TYPING ON A KEYBOARD

Topic: Typing on a Computer Keyboard

When I am done this lesson, I will know:

 How a keyboard works
 How to type properly using a keyboard on a computer

Pre and Post Self-Assessment

Pre Pre Post Post
Yes, I know No, I want to Yes, I know I still need
this learn this this more practice
to learn this
I know what
the keyboard
is on a
computer.
I know how to
type properly
on a computer
keyboard.

New Words and Terms

QWERTY
Typewriter
Key
Circuit

What is a Keyboard?

A keyboard is the panel of keys that you use to operate or tell the computer what to do.
It allows you to input information into the computer.
The most common kind of keyboard is called a ‘QWERTY’ keyboard. It is named after
the first six keys in the top row of letters. It was invented by C L Scholes in the 1860s
and was first found on a typewriter. Typewriters were very expensive and keys that
were used a lot would clump together. To avoid one spot wearing out all the time or
clumping together, different arrangements of keys were tested. The layout that became
the most common because it prevented key from clumping together or wearing out was

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the QWERTY keyboard. Modern keyboards have the same layout as typewriters. There
is another keyboard layout called the Dvorak keyboard which has all the vowels on the
second row. This is much less commonly used today.

How does a keyboard work?

A keyboard is like a miniature computer. It has its own processor and circuitry that
carries information to and from that processor. The key matrix is a grid of circuits
underneath the keys. Each circuit is broken at a point below each key. When you press
a key, it presses a switch, completing the circuit and allowing a tiny amount of current to
flow through. If you press and hold a key, the processor thinks you are pressing a key
repeatedly.

When you press a key, the processor finds the closed circuit and compares the location
of that circuit on the key matrix to the character map in its memory. A character map is a
comparison chart or lookup table. It tells the processor the position of each key in the
matrix and what each keystroke or combination of keystrokes represents. For example,
the character map lets the processor know that pressing a key by itself corresponds to a
small letter "a," but the keys for SHIFT and “a” pressed together correspond to a capital
"A."

Source of How a Keyboard Works: adapted from

https://computer.howstuffworks.com/keyboard2.htm (last accessed April 15, 2019)

Most keyboards will look like the one in the diagram below. However, some of the keys
may be in different spots depending on the computer. For example, most laptops do not
have a separate number pad like the diagram below does.

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Important Sections and Keys on the Keyboard

Source: https://www.digitalunite.com/sites/default/files/images/keyboard850.jpg
Note: You can use this link to download and print the keyboard diagram above.

Accessible Keyboard layout

We will start from top to bottom for a standard desktop QWERTY keyboard, and go left
to right.

The top row of keys are as follows:

 Escape key (ESC)

 F 1 to F12 Function keys. On a standard desktop keyboard, there are gaps between
Escape and F1, F4 and F5, F 8 and F 9, and F 12 and the next set of keys below
 Print screen
 Scroll lock
 Pause
These last three keys are in a group of three, with a gap as stated previously between
F12, and Print Screen

The next row of keys is as follows:

`, which is used for languages such as French

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Numbers 1 through 0, which type other characters when Shift is held down while
pressing them.
Dash or Minus sign
Equals sign
The shifted number row is as follows:

!
@
#
$
%
^
&
*
(
)
_
+
Backspace: deletes the last typed character, or highlighted text
Please note: Jaws or other screen reader users should have symbol level set to “all” to
read the characters above. The help features of the screen reader being used will list
the appropriate keystroke to accomplish this

Next is the third row of keys:

Tab: a useful key for both navigation, and text formatting

Q
W
E
R

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T
Y
U
I
O
P
[
]
\

Note the first half of this row of keys. This is how the keyboard got it’s name of
QWERTY keyboard.

Next, the fourth row of keys:

Caps lock: This key when pressed once, will type each letter in uppercase and will
continue to do so until the CAPS LOCK key is pressed again to turn it off. Jaws or other
screen readers will report that caps lock is on or off when this key is pressed.
A
S
D
F: has a bump on it to help with touch-typing
G
H
J: has a bump on it to help with touch-typing
K
L
;
‘

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ENTER / CHANGE RETURN: inserts a blank line, and activate items if you are a
keyboard user

Almost there, two more rows of keys to go.

The fifth row of keys is as follows:

Left shift will capitalize a letter when pressed together with a letter, or add a different
symbol when pressed with a number. See the symbols above.
Z
X
C
V
B
N
M
,
.
/
Right SHIFT: does the same as the left SHIFT.

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Finally, the sixth main row of keys:

Left CTRL: useful for keyboard shortcuts

Left Windows key: activates the Windows start screen, and also useful for various
keyboard shortcuts
Left ALT key: enters and exits menu bars and or ribbons. It is also used in shortcut key
combinations
SPACEBAR: enters a space. Can also be used to activate, and / or toggle items if you
are a keyboard user
Right ALT, same as left ALT above
Right WINDOWS key, same as the left WINDOWS key above
APPLICATIONS key: very similar to a right click. This will bring up a contextual menu of
options for an item highlighted by the mouse or keyboard
Right CTRL: same as left CTRL above.
These are the main keys of the keyboard. Now, we will move to the last three smaller
sections to the right of the ENTER, right SHIFT, and BACKSPACE keys.

The Six pack:

This is a group of keys which start at the right of the backspace key. They are a group
of six keys that are all together with space around them. There are three on the first
row, and three on the second row. The first and second rows are as follows:

First row:

INSERT: very important key for screen reader users, although not super useful for
others
HOME: brings the cursor to the beginning of a line
PAGE-UP: brings you one screen full of text up. Great for navigating large documents,
or poorly laid out websites

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The second row:

DELETE: deletes the character that is directly under the cursor

END: which moves you to the end of a line of text
PAGE-DOWN: moves you down a screen of text, and is the opposite of the page-up key
above

Arrow Keys:

On most desktop keyboards, the arrow keys will look and or feel like an upside-down
printed letter T. This is an excellent way to orient yourself to a keyboard. Keep in mind
that laptops, especially newer ones, are not laid out this way.
The topmost of this cluster of keys is the UP-ARROW key, below this is the DOWN-
ARROW key. On either side of those are the LEFT and RIGHT ARROW keys. LEFT is
on the left, and RIGHT is on the right.
These keys can help you navigate, format text, and even play some games. Jaws or
other screen reader users will be using these keys a lot!

Number pad:

The final section is the number pad, or the numpad for short. This section of keys can
be useful for Jaws or other screen reader users, as they can provide more advanced
navigational commands. I will start from the bottom up with this section, as this section
is laid out like a calculator, and in fact can be used with the calculator program, and
entering numbers.
Please note that this section of the keyboard has some keys which can be long
vertically or horizontally, which may make this section harder to understand. The Jaws
or other screen reader’s keyboard “Learn” feature can be extremely helpful here. This
command can be found in the documentation for Jaws or other screen readers.
The first row of keys is as follows. Remember, we are going from the bottom, and
working our way up.

- 0: a horizontally long key

- decimal or period

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- equals or enter: a vertically long key

Next row:

-1
-2
-3

Next row:

- 4
- 5
- 6
- +: a vertically long key

Next Row:

- 7
- 8
- 9

Next Row:

- Numlock
- Multiply key
- Divide key
- Minus key

You will see that some rows have 3 keys listed, and others have 4. This is
because of the vertical and horizontal keys that were mentioned earlier. It is also
why using the keyboard “Learn” function is very helpful here.

Are you feeling overwhelmed yet? Do not worry, the worst thing you can do here
is sit down and get used to the keyboard with the help of an instructor,

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knowledgeable peer, and of course the keyboard “Learn” function. Practice does,
indeed, make perfect.

Some Keyboarding Basics

The main keys are the letter keys. When you type just using these, the print will be in
lower-case. However, if you hold down a SHIFT key (there are two SHIFT keys on the
keyboard, one on the left and one on the right) at the same time as you type, the print
will be in UPPER-CASE. This also lets you type the symbols you see above the
numbers.
If you make a mistake when you type, it is easy to fix.
If you want to delete a letter, place your cursor (mouse pointer) just after the letter and
click. Then press BACKSPACE. Only press once or it will keep deleting.
Keyboard users can use the ARROW keys to place the cursor where they want to start
deleting. Before you start deleting, make sure the cursor is placed to the immediate right
of the character(s) you want to delete.
For example:
I want to type the word “the”, followed by a space. Instead, I type “thr” and then space,
because I typed the “r” by mistake. To correct this, I can use the ARROW keys to move
the cursor to the space character directly to the right of the “r”, then press BACKSPACE
once. Once the “r” has been removed, I can make the spelling correction by typing the
“e” to complete the word “the”.

Or
place your cursor just before the letter, click and press DELETE.

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You can move the cursor along this sentence without deleting anything by using the
arrow keys:

Source: https://www.digitalunite.com/technology-guides/computer-basics/using-computer/how-use-
computer-keyboard

Check Your Knowledge

What is the name of the most common type of keyboard? ___________________

References

The best way to learn how to type on a computer keyboard properly is to practice.
GCFGlobal has a typing tutorial that will allow you to learn how to type on a QWERTY
keyboard. This tutorial has several sections and will take a few weeks to complete.
Typing.com allows you to set up a free account that saves your progress as you learn to
type.

Try this/Practice

Use this interactive tutorial to learn to https://edu.gcfglobal.org/en/typing/

type on a QWERTY keyboard.
Source: GCFGlobal.org

Or

Sign up for a free account on Typing.com. https://www.typing.com/

You can use this site to learn how to type,
take tests and play typing games. The
account will save your progress.

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Optional: I want to learn more

Click on the links below to practice typing using a variety of free games.
Type for Your Life: https://games.sense-lang.org/type4life/
Typing Alien: https://games.sense-lang.org/typingAlien.php
Typing Long Jump: https://games.sense-lang.org/longJump.php
Kayak Game: https://games.sense-lang.org/kayak/
Typing Olympic: https://games.sense-lang.org/olympic/
Balloon: https://games.sense-lang.org/EN_BalloonG.php
Chameleon: https://games.sense-lang.org/EN_ChameleonG.php

Ontario Adult Literacy Curriculum Framework Connection

Competency Task Groups(s)
Find and Use Information  Read Continuous Text
 Interpret Documents
 Extract Information from films, broadcasts and
presentations
Communicate Ideas and  Complete and Create Documents
Information
Use Digital Technology  n/a

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