associated character
alphabetic character derived from another alphabetic character
Note 1 to entry: Characters can be associated because a diacritic sign is added to it (for example, Ê is associated
to letter E) or because of its close relation to it.
Note 2 to entry: For most languages, using associated characters is essential to write properly.
3.7
qwerty-like on-screen keyboard
virtual keyboard layout used for typing in Latin-based languages, with a layout of alphabetical
characters similar to the physical keyboard layout from which it is derived (qwerty, qwertz, azerty…)
3.8
prediction
software-generated set of characters, i.e. word, phrase or text, based on user typing that can be selected
as next input for faster typing
3.9
group
logical state of a keyboard providing access to a collection of graphic characters (3.13) or elements of
graphic characters
Note 1 to entry: A group gives access to one collection of characters. Typically, when more than one language is
used, multiple groups are required.
Note 2 to entry: Usually these graphic characters or elements of graphic characters logically belong together and
can be arranged on several levels within a group.
Note 3 to entry: The input of certain graphic characters, such as accented letters, may require access to more
than one group.
Note 4 to entry: Subsets of a group are called levels.
[SOURCE: ISO/IEC 9995-1:2009, 4.9]
3.10
level
logical state of a keyboard providing access to a subset of a collection of graphic characters (3.13) or
elements of graphic characters in a group (3.9)
Note 1 to entry: In certain cases, the level selected may also affect function keys.
Note 2 to entry: With on-screen keyboards, it is usual that only one level be shown per panel at a time.
[SOURCE: ISO/IEC 9995-1:2009, 4.11]
© ISO/IEC 2023 – All rights reserved
3.11
space key
key associated with character U+0020 SPACE
[SOURCE: ISO/IEC 9995-9:2016, 3.18]
3.12
enter key
key associated with an enter or return function
[SOURCE: ISO/IEC 9995-9:2016, 3.9]
3.13
graphic character
character, other than a control function, that has a visual representation normally handwritten, printed
or displayed
Note 1 to entry: Graphic characters with no visual representation can still be used, as per ISO/IEC 9995-7.
[SOURCE: ISO/IEC 9995-1:2009, 4.1, Note 1 to entry added.]
3.14
graphic symbol
visual representation of a graphic character (3.13), a control function, or a combination of one or more
graphic characters and/or control functions
[SOURCE: ISO/IEC 9995-1:2009, 4.14]
3.15
symbol
any graphic symbol (3.14) which is none of a letter, a digit or a punctuation mark
[SOURCE: ISO/IEC 9995-9:2016, 3.24]
3.16
level 2 select
function that, if activated, will change the keyboard state to produce characters from level 2
Note 1 to entry: Level 2 is particularly associated to case in bicameral scripts (for example, scripts which use
upper and lower case). Other characters are often displayed at the same time in level 2 when space allows it in the
same panel.
Note 2 to entry: By default, level 2 select is activated only for the next keystroke.
Note 3 to entry: Level 2 select may be locked similarly to the capital state lock function.
[SOURCE: ISO/IEC 9995-1:2009, 4.15, modified — Notes 2 and 3 to entry added.]
3.17
group select
function that, if activated, will change the keyboard state to produce characters from a different group
[SOURCE: ISO/IEC 9995-1:2009, 4.13]
3.18
capitals lock state
state that, if activated, will result in the generation of the capital form of all graphic characters (3.13) on
the keyboard for which such a form exists
[SOURCE: ISO/IEC 9995-1:2009, 4.7]
© ISO/IEC 2023 – All rights reserved
3.19
toggle key
on-screen keyboard key that provides a choice of two states
Note 1 to entry: Toggle keys can be used to access a collection of graphic characters.
Note 2 to entry: Toggle keys can provide access to menus for item selection.
Note 3 to entry: Different symbols can be used to display the toggle key status.
3.20
toggle key status
state of the toggle key (3.19) activated by the user
3.21
tap
single consecutive touch and release actions on a touchscreen device, typically it finishes shorter than
500 ms
Note 1 to entry: The touch action can be performed by any part of the human body (usually, the fingers), a pen,
stylus, or any other stylus shaped object.
3.22
long tap
single consecutive touch, hold and release actions on a touchscreen device, typically it lasts longer than
500 ms
3.23
layout selection key
on-screen keyboard key used for switching among various on-screen keyboard layouts (3.24)
3.24
keyboard layout
physical, visual or functional arrangement of the keys on a keyboard
Note 1 to entry: Contrary to physical keyboards, on-screen keyboards do not rely on mechanical keys and
printed/engraved labels, therefore, their layout can be changed conveniently by the user with the device’s user
interface.
Note 2 to entry: Some physical keyboards provide ways to change the visual arrangement of keys (for example,
physical keyboards with LCD/LED displayed keys).
Note 3 to entry: An on-screen keyboard layout may give access to one or multiple groups of characters.
Note 4 to entry: Subsets of an on-screen keyboard layout are called groups.
Note 5 to entry: Keyboard layouts could be defined by national, regional or local standards.
4 Conformance
4.1 Conformance with this document
An on-screen keyboard with direct touch interface reaches conformance with this document if it meets
the applicable requirements of Clauses 5 to 13.
NOTE Depending on the rendering of the on-screen keyboard, some requirements might not apply.
4.2 Claims of conformance
The on-screen keyboards used in this system conform to ISO/IEC 22121-2.
© ISO/IEC 2023 – All rights reserved
If the on-screen keyboard includes layout mappings derived from physical keyboard standardized
layouts as defined in Clause 6, a reference to the original physical keyboard layout standard can be
included in the declaration of conformance.
EXAMPLE The on-screen keyboards used in this system conform to ISO/IEC 22121-2 and provides an on-
screen keyboard layout derived from NF Z 71-300 physical keyboard layout.
5 General requirements for on-screen keyboards with direct touch interface
5.1 Character availability
a) If the national or local standards exists for each available language in the system, the on-screen
keyboard with direct touch interface shall provide the user the capacity to create all characters (as
described in ISO/IEC 10646) required in those standards.
b) When no national or local keyboard standard exists, the on-screen keyboard shall provide the set
of characters most commonly used in the country’s software and devices, without limiting the set,
for using this language.
c) Specific on-screen keyboards made for augmentive and assistive communication (AAC) can
use different sets of characters and symbols to answer specific accessibility needs, as shown in
Figure 1.
EXAMPLE Figure 1 illustrates an on-screen keyboard made for symbol communication. On this on-screen
keyboard, there are 20 keys; each of them is composed of a graphical symbol and captioned text. The “describing”
key, composed of a speech balloon with eyes symbol is activated. There are other keys around such as “food”
(plate symbol), “clothes” (shirts symbol), “colours” (rainbow symbol) or “transport” (truck symbol).
Figure 1 — Example of an AAC on-screen keyboard used for symbol communication
5.2 Single finger/stylus and multiple finger text input
There are four functionalities currently detectable by touch panels:
— tap and double tap;
Additionally, there are several possibilities for the number of detection points at the same time on the
touchpad:
— single point;
— two points;
© ISO/IEC 2023 – All rights reserved
— over three points.
a) For accessibility reasons, it shall be possible to operate all text input and related functionalities of
an on-screen keyboard with a single point of interaction and using only tap or double taps.
EXAMPLE 1 When only one finger can be used.
EXAMPLE 2 When a stylus is used.
NOTE ISO/IEC 24786 defines a number of keyboard accessibility operations to operate with a single
point of interaction.
b) On-screen keyboards may provide additional long tap, press, press and move, or multiple point
interaction text input functionality for increased ergonomics.
EXAMPLE 3 When using on-screen keyboard layouts on a touchscreen device, it is possible to access
associated characters using either a single tap or a long tap, as described in 8.2.2, if available.
EXAMPLE 4 When using bi-cameral language scripts on-screen keyboard layouts on an touchscreen
device, it is possible to lock the capitals (similarly to the “caps lock” key and capitals lock state on physical
keyboards) while still touching and holding the level 2 selection toggle key, using multipoint input detection,
and type as many capital letters as required, as described in 7.2.1 d).
c) For accessibility reasons, when the touchpad device can detect advanced features such as long tap,
press, press and move, or multiple point interaction, the user should be able to activate or deactivate
a specific accessible input mode from the device’s settings that fully complies with 5.2 a).
5.3 Adjustment
5.3.1 Long tap duration
For accessibility reasons, the long tap duration should be customizable from the device’s on-screen
keyboard settings, in order to meet the user’s needs.
5.3.2 Double tap duration
For accessibility reasons, the double tap duration should be customizable from the device’s on-screen
keyboard settings, in order to meet the user’s needs.
5.3.3 Touchpad pressure
a) For accessibility reasons, the device should provide ways to adjust the pressure used for single tap
on the on-screen keyboard.
b) The device may provide additional ways to adjust the pressure used for some specific advanced
features such as long tap, press, press and move, or multiple point interaction.
6 Mapping of keyboard layout standards
6.1 General
Due to their non-physical nature, on-screen keyboards cannot behave like physical keyboards and
cannot have the exact same set of functionalities. One of the major issues is the limitation of available
character keys, which can be due, for example, to display space constraints on smaller devices like
watches.
In some cases, mapping an existing keyboard layout standard will be a prowess due to the very small
size of the handheld device for which it is designed. More than one toggle key is then necessary to
achieve this in different panels or layers.
© ISO/IEC 2023 – All rights reserved
When display space constraints make the mapping of an existing keyboard layout standard difficult,
alternative on-screen keyboards more adapted to the device should be provided to the user.
Consequently, conventional fall-backs might be necessary for an on-screen keyboard to be fully
mapped to materials conformant to the ISO/IEC 9995 series and other national or local keyboard layout
standards.
Subclauses 6.2 to 6.4 specifies the requirements and recommendations for the mapping of physical
keyboards or national layout standards.
6.2 Alphabetic characters
6.2.1 Key and row position numbering system
For describing the mapping of physical keyboard layouts to on-screen keyboard layouts, this document
uses the numbering system described in ISO/IEC 9995-1.
According to ISO/IEC 9995-1, rows on a keyboard are numbered starting from the bottom line of keys
with letter “A”, the second line of keys starting from the bottom is row B, the third line of keys starting
from the bottom is row C, the fourth line of keys starting from the bottom is row D and the fifth and top
line of keys is row E, as illustrated in Figure 2.
NOTE 1 Figure 2 is taken from ISO/IEC 9995-1:2009. It shows a complete key numbering system for physical
keyboards with an angled grid. We can see 17 columns with column numbers starting at “99”, then “00” till “15”,
from left to right, and 5 rows with row numbers, starting from “E” to “A”, from top to bottom. A square grid
illustration is also given in ISO/IEC 9995-1 but not included in this document.
For describing the on-screen keyboard layout, this document uses the same key and row position
numbering system. Rows on an on-screen keyboard are numbered starting from the bottom line of
keys with letter “A”. The second line of keys starting from the bottom is row B. The third line of keys
starting from the bottom is row C. The fourth line of keys starting from the bottom is row D. The fifth
line of keys is row E, as illustrated in Figure 3.
NOTE 2 Figure 3 shows a representation of a handheld device with an on-screen display. On the display, we
can see at the top a free area used to display content on the device (screen). Under the screen, there is an area
dedicated to the prediction software interface (predictions tab). Under the predictions tab, we can see the virtual
keyboard itself with 4 rows of keys numbered “D” to “A” starting from top to bottom.
Figure 2 — Key position numbering system on physical keyboards (angled grid)
© ISO/IEC 2023 – All rights reserved
Key
1 screen
2 predictions tab
A row A
B row B
C row C
D row D
Figure 3 — Row position numbering system with on-screen keyboards
6.2.2 Set of characters to be mapped to on-screen keyboards layouts
All alphabetic characters of group 1 level 1 located on rows B, C, D of the keyboard layout, as defined in
ISO/IEC 9995-1, should be available to the on-screen keyboard user in the same layout, if display space
constraints allow it.
EXAMPLE 1 In the United States “QWERTY” national keyboard layout, as illustrated in the desktop keyboard
layout shown in Figure 4, the following keys can be mapped to the on-screen keyboard within the same layout:
QWERTYUIOP (row D), ASDFGHJKL (Row C), ZXCVBNM (Row B).
Figure 4 — Example of the required set of characters for the QWERTY keyboard layout
EXAMPLE 2 On the French “AZERTY” commonly used keyboard layout, the following keys can be mapped to
the on-screen keyboard within the same layout: AZERTYUIOP (Row D), QSDFGHJKLM (Row C), WXCVBN (Row B)
as illustrated in the on-screen keyboard layout shown in Figure 5.
© ISO/IEC 2023 – All rights reserved
Figure 5 — Example of a mapping of an AZERTY keyboard layout on a French on-screen
keyboard
6.2.3 Mapping of physical keyboard layout
a) The on-screen keyboard layout should conform to the alphabetic group 1 level 1 (rows B, C, D)
layout of national or local standards, if display space constraints allow it.
b) When no national or local keyboard layout standards exist, it should conform to the alphabetic
group 1 level 1 (rows B, C, D) layout(s) most commonly used in the country’s software and devices,
without limiting the set, if display space constraints allow it.
c) When multiple national or local keyboard layout standards exist, one on-screen keyboard layout
should be made available to the user for each national or local standard; the user shall be able to
select and use one of these layouts at any time.
d) When a national or local keyboard layout standard provides the choice among several keyboard
layouts (for example, in France, both “azerty” and “bépo” layouts conform to the standard), one on-
screen keyboard layout should be made available to the user for each of the standardized layouts;
the user should be able to select and use one of these layouts at any time.
Additional on-screen keyboard layouts matching no currently existing standard keyboard layout
may be provided to the user to offer multiple ways to type in text, such as, for example, Latin-based
or katakana/hiragana-based on-screen keyboards for writing Japanese language, half-qwerty or ABC
based on-screen keyboards for typing on very small handheld devices.
NOTE Research and development for alternative on-screen keyboard layouts aimed at better accessibility,
efficiency and ergonomics for the user is important.
6.3 Numeric characters
a) Qwerty-like on-screen keyboards should provide an additional top row (row E) specifically for the
input of numeric characters, if display space constraints allow it, as shown in figure 6.
EXAMPLE On larger on-screen devices with direct touch interface, a row E is added as the top row in order
to allow for easier use and input of numeric characters, as well as other specific characters and symbols, as
illustrated in Figure 6. This figure shows on an on-screen keyboard used on a handheld device such as a tablet
for the input of English language. We can see that the on-screen virtual keyboard layout is using 5 rows. The
row E shown used on this example provides 14 additional keys of half the height of those on rows A, B, C, D, for
direct access to characters `, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 0, -, =. The bottom rows provide the other keys required for the
QWERTY layout.
© ISO/IEC 2023 – All rights reserved
Figure 6 — Example of an on-screen keyboard using an additional row to provide access to
numeric characters
b) Numeric character keys for generic text input fields shall be available either directly in the on-
screen keyboard or by using a specific toggle key.
c) On more advanced devices, it may also be possible to input numeric characters using a long tap on
the keys located on row D.
d) Numeric character keys for generic text input fields shall be presented to the user in the same order
and layout as in national or local keyboard layout standards or as in the layout(s) most commonly
used in the country’s software and devices, if there is no such standard in the country.
6.4 Space key and other non-graphic keys
6.4.1 Space bar/key
a) A space bar or key, as defined in ISO/IEC 9995-7:2009, Table 1, number 9 (ISO 7000-0251), shall be
provided for all on-screen keyboard layouts used for typing in languages that require some spacing
between words, such as in Latin or Cyrillic alphabet languages or for the mapping of national or
local physical keyboard layouts used to type them.
b) The space key shall be located at or near the centre of row A of the on-screen keyboard.
c) The space key width should be at least 25 % of the device’s screen total width for ergonomic and
accessibility reasons.
d) The space key should not be provided or displayed at all on the on-screen keyboard when it is not
needed by the language selected by the user, as in, for example, most Asian languages, or by the
national or local physical keyboard layouts mapped and adapted for on-screen keyboard use.
6.4.2 Backspace/backward erase key
a) A backspace/backward erase (delete) key, as defined in ISO/IEC 9995-7:2009, Table 1, number 17
(ISO 7000-2023), shall be provided for all on-screen keyboard layouts.
b) The backspace/backward erase (delete) key shall conform with ISO/IEC 9995-7 for the symbol or
label describing it.
6.4.3 Return/enter key
a) The return key, as defined in ISO
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