What would your ideal keyboard work like?

21

But isn’t it hard to avoid accidentally hitting?

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22

No more than hitting caps lock already is. I’ve never had a problem, but I can see how it might be a problem for someone with dyspraxia.

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23

TIL - I didn’t know it had a name. Good use for Caps Lock though.

I tend to just turn mine off.

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24

This.

If one wants something outside the norm (and thus what is mass produced), this is really the only way to go.
There are entire groups of folks who do this stuff for hobbies- so there are pretty established methods and whatnot.

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25

I literally just bought a planck keyboard yesterday. Expect a thorough blogging.

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26

BEHOLD!

https://goo.gl/TgJnh9

This is The Cormac 30%.

It is a keyboard I have designed for one purpose: writing Cormac McCarthy novels.

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27

Well, that particular site only seems to allow users to customize layouts; it doesn’t get me any closer to being able to fix modifier key behavior and add status lights; it also has flashing tooltips and animated help.

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28

Cannot be. Keyboard does not leave me despondent and adrift.

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29

I’m not seeing the connection at the link, but the idea makes me smile.

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30

So, just to clarify:

  1. You make some specifications for a keyboard you’d like that you haven’t found.
  2. People make a number of reasonable suggestions (including the use of a site that allows the design and export of fully custom keyboard- exactly as you’d like it).
  3. You are provided with a sequence of actions to do with that exported design that would allow you to have precisely the keyboard you want.
  4. This is your response.
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31

No punctuation except period and comma.

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32

I was wondering.

…been a while since I las read one of his novels.

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33

lights for active modifier keys, including command, option, shift, etc. when using Sticky Keys.

That seems like something that could be addressed in the keyboard firmware.

I’m a casual keyboard hacker, so I have a Teensy and a few other microcontrollers laying around… I’ll take that as a thought exercise and see what I can come up with.

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34

[quote=“nothingfuture, post:30, topic:86586, full:true”]
So, just to clarify:

  1. You make some specifications for a keyboard you’d like that you haven’t found.[/quote]

Yes

What site would that be?

The only link I’ve seen was to http://www.keyboard-layout-editor.com/

Where?

That was my response to http://www.keyboard-layout-editor.com/

Maybe it works for your needs. But the site doesn’t meet my accessibility needs, and doesn’t seem to include tools to build keyboards to meet my accessibility needs.

Maybe I wasn’t emphatic enough:

I don’t think I can find a keyboard which fixes the accessibility problems with modifier keys. But I don’t think it’s worth getting a custom keyboard if it doesn’t fix the accessibility problems; thorn, hvair, and function keys would be nice, but they aren’t necessary. And I already have a mini keyboard and a book propped under the left side.

P.S. I suppose it might be possible to design a space cadet keyboard to avoid modifier keys. But I might have trouble avoiding the wrong keys on a crowded mini-space-cadet keyboard. even a crowded tenless mini-space-cadet keyboard. :stuck_out_tongue:

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35

theresaspacekey.

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36

There are two separate issues here.

  1. The physical design of a keyboard. The aforementioned website will let you design any keyboard you can dream up. Any modifiers or dedicated keys you want, in any configuration, with any colors and labels.
  2. The firmware that keyboard runs. This is where the behavior of the keyboard is specified- which keys are which, leds, key repeat frequencies, whatever you’d like.
    Both of these are doable for a motivated person- first you design the keyboard. Then you purchase parts (case, switches, diodes, leds, keycaps, teensy2.0, etc. Assembly follows, then you use:
    https://github.com/dhowland/EasyAVR
    This lets you design the firmware. You can map whatever functions to whatever key. Heck, you can program macro keys that execute an entire series of keystrokes with one click.
    Between these two things, you could have exactly what you want. Layout and function.
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37

How did I forget about this?

…

… and I also want a pony. Sigh.

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38

Both of these are doable for a motivated person-

… with the required, implicit skillset.

Is somebody with enough coordination issues to require a custom keyboard going to have enough coordination to assemble electronic components?

This is such a geek response: ugh, it’s so EASY just download these patches edit them in vi and recompile your kernel DUH.

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39

That’s not entirely fair, in this case.
Both of the tools I’ve mentioned are useable without any real coding- one is a website, the other has a full blown GUI. If you can upload an image to a RaspberryPi, you can do this.
If building from scratch is too much, there are a number of kits on the market. You’d give up being able to get exactly what you want, but you’d still have the ability to map exactly which keys do what and how they do it. Macros, even, would still be possible.
My point isn’t that this “is so easy.” My point is that it isn’t wildly difficult and would allow the user to have exactly what they wanted. OP seems to have to compromise on many thing (not by their own choice), and I thought maybe this could be a chance to not have to do that.

Edit for spelling.

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40

tumblr_nr55m6I9fg1u475ako1_1280.jpg1200×800 722 KB

But also:
http://www.wasdkeyboards.com/index.php/products/mechanical-keyboard/wasd-vp3-61-key-custom-mechanical-keyboard.html

61 keys that can be printed with just about anything. Might even be worth flicking them a line to see what they could build?

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