Dvorak Keyboard Tester

Dvorak on the keyboard picture

The picture shows the US Dvorak layout that Windows, macOS and Linux all ship: vowels under the left hand (A O E U I), the most common consonants under the right (D H T N S), and punctuation moved to the top left. Press each key and it turns green under its Dvorak legend. The browser identifies keys by their position, not their letter, so the event log’s code column still names the QWERTY key in that place, while the key column shows the character Dvorak typed.

Checking your layout setting

Chrome and Edge can read the computer’s keyboard layout, and the line under the picture says whether it’s Dvorak. That makes this page a quick check that the switch worked. In other browsers, type a few letters and compare the key column of the event log with the picture.

Hardware Dvorak and switched keycaps

People move to Dvorak in three ways, and each tests a little differently:

• The computer’s layout set to Dvorak, with QWERTY or blank keycaps: the picture lines up with what you type.
• Keycaps moved to Dvorak positions: the picture matches the caps. Check the legends against it, since Dvorak keycap sets differ in the punctuation keys.
• A keyboard that does Dvorak in its firmware while the computer stays on QWERTY: each key sends the code of another position, so a different key lights up. Every key is still tested, and the question below explains the mapping.

Dead keys and double typing work as on any keyboard: a key that never lights up isn’t registering, and the chatter detector flags a key that types twice.

The Dvorak keys at a glance

Dvorak moves 33 character keys (only A and M stay put) and leaves the digits, Space and the modifiers where they are. The browser code is the name the key sends in the event log: it names the QWERTY key in the same place, so it stays the same whichever layout the computer uses.