Tastaturlayout

A Tastaturlayout is the arrangement of keys on a keyboard and the corresponding mapping from physical keys to characters produced when they are pressed. It defines which character each key press yields, including letters, numbers, punctuation, and control keys. Layouts can be defined by language, region, and input method, and may differ from the physical key arrangement on the device (hardware layout) or from the software mapping used by the system (logical layout). Users frequently switch layouts to type in multiple languages.

The most widely used layouts include QWERTY (common in English-speaking countries), QWERTZ (Germany, Austria, and parts of Central Europe), and AZERTY (France and Belgium). Other layouts such as DVORAK and Colemak are designed for ergonomic or efficiency reasons. There are also variations that arise from different standards, such as ISO and ANSI keyboard layouts, which affect the placement of certain keys like Enter, Shift, and the left-hand modifiers.

In German-speaking regions, the Tastaturlayout is typically QWERTZ, with Z and Y swapped relative to QWERTY. It includes umlauted vowels ä, ö, ü and the Eszett ß. On standard German keyboards these characters are accessible via dedicated keys, with some regional variants using alternative key positions or relying on dead keys and AltGr combinations. Localized layouts aim to balance ease of use with the need to input language-specific characters.

Standards and customization: International standards such as ISO/IEC 9995 define layout guidelines, while operating systems provide locale-aware input methods to switch between layouts. Users can also customize key mappings, add dead keys, or install alternative layouts to support multiple languages or ergonomic preferences.