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Install a left-handed typing keyboard layout System
Have you ever wanted to type with your left hand while mousing with your right? There are many times when it would be more efficient to just type a few words with your left hand while continuing to work the mouse with your right (I am right-handed). There are a few ways of doing this, including something called a FrogPad, which is nice but expensive.

A much cheaper solution (as in free) is to install a Dvorak Lefty keyboard layout. This keyboard layout places the keys in a much more logical arrangement for left-handed typing. I have created an OS X version of this layout, which you can download from this post on my blog. [3.2KB macosxhints mirror]

Uncompress the file, then install it by placing it in /Library -> Keyboard Layouts, and then logging out and logging in again. You can add it to your input menu list through the International System Preferences panel, under the Input Menu tab. The list is alphabetical, and the name of the layout is DVORAK Lefty, right next to the standard DVORAK labels.

Now, the hard part: learning where all of the keys are. You can write on most keyboards (I'll only vouch for PowerBooks/MacBook Pros, not MacBooks, etc.) with a Sharpie, and you can get the letters off with rubbing alcohol. That's if you're cheap and don't mind making your keyboard look hackish. If you want, you can find key pullers and actually rearrange the keys, or you can find any number of stickers on the internet for a more professional look.
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Install a left-handed typing keyboard layout
Authored by: jporten on Dec 05, '06 01:03:47PM

When I switched to two-handed Dvorak in 1994, a set of stickers from Staples had me up and running in two months or so. A caution, though: building up the muscle memory for two-handed Dvorak eventually replaced the muscle memory for QWERTY, and I'm no longer able to touch type on that layout. I presume that something of the same thing might happen with a one-handed layout. If anyone knows of a way to stay keyboard multilingual, I'd be interested in hearing it.



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Install a left-handed typing keyboard layout
Authored by: zottel on Dec 05, '06 05:05:22PM

Well, it's quite obvious: Just use different layouts frequently. ;-)

Personally, i'm "fluent" in the US (Windows) layout, German Windows and German Apple layout. Sure, these layouts are by far not as different from each other as Dvorak and US; it's more the special characters that make the difference. But still—I guess it should be no problem to adapt to different layouts as long as they're all used from time to time. I use Windows at work, Apple at home and US for programming (as reaching all the bracket characters is a real pain in the a** on a German keyboard).

You could, say, write emails and use use your word processor with Dvorak, but browse the Internet and write forum replies with US. Something like that should work without problems.



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Install a left-handed typing keyboard layout
Authored by: newbish on Dec 05, '06 06:40:17PM

Zottel is correct: just continue using both layouts. I did this for years, jumping back and forth between Windows and Mac OS X/9. During that period, I could jump back and forth between the two formats with hardly a second thought.

I eventually got tired of going back and forth between formats, and made the jump entirely into Dvorak. In the years since going 100% Dvorak, my QWERTY skills have certainly degraded. I can still switch back and forth between the two, but I'm now slower at QWERTY than I used to be.



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Install a left-handed typing keyboard layout
Authored by: hamarkus on Dec 05, '06 04:52:53PM

Would it be also possible to create a layout that allows to use the TWERQ feature, also called half-QUERTY or a half-keyboard, which allows you to type e.g. the letter f by pressing the space bar and the letter j, i.e. a mirroring of the whole keyboard, invoked by the space bar. Learning this is much much easier than Dvorak Lefty.

The extension uControl provided a software solution for this feature for free, until it got removed due to patent infriction.



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